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1. Ohio State
2. Michigan
3. Northwestern
4. Penn State
5. Iowa
6. Wisconsin
7. Purdue
8. Michigan State
9. Nebraska
10. Maryland
11. Indiana
12. Minnesota
13. Illinois
14. Rutgers

Last week in parenthesis...

• OHIO STATE (3) - "shakiest 10-1 since 2015 MSU, and that team knocked off OSU, so you never know what can happen on a given week" - me, last week
• MICHIGAN (1) - derp
• NORTHWESTERN (2) - did enough, but will need much more next week to get to Pasadena
• PENN STATE (4) - defense finishing the year strong
• IOWA (8) - no idea what to do with the middle section, but Iowa seems to have easily the highest ceiling of the bunch
• WISCONSIN (5) - one winning streak broke over the weekend, just not the one people expected
• MICHIGAN STATE (6) - first double digit offensive explosion in three weeks, while defense moved up to #2 nationally in S&P+
• PURDUE (7) - rivalry win, bowl bid secured
• MINNESOTA (12) - thought it was makeup on a pig, but the DC change seems to have salvaged their season
• NEBRASKA (9) - Iowa did their best to get Nebraska back into it, but Huskers with just not quite enough defense yet
• INDIANA (10) - fourth 7 loss season in the last 5 years, seems to be static
• MARYLAND (11) - did not expect that after the offense showed so much life the previous week
• ILLINOIS (13) - defense played unexpectedly well
• RUTGERS (14) - oh so close

Well, that was an interesting weekend...

(1) Ohio State. Augh.
(2) Michigan: the dream is dead.
(3) Penn State: on a neutral field.
(4) Northwestern, I guess? Remember when mediocre Wisconsin got into the championship game because Penn State and Ohio State were both on post-season bans? This is kind of like that.
(5) Iowa, probably.
(6) Michigan State: defense wins...mediocrity?
(7) Nebraska: trajectory.
(8) Purdue: maybe. Going bowling!
(9) Wisconsin: talk about going out with a whimper. Can they just have the bowl practices without a bowl game? No one needs to see that.
(10) Maryland: weird season.
(11) Indiana: competitive, sometimes.
(12) Minnesota: sure smacked the Badgers around.
(13) Illinois: bad.
(14) Rutgers: bad.

1. (2) Ohio State: Where was this team all year?
 2. (1) Michigan: That game will sting Michigan fans for a number of years. Injuries hurt a lot, but this Ohio State team shouldn't have been good enough to score that many points vs. their defense.
 
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 3. (3) Northwestern: 8-1 in Big Ten play. Underdogs this week, but that is nothing new for them.
 4. (4) Penn State: Their ranking this week will be difference of whether in a New Years 6 Bowl or not. With PAC-12 champ likely being outside top 12, they will need to be at 11 for NY6 bowl. If not, likely going to Citrus Bowl. Not a bad performance in what feels like it was a rebuilding year for the Loins.
 
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 5. (8) Iowa: Have kept them lower most of the season because of their loses to teams just above, but this team has beat teams it should and lost in close games to teams it lost too. Flip a thing or two and Iowa would be going to Indianapolis.
 6. (5) Michigan State: Where do you rank this team? They seemed to lose almost all ability to score the last few weeks and were close to losing to Rutgers last week. They still have a win vs. Penn State though and have been in every game save the Michigan one.
 7. (11) Minnesota: For the first time in 15 years, they have the greatest trophy in college sports.
 8. (6) Wisconsin: Still finished with wins at Iowa and at Purdue, but a big disappointment for a season.
 9. (7)Purdue: In a back and forth season, they took the Old Oak and Bucket and are going bowling. Can't believe I actually have them 2 spots lower this week, but more a matter of everyone being close and leaning on others more now.
 10. (9) Nebraska: Would bet Nebraska over most the teams above in a rematch, but lost enough of the games I don't like moving up. If had beat Iowa this week, would have jumped several places. Future is bright though.
 11. (12) Indiana: Not going to a bowl. Giving them a slight edge over Maryland because of head to head win.
 12. (10) Maryland: Team showed lots of potential with a win over Texas and being so close vs. Ohio State. Program will be fine.
 13. (13) Illinois: One of the most underachieving programs over last decade. Some signs of life this year. Hopefully build on it.
 14. (14) Rutgers: I maintain what I have been saying. This is an improved program over what it was, but schedule worked out very bad for them (toughest games started just when they were starting to figure things out a little).

It strikes me that these rankings are pretty similar to the preseason notions about the teams and ranking.

Yup.

I think it's pretty clear that the East is more top heavy, but the West is far deeper.  Which one is "tougher" depends on what kind of team you are.  If you are a CFP contender type, you'd rather be in the West, where there are no other teams that should be at your level; if you are a team just trying to get bowl eligible, it's probably easier in the East, where you get more "should win" type games.