Perhaps the BEST B1G Forum anywhere, here at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

And yeah, if Mertz is out--and it's looking that way--Wolf isn't a high school quarterback. But he's also not Mertz. He's the #3 QB on the depth chart. I wouldn't expect the Badgers to fall to Sparty territory, but calling them #2 in the league with Wolf seems like a stretch.

In that case it would be understandable, but it's a little surprising that with only one data point for any of us to work with so many posters are ranking the Leos over the Hoosiers.

It may well turn out that way, but for now all we have to go on is their head to head match up.

A majority of us ranked PSU ahead of IU despite IU's H2H win.  So far there are 11 voters.  Five have IU ranked higher:

• You have IU higher by one spot (#4 and #5)
• Temp has IU higher by four spots (#4 and #8)
• Badger has IU higher by two spots (#5 and #7)
• ELA has IU higher by one spot (#4 and #5)
• Benthere has IU higher by three spots (#3 and #6)

Six of us have PSU ranked higher:

• Max has PSU one spot higher (#4 and #5)
• NOB has PSU three spots higher (#4 and #7)
• I have PSU two spots higher (#4 and #6)
• LetsGoPeay has PSU two spots higher (#4 and #6) and he is an IU guy if I'm not mistaken
• Fearless has PSU one spot higher (#4 and #5)
• SFBadger has PSU one spot higher (#4 and #5)

I do not think it is surprising AT ALL that most of us have PSU ranked higher than IU for two reasons.  

First, I disagree with your assertion that "for now all we have to go on is their head to head match up."  We can also use our preseason assumptions, recruiting rankings over the past few years, success over the past few years and any number of other factors.  I understand and generally concur with the objection to using those things AFTER we have most of a season of actual on-field results but failing to use those things after just one game has been played is a mistake IMHO because crazy things happen and we all know that the better team does not always win.  Maybe IU is better than PSU but, IMHO, at this point it is far more likely that this was just an upset, they happen.  In all honesty, as a Buckeye fan like me, would you be more worried about tOSU @IU than you would about tOSU @ PSU?  If you say yes, I think you are nuts.  

Second even if I agreed that all we had to go on was that one game, PSU had more rushing yards (250 - 41), more passing yards (238 - 170), had more first downs (27 - 16), had more ToP by more than double (40:25 - 19:35), and outgained IU by more than double (488 - 211).  They lost because they lost the turnover battle 3-2, missed two FG's (47 and 57 yards), had a few bad breaks, and gave up a 2 point conversion in OT that was as close of a call as you will ever see.  

Thus, even looking ONLY at that one game, I think PSU would be a tougher opponent on a neutral field tomorrow than IU.  

The votes that I really don't understand are the three voters that have IU more than one spot higher then PSU.  Why?  What about IU's close-as-close-can-be win over PSU makes anyone think that there is room for up to three teams (out of Michigan, Northwestern, Purdue, and Rutgers) between them?  That is baffling to me.  

Results posted, votes through @SFBadger96 , 11 voters.  

A lot of Illinois fans would probably wonder what the hell happened on Saturday afternoon, if you told them on Saturday morning that their average ranking would actually go up.

Not putting Michigan anywhere near the top 3 like some of y’all. They have lot more to prove.

Ohio State @ PSU is fascinating to me. That is a must win for Penn State. They lose that one at home at night, and their season is basically done.

I've always viewed these as power rankings, not record rankings (I think it's even in the title of the thread). We don't need any opinions for the latter. Power rankings are much more subjective, so it's not at all surprising to see a lot of variation, particularly in week 1.

Do you honestly believe that Rutgers, Purdue, Northwestern, and Indiana would each be a tougher challenge for your Wolverines than Penn State? 

If your answer is yes, I think you are lying.  You know better. 

If your answer is new, I think you voted wrong.  It is a power ranking not a "who deserves it" poll.  The fundamental basis of it, I think, should be which team do I think would win on a neutral field if they played tomorrow?" 

On a neutral field I would pick:

• Ohio State over any of the other 13 teams in the league,
• Wisconsin over any team not named Ohio State
• Michigan over any team not named Ohio State or Wisconsin
• . . .
• Maryland over nobody

this all assumes no injuries or COVID related absences- Wisconsin will have a chance this week to start a 3rd or 4th string QB and how many others might be lost( hell Mertz was congratulated by almost everyone on the team for his near perfect game) 

I can say that the team Michigan beat up on Saturday night was not the same team that without COVID and injuries and opt outs would have played

But we are in a a weird world and COVID is/has affected some teams more than others and through the year could hit even OSU hard

Heck Michigans player threw up twice on the filed and the medical staff didnt pull him form the game (hope he tests negative or more players could be out)