Power Rankings Week 7

[MaximumSam]

1. Penn State (BYE, next week v. Michigan) Schedule moving up in difficulty.  Hopefully they worked out the kinks because Michigan will wreck their offensive line if they don't get their stuff together.  Gameday in Happy Valley.

2. Ohio State (Beat Nebraska 56-14, next up BYE) Another layup of a game, and then a bye week.  OSU is playing ridiculously well against the worst of the B1G, but in two weeks they get Penn State, which should be a hell of a game.

3. Wisconsin (Beat Purdue 17-9, next up Maryland) Statistically dominant even if the score doesn't reflect it.  The lack of meaningful competition makes them difficult to judge, but they look to be the dominant running team of Wisconsin lore.

4. Michigan State (Beat Minnesota 30-27, next up Indiana) All party until a Gophy fourth quarter.  LJ Scott had quite the game.  They need to get their running game revved up to beat OSU and PSU.

5. Michigan (Beat Indiana 27-20 in OT, next up @PSU) Weird game where it felt like they were in control, until they weren't.  Higdon had a heck of a day, and a Michigan team that can run the ball is very good.  They still have nothing at quarterback, so every win they get will probably look a lot like this, but hopefully with less overtime.  Can the defense keep them in against PSU?  

6. Iowa (BYE, next @Northwestern)  A close gutsy win over BYE.  Gold ole Iowa.

7. Purdue (Lost to Wisconsin 17-9, next @Rutgers) Faced another legit defense and didn't do much.  Still a solid team, but don't sleep on Rutgers.  Not sure Purdue is ready for expect to win mode.

8. Indiana (Lost to Michigan 27-20 in OT, next up @MSU)  Their freshman QB showed a lot of moxy against Michigan.  Hope he has some left for MSU.  Seems like they are due for a win after showing a lot of good things in their losses.

9. Northwestern (Beat Maryland 37-21, next up Iowa) Annual suddenly Northwestern looks competent.  

10. Maryland (Lost to Northwestern 37-21, next up @Wisconsin) Defense is bad.  Taking on Wisconsin won't help.

11. Minnesota (Lost to MSU 30-27, next up Illinois)  Might take a couple years to get the talent in there to row this boat.

12. Nebraska (Lost to OSU 56-14, next up BYE)  Will Mike Riley survive the bye?

13. Rutgers (Beat Illinois 35-24, next up Purdue) Fire the cannon!

14. Illinois (Lost to Rutgers 35-24, next up @Minnesota)  Nope

[847badgerfan]

Last week in parens

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

[Brutus Buckeye]

1 Penn St
2 Wisconsin
3 Ohio St

4 Michigan St
5 Iowa
6 Michigan

7 Purdue
8 Indiana 
9 Northwestern

10 Maryland
11 Minnesota
12 Nebraska

13 Rutgers
14 Illinois

[LittlePig]

1.PSU
2. Wisc
3.  OSU
4. MSU
5. Iowa
6. Mich
7.  Indy
8. NW
9. Pur
10. MD
11. Minn
12.  Neb
13.  Rut
14.  ILL

[TyphonInc]

1) PSU - too many studs for anyone to hang with.
2) Wisconsin - head, shoulders, chest, and stomach (possible knees) above the rest of the west.

3) MSU - Dantonio ready to upset teams with higher star talent.
4) M*ch - best defense in the nation
5) Iowa - solid team
6) OSU - cupcake part of season is done, they played 1 team with a pulse and got smoked.


7) Northwestern
8 )Indiana 
9) Purdue
10) Nebraska
11) Minnesota
12) Maryland

JV league.
13) Rutgers - blind squirrels sometimes find a nut
14) Illinois - they should be ashamed of themselves losing to weak sisters of the poor.

[MichiFan87]

Not much explanation needed this week.

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

[Temp430]

Ohio State
Penn State
Wisconsin
Michigan State
Iowa
Michigan
Northwestern
Indiana
Purdue
Maryland
Minnesota
Nebraska
Rutgers
Illinois

[ELA]

Last week in parenthesis

1. WISCONSIN (1) - lots of injuries in the front 7, but it's the mistakes by the offense that are more concerning
2. PENN STATE (2) - bye week
3. OHIO STATE (3) - not sure I'd pick them to lose to any Big Ten team on a neutral field right now though
4. MICHIGAN STATE (4) - getting the run game going is big, tough to tell where the passing game is after back to back bad weather games
5. MICHIGAN (5) - OL looked a lot better this week, although that was Indiana's defense (without its best player for most of the game), so who knows
6. IOWA (6) - bye week
7. PURDUE (7) - slow out of the gate, but couldn't capitalize on Bucky's mistakes
8. INDIANA (9) - I guess I'll move them up, not sure why
9. NORTHWESTERN (12) - was that the turning point for the offense?
10. MARYLAND (8) - continue to be the toughest team to figure out
11. MINNESOTA (10) - if they roll with Croft the rest of the way, I suspect they will start climbing back up
12. NEBRASKA (11) - feels a little like Michigan in 2014, where anger has given way to apathy, and that's usually the final nail in the coffin of any coach
13. RUTGERS (14) - party in Piscataway
14. ILLINOIS (13) - how did it get THIS bad?

