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

Big Ten Football’s Proper Power Rankings: After Week Three
By Nate McHugh  


1 - Ohio State
Previous: Bye Week.

Upcoming: Marshall at Home.

2 - Penn State
Previous: Bye Week.

Upcoming: Kent State at Home.

3 - USC
Previous: Bye Week

Upcoming: At Michigan.

Momentary Musing: Must see television. It is going be difficult for Michigan to get up a bunch of points against USC’s defense. It is a lot about the USC defense but it is also about Michigan. They are still trying to figure it out. I expect USC to beat Michigan by 14+ unless Michigan can sustain some drives.

4 - Oregon
Previous: Beat Oregon State 49-14 at Oregon State.

Upcoming: Bye Week.

Momentary Musing: Finally Oregon does what they are supposed to do. Oregon State hung around for a half but then looked like the Oregon State I have been waiting for. I did pick them to win the CFP and I would like a do-over but at least for a week they looked like they should.

5 - Michigan
Previous: Beat Arkansas State 28-18 at Home.

Upcoming: USC at Home.

Momentary Musing: Sherrone Moore is going to have to out coach Lincoln Riley to have any chance at all. I expect Michigan to lose and it won’t be close. Good thing Moore finally got his contract signed.

6 - Iowa
Previous: Beat Troy 38-21 at Home.

Upcoming: At Minnesota.

Momentary Musing: I know that Troy is 0-3 but Iowa might have one of the best running backs in the conference in Kaleb Johnson. He had 173 rushing yards and two touchdowns for Iowa. The question is always going to be about the quarterback position at Iowa and Kirk Ferentz. His teams are great at defense and special teams and that ceiling will always be low until they get a quarterback.

7 - Nebraska
Previous: Beat Northern Iowa 34-3

Upcoming: Illinois on Friday

Momentary Musing: The real test for Nebraska is going to be this Friday against ranked #24 ranked Illinois. The first matchup of two ranked teams in Memorial Stadium in over a decade? That’s some sad sad stuff. Opportunity for a big win.

8 - Indiana
Previous: Beat UCLA 42-13 at UCLA.

Upcoming: Charlotte at Home.

Momentary Musing: Indiana is 3-0 and receiving votes for the AP Top 25. They’ll blow out Charlotte but watch out for this team. They will likely be 6-0 before they play Nebraska at home.

9 - Illinois
Previous: Beat Central Michigan 30-9 at Home.

Upcoming: At Nebraska.

Momentary Musing: I’ve said it time and time again that I think Bret Bielema is a really good coach. He is going to run that ball right at Nebraska and he will have the defense to slow down Raiola. This will be a great test for the true freshman.

10 - Rutgers
Previous: Bye Week

Upcoming: At Virginia Tech.

Momentary Musing: I am a believer in Greg Schiano and he will have an opportunity to get a huge win for his program at Virginia Tech.

11 - Wisconsin
Previous: Lost 42-10 to Alabama at Home.

Upcoming: Bye Week.

Momentary Musing: Definitely needs a bye week. They got throttled by an overrated SEC team and they lost their starting quarterback to injury. I am not sure having Tyler Van Dyke would have kept it much closer but based off of the results this season Wisconsin Coach Luke Fickell definitely has his work cut out for him if he doesn’t want to deal with the hot seat. Camp Randall starting emptying out real early in this one.

12 - Washington
Previous: Lost to Washington State 24-19 at Home.

Upcoming: Northwestern at Home.

Momentary Musing: Like I have said in the past weeks, I am slow to punish teams in rivalry games. But Indiana is going to force me to move Washington down.

13 - Michigan State
Previous: Beat Prairie View A&M 40-0 at Home.

Upcoming: At Boston College.

Momentary Musing: I’m not sure we learned anything but their win over Oregon State may not look as great but I’m not going to hate on them them for it.

14 - Maryland
Previous: Beat Virginia 27-13 at Home.

Upcoming: Villanova at Home.

Momentary Musing: Maryland gets a win after losing to Michigan State and should roll Villanova but that matchup against Indiana is going to be tough.

15 - Minnesota
Previous: Beat Nevada 27-0 at Home.

Upcoming: Iowa at Home.

Momentary Musing: I really hope I get to watch this game. I remember back in the good ole days when these teams would battle for the Big Ten West.

16 - Northwestern
Previous: Beat Eastern Illinois 31-7 at Home.

Upcoming: At Washington.

Momentary Musing: They got two wins and could very well be 3-0 after the double overtime loss to Duke. I assume they would like to be bowl eligible but I’m not sure I see four more wins. But they won 8 games last year so you never know.

17 - Purdue
Previous: Lost 66-7 to Notre Dame at Home.

Upcoming: At Oregon State.

Momentary Musing: Purdue is going to just need to forget that last Saturday happened. Good thing they have an easy FCS team coming to town...oh here is Oregon State who just got blown out by a rival.

18 - UCLA
Previous: Lost to Indiana 42-13 at Home.

Upcoming: At LSU.

Momentary Musing: This team is bad and this week they play LSU.

By Nate McHugh 

simple overlook

By Nate McHugh 

simple overlook

I'm honestly not sure what he's even talking about though

Well that could be good for the Buckeyes as it was for Michigan last year.

It was pathetic last year and it is this year as well but yeah.  

Last week in parentheses...

• OHIO STATE (1) - bye week
• USC (2) - bye week
• PENN STATE (3) - bye week
• OREGON (4) - finally looked the part
• MICHIGAN (5) - feels like they should have used Arkansas State as the bye week to get Orji set
• NEBRASKA (7) - big game before Raiola's first road start, although Purdue might be a dumpster
• RUTGERS (8) - bye week
• IOWA (10) - Hawkeyes ride their offense to a win?
• ILLINOIS (11) - Kansas win doesn't look quite so big anymore, big road chance this week
• WASHINGTON (6) - guessing that doesn't help Washington want to keep the Apple Cup alive
• INDIANA (18) - ok, I'm a believer
• MICHIGAN STATE (12) - will learn a lot after this week
• WISCONSIN (9) - OL held its own, but QB situation just went from bad to worse
• MARYLAND (13) - nice bounceback
• MINNESOTA (15) - averaging 6.3 ppg allowed, with the Iowa and Michigan offenses to follow
• NORTHWESTERN (17) - bye week
• UCLA (14) - they really can't ever hate USC ever again after the undeserved life vest the Trojans threw them
• PURDUE (16) - ensuring UCLA doesn't win the "all our eggs in basketball bucket" competition

Been waiting to do my SOR/SP+ mock bracket, because SOR didn't have nearly enough data, but why not, even though it's still a mess...

#12 UNLV at #5 Texas; winner vs. #4 California
#11 Miami at #6 Alabama; winner vs. #3 Kansas State
#10 Missouri at #7 USC; winner vs. #2 OREGON
#9 PENN STATE at #8 Central Florida; winner vs. #1 Georgia

Been waiting to do my SOR/SP+ mock bracket, because SOR didn't have nearly enough data, but why not, even though it's still a mess...

#12 UNLV at #5 Texas; winner vs. #4 California
#11 Miami at #6 Alabama; winner vs. #3 Kansas State
#10 Missouri at #7 USC; winner vs. #2 OREGON
#9 PENN STATE at #8 Central Florida; winner vs. #1 Georgia

No Ohio St?