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Topic: Big Ten 2026 Power Rankings Before Week 8

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ManHawk

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Big Ten 2026 Power Rankings Before Week 8
« on: October 18, 2026, 07:05:39 AM »
Well, Week 7 was a completely crazy  day in college football.  The transitive property is completely dead.  May it rest in peace.

My Big Ten Power Rankings are in a post below.  What does everyone else think?
We are all equal but some are more equal than others.

ManHawk

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Re: Big Ten 2026 Power Rankings Before Week 8
« Reply #1 on: October 18, 2026, 07:45:40 AM »
1.  Ohio St - The difference between Ohio St and Indiana is literally one foot.  But credit goes to OSU, who got the job done in win at Indiana

2.  Indiana - magical run finally ends as Ind can't pull out one more dramatic come from behind win in the last 2 minutes.  Ind loses to Ohio St at home.

3.  UCLA - defense shines in tough game without the starting QB, beating Wisc at home.

Ugh-  there is a big logjam at #4.  Could be any of 7 teams you could choose from  The middle could take some time to sort out.

4.  Oregon -  pulls out tough victory at home over Neb with the backup QB, no the backup backup QB, no, actually back to the original backup QB.  Oregon has also beat USC and lost to UCLA.

5.  Nebraska. - loses 2 games in row to Ind and Ore blowing leads in 4Q in both games.

6.  Iowa - has beat Mich and Wash and has lost to Ohio St

7.  Northwestern - escapes with 3-point win at Mich St.

8.  Wisconsin - loses on road to UCLA

9.  USC -  has beat Rut, Wash and Penn St and has lost to Oregon.

10.  Minneosta -  has beat Mich and Wash and lost to Purdue

11.  Washington -  maybe saves its season by beating Purdue on the road.

12.  Purdue - loses at home to Wash after beating Minn and ILL in previous games

13.  Michigan -  benches its million dollar QB in 2H and wins at home over Penn St

14.  Penn St -  loses to Mich on the road.  Now 0-4 in conference 

15. Illinois - has  loss to Purdue and Beat MSU by 1 in OT

16.  Mich St -  has come close to winning twice now against ILL in OT and in last second loss to NW.

17.  Rutgers -  congrats.  Rutgers is no longer the worst team in the conference. Coming from behind to win at MD

18.  Maryland.  - blows 10-point half time lead and loses to Rut at home.    I would say the clock is now ticking on when Locksley will be fired as head coach. 
« Last Edit: October 18, 2026, 11:51:27 AM by ManHawk »
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ManHawk

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Re: Big Ten 2026 Power Rankings Before Week 8
« Reply #2 on: October 18, 2026, 06:21:30 PM »
Games in week 8 coming up.

Indiana 3-1 @ Michigan 1-2

Rutgers 1-2 @ NW 2-1

Oregon 2-1 @ Illinois 1-2

Mich St 0-4 @ UCLA 4-0

Iowa 2-1 @ Minn 2-1

USC 3-1 @ Wisc 2-1

These teams have the week off
Ohio St 4-0
Neb 2-2
Pur 2-2
Wash 1-3
Penn St 0-4
MD 0-4
We are all equal but some are more equal than others.

ManHawk

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Re: Big Ten 2026 Power Rankings Before Week 8
« Reply #3 on: October 18, 2026, 06:32:22 PM »
If the old divisions still existed in Big Ten

Big Ten East
Ohio St 4-0
IND 3-1
MICH 1-2
Rut 1-2
Penn St 0-4
Mich St 0-4
MD 0-4
Overall 9-17

Big Ten West
Iowa 2-1
Minn 2-1
NW 2-1
Wisc 2-1
Neb 2-2
Pur 2-2
ILL 1-2
Overall 13-10

Pac
UCLA 4-0
USC 3-1
Ore 2-1
Wash 1-3
Overall 10-5

It kinda looks like the old Pac-12 schools are dominating right now despite Washington having a down year.


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Brutus Buckeye

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Re: Big Ten 2026 Power Rankings Before Week 8
« Reply #4 on: October 18, 2026, 06:49:11 PM »
Did Penn State Nebraska themselves by firing Franklin? 

ManHawk

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Re: Big Ten 2026 Power Rankings Before Week 8
« Reply #5 on: October 18, 2026, 07:00:01 PM »
Did Penn State Nebraska themselves by firing Franklin?
I don't think its that bad.  Its more like Wisconsin firing Paul Chryst and hiring Luke Fickel.  Wisc quickly bottomed out,  but now has quickly bounced back.  Penn St will probably do the same.
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Temp430

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Re: Big Ten 2026 Power Rankings Before Week 8
« Reply #6 on: October 19, 2026, 09:41:46 AM »
1. Indiana
2. Ohio State, with Sayin out, and starting a freshman
3. UCLA?
4. Oregon
5. Iowa
6. Nebraska
7. Wisconsin
8. Northwestern
9. USC
10. Minnesota
11. Washington
12. Michigan
13. Purdue
14. Illinois
15. Penn State
16. Michigan State
17. Rutgers
18. Maryland
A decade of Victory over Penn State.