[medinabuckeye1]

B1G-E wins over B1G-W teams:

• Michigan over Purdue at Purdue
• Penn State over Iowa at Iowa
• Penn State over Northwestern at Northwestern
• Maryland over Minnesota at Minnesota
• Michigan State over Iowa at home
• Ohio State over Nebraska at Nebraska
• Michigan State over Minnesota at Minnesota
• Rutgers over Illinois at Illinois

B1G-W wins over B1G-E teams:

• Nebraska over Rutgers at home
• Northwestern over Maryland at Maryland

East leads 8-2 with 11 games to go.  

[medinabuckeye1]

• Penn State:  (but for the fact that PSU has M and tOSU the next two weeks, I would consider moving tOSU up now).  
• Ohio State:  Looking good but it could be the competition.  
• Wisconsin:  see #2
• Michigan State:  3-0 with all three games within one score.  
• Michigan:  Not good to need OT to beat a team that PSU and tOSU beat by 31 and 28 respectively.  
• Iowa:  bye week.  
• Purdue:  Nothing this week changed my mind on this.  
• Indiana:  0-3 but they have played #1, #2, and #5.  The problem is that the schedule doesn't really let up.  Two of their next three are #3 and #4.  
• Northwestern:  Maybe?  
• Maryland:  I guess.   
• Minnesota:  In theory.   
• Nebraska:  Should be better than this.   
• Rutgers:  Won the pillow fight.   
• Illinois:  Lost the pillow fight.  

[847badgerfan]

B1G-E wins over B1G-W teams:

• Michigan over Purdue at Purdue
• Penn State over Iowa at Iowa
• Penn State over Northwestern at Northwestern
• Maryland over Minnesota at Minnesota
• Michigan State over Iowa at home
• Ohio State over Nebraska at Nebraska
• Michigan State over Minnesota at Minnesota
• Rutgers over Illinois at Illinois

B1G-W wins over B1G-E teams:

• Nebraska over Rutgers at home
• Northwestern over Maryland at Maryland

East leads 8-2 with 11 games to go.  

10/21:

Purdue at Rutgers
Maryland at Wisconsin

10/28:

MSU at Northwestern

11/04:

Wisconsin at Indiana
Ohio State at Iowa
Minnesota at Michigan

11/11:

Indiana at Illinois

11/18:

Illinois at Ohio State
Nebraska at Penn State
Michigan at Wisconsin

11/25:

Indiana at Purdue


Given the look of that, I'd say the East is going to take the cake this year. I think I hit them all, but correct me if necessary.

[medinabuckeye1]

10/21:
Purdue at Rutgers
Maryland at Wisconsin
10/28:
MSU at Northwestern
11/04:
Wisconsin at Indiana
Ohio State at Iowa
Minnesota at Michigan
11/11:
Indiana at Illinois
11/18:
Illinois at Ohio State
Nebraska at Penn State
Michigan at Wisconsin
11/25:
Indiana at Purdue

Given the look of that, I'd say the East is going to take the cake this year. I think I hit them all, but correct me if necessary.

I think that is all 21.  What makes it look worse for the B1G-W is that this year they host 14 of the 21 games.  This alternates because the league decided to set it up such that in odd-numbered years each of the seven B1G-E teams play two away and one home games against the B1G-W while this is opposite in even-numbered years.  

[Brutus Buckeye]

The Illini are gonna be bound and determined to get their grubby little hands on that Illibuck Trophy. 

[MaximumSam]

S+P

1. OSU (1)
2. PSU (3)
3. Wisconsin (6)
4. Michigan (16)
5. MSU (20)
6. Iowa (38)
7. Indiana (44)
8. Purdue (55)
9. Minnesota (62)
10. Northwestern (69)
11. Nebraska (74)
12. Maryland (83)
13. Rutgers (90)
14. Illinois (107)

Illinois not in the cellar for P5 teams, still ahead of Oregon State and Kansas.  OSU and Alabama a fair bit ahead of next best Penn State.