CFB51 College Football Fan Community
The Power Four => Big Ten => Topic started by: ManHawk on October 05, 2025, 09:26:29 AM
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What does everybody think? Just try to make sense of the PSU-UCLA game in the power rankings, I dare you. My rankings are below.
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1. Ohio State
2. fOregon
3. Indiana
4. Michigan
5. Nebraska
6. Penn State
7. USC
8. Washington
9. Illinois
10. Iowa
11. Maryland
12. Minnesota
13. Michigan State
14. Northwestern
15. Rutgers
16. UCLA
17. Purdue
18. Wisconsin
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1. Ohio St - dominates Minnesota like they should.
2. Oregon - well timed off week to get ready for Indiana
3. Indiana - well timed off week to get ready for Oregon.
4. Penn St - I am going to give PSU a pass and write off their loss at UCLA as a fluke. Much like when Iowa beat Ohio St 55-24 in 2017. I expect both teams to go back to normal next week.
5. USC - got the week off to get ready for Michigan
6. Michigan - got a much tougher test from Wisconsin than expected. Now on to USC.
7. Iowa. - off week to get ready for Wisconsin
8. Washington - pulls off a big comeback win on the road against a good MD team.
9. Illinois - Was that 63-10 loss to Indiana just an illusion?
10. Maryland - looks like September Maryland played the first half and October Maryland showed up at halftime in a close loss at home to Washington.
11. Nebraska - pulls out win at home against Mich St
12. Minnesota - good enough to beat Rutgers but not even close against Ohio St
13. Rutgers - off week to get ready for Washington
14. Mich St. - loss on the road to Nebraska
15. Purdue. - loss at home to Illinois
16. Wisconsin - looked much better against Michigan but still has work to do.
17. Northwestern - solid win against G6 team following up its home win against UCLA.
18. UCLA - yes, I am keeping UCLA last. Yes they played great against PSU, and they deserve tons of credit for that. But that effort will be tough to duplicate every week. UCLA's QB had a great game but won't survive in the Big Ten if he tries to do that every week
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4. Penn St - I am going to give PSU a pass and write off their loss at UCLA as a fluke. Much like when Iowa beat Ohio St 55-24 in 2017. I expect both teams to go back to normal next week.
Yeah, completely disagree. Penn State is ass. James Franklin is a piss poor coach and Drew Allar has been awful vs their OOC slate which has been maybe the worst OOC schedule of any P4 team. They haven’t beaten a single P4 opponent this season. Drew Allar is what he is- dirty unwashed asshole who has regressed as a player and Penn State is just not a very good team.
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Yeah, completely disagree. Penn State is ass. James Franklin is a piss poor coach and Drew Allar has been awful vs their OOC slate which has been maybe the worst OOC schedule of any P4 team. They haven’t beaten a single P4 opponent this season. Drew Allar is what he is- dirty unwashed asshole who has regressed as a player and Penn State is just not a very good team.
Yes, It is true PSU has not beat any P4 teams yet, but this is also the team that just a week ago lost in 2OT to a top ten Oregon team. Then had to travel cross country to play on the west coast. The Oregon game clearly took a lot out of them. Especially the PSU defense.
With that said, UCLA's brand new OC, Jerry Neuheisel, clearly had an inspired game plan, and UCLA QB Nico Iamaleava had a Heisman like game. PSU was caught off guard and won't make that mistake again
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10. Maryland - looks like September Maryland played the first half and October Maryland showed up at halftime in a close loss at home to Washington.
I had to go to a wedding yesterday so I didn't see a lot but my thoughts were exactly this.
I saw the HT score and thought "Wow, September Maryland lives!" Then I saw the final and thought "Well, September is officially over. "
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I had to go to a wedding yesterday so I didn't see a lot but my thoughts were exactly this.
I saw the HT score and thought "Wow, September Maryland lives!" Then I saw the final and thought "Well, September is officially over. "
it is pretty wild that under Locklsey it's like clock work. they look pretty good in September and people start to think- hey man maybe Maryland is better than anyone thinks this year- only for them to completely shit down their leg as soon as October starts.
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Yes, It is true PSU has not beat any P4 teams yet, but this is also the team that just a week ago lost in 2OT to a top ten Oregon team. Then had to travel cross country to play on the west coast. The Oregon game clearly took a lot out of them. Especially the PSU defense.
With that said, UCLA's brand new OC, Jerry Neuheisel, clearly had an inspired game plan, and UCLA QB Nico Iamaleava had a Heisman like game. PSU was caught off guard and won't make that mistake again
man I think you're just giving them too much credit because of some little number in front of their name in the pre-season. they are just.....not very good. Jim Knowles had training wheels slapped on him at Ohio State by Ryan Day because buddy thought he was Dr. Fucking Blitz aka Don Brown and wanted to pressure every snap