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847badgerfan

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Re: Big Ten 2026 Power Rankings Before Week 8
« Reply #7 on: October 19, 2026, 09:52:17 AM »
I think I might take the week off. Grandkids are in town and I really only got to watch the later games since the got here at 1PM Saturday.

I do know OSU is at the top, and Maryland is at the bottom. Wisconsin is somewhere in the middle.
U RAH RAH! WIS CON SIN!

MrNubbz

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Re: Big Ten 2026 Power Rankings Before Week 8
« Reply #8 on: October 19, 2026, 11:00:50 AM »
1)Buckeyes - won on the road in a close match up, defense delivered, two 4th & 1 ballsy calls by Day. IU could have won "if" on the last play but there then "if" IU would have been called for mugging Jeremiah.....

2)Hoosiers - Tie with one loss at the top barring a collapse they're a shoo in for the CCG & CFB POs

3) Bruins -  They are the last undefeated team in the BIG and won with a backup QB and has looked the part this season

4) Ducks - Dylan Raiola came off the bench and got a late score,not sure how much longer they hang on

5) USC - Didn't lose or play for that matter,headed to madison for what should be a P.O.d Badger team

6) Iowa - coming off a bye and headed to the Brickhouse should be a good match up

7)'Skers - Looked solid after getting gut punched the 2nd week in a row losing two in the 4th Qtr

8) Wildcats - beat MSU by 3 but still 1 loss on the year

9) UW - not going to win with 66yds passing and 10 penalties - on the road

10)Gophs - tough loss to the Boilers but Ws vs M* and Washington so parking them here with Iowa coming to town

11) M* - looked rejuvinated with Tommy Carr stepping in under center and made the most of the opportunity. 

12) Huskies
13)Purdue
14)Penn St
15)Illinois
16)MSU
17) Knights
18) Derps

"It is better to have died a young boy than to fumble the football" - John Heisman

ManHawk

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Re: Big Ten 2026 Power Rankings Before Week 8
« Reply #9 on: October 19, 2026, 11:27:16 AM »
5) USC - Didn't lose or play for that matter,headed to madison for what should be a P.O.d Badger team
I am still not convinced that USC is any better than Wiscy in the power rankings,   but if USC can travel to Madison and pull off the W,  then of course I will concede I was wrong .
We are all equal but some are more equal than others.

SFBadger96

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Re: Big Ten 2026 Power Rankings Before Week 8
« Reply #10 on: October 19, 2026, 11:30:31 AM »
Feeling smug as I'm only moving Purdue down, and flipping Maryland and Rutgers this week.

1) Ohio State: same as it ever was.
2) Indiana: that loss did nothing to convince me the Hoosiers don't belong here.
3) UCLA: didn't win by a lot, but were in control the whole time, even when losing the turnover battle.
4) Iowa: just fitting nicely into the same band the Hawkeyes have for the last 20 years.
5) Northwestern: it wasn't pretty, but they pulled out the win after a rough start. Don't bury the Wildcats just yet.
6) Oregon: losing the starting QB hurts, but still managed the win.
7) USC: no change during the bye.
8) Nebraska: tough loss, but solid effort on the road. Not moving them down for that.
9) Wisconsin: not especially good, but if UCLA is really #3, it wasn't an embarrassing road loss.
10) Washington: good road win.
11) Minnesota: last game was bad, game before was good, didn't play this week. Stays the same over the bye.
12) Michigan: not good.
13) Penn State: even worse.
15) Purdue: oh man, it was feeling so good for a moment...
16) Illinois: didn't play, didn't move.
17) Rutgers: winning is nice.
18) Maryland, losing at home to a team that lost to UMass is bad. That was the only game against a P4 team that Maryland was even competitive (well, maybe VaTech). Yikes.

SFBadger96

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Re: Big Ten 2026 Power Rankings Before Week 8
« Reply #11 on: October 19, 2026, 11:32:38 AM »
 Wisc quickly bottomed out,  but now has quickly bounced back. 
Has it? I don't think so. If Wisconsin goes 7-5, or 8-4 with the win over Minnesota to end the season, they will be a big step behind where the Badgers were from 2010-2020. It isn't a comeback yet.

Cincydawg

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Re: Big Ten 2026 Power Rankings Before Week 8
« Reply #12 on: October 19, 2026, 11:37:38 AM »
UCLA clearly is the team of interest.  They have a "doable schedule" from here, short of the CG if they make it.

SFBadger96

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Re: Big Ten 2026 Power Rankings Before Week 8
« Reply #13 on: October 19, 2026, 11:37:58 AM »
I am still not convinced that USC is any better than Wiscy in the power rankings,  but if USC can travel to Madison and pull off the W,  then of course I will concede I was wrong .
USC is hard for me to figure right now. I'm also very curious about this game. With a win, Wisconsin could still finish 9-3, but I think 7-5 is more likely. A loss at either Maryland or Purdue should lead to an immediate change at the top. At 7-5 Fickell should still be gone. At 8-4, assuming a win over Minnesota, that's just enough for the Badgers to be considered ok. Not "back," but marginally ok.

 

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