1. Ohio State: Another week, another gritty if fortunate win. Hard to know what to make of these guys. How they ended up throwing 54 times is a mystery to me. The guys have to get the running game sorted out - running the Air Raid is not the key to winning the Big Ten. The defense was again decent to good, though still waiting to face a fully functional offense.
2. Michigan: Not exactly an inspiring performance - I was in a bar for most of their game so didn't see much of it. Seems like the offense was working in fits and starts. The defense romped - pretty clear they have the best defensive line in the conference, and behind them they play pretty sound football. Indiana is a bit of a corpse, so tough to say much.
3. Wisconsin: If this team gets a functional passing offense, they are the best team in the conference. Graham Mertz actually had a stat line worth remembering against Rutgers, and they were the best team in the B1G yesterday. Wiscy is on a five game winning streak and is clearly looking like the class of the West right now, though the way that division has looked, could change in an instant.
4. Michigan State: The iffy back end finally bit them, as they really never slowed down Purdue, who had almost 600 yards of offense. Still, they showed moxy, coming to within a score in the last few minutes. They actually averaged more yards per play than Purdue did, so this is a team with some punch.
5. Purdue: The team looks much more potent on offense than early in the season. They actually display a very new Purdue trait - consistency. David Bell is a monster, they have some guys on defense, and they will be a tough out for anyone they play, which includes the next opponent, OSU.
6. Penn State: Hard to know what to make of this team, which really struggled with Maryland until an 87 yard pick six made the score look a lot wider than the game was. They can't run the ball, but they play defense and have some dudes at receiver.
7. Minnesota: Another tough team to rank. They are like the golfer who hits perfect shots the first three strokes, and then the fourth shanks into a tree and nails an old lady in the head.
8. Nebraska: Another week, another competitive loss where they had more than enough mistakes to make sure their fans couldn't sleep at night. This time, two missed field goals and a shanked punt.
9. Iowa: Somehow outgained by Northwestern.
10. Illinois: Another win for the Berts, and if it wasn't for the fact that you can't trust this team even a little, they might be higher. Still, a good season for them, considering they still look allergic to the forward pass.
11. Maryland: Competitive with Penn State, though not sure what that gets you these days.
12. Northwestern: Competitive with Iowa. Congrats.
13. Rutgers: Sometimes you are the windshield, this week they were the bug.
14. Indiana: They play hard, but they are bad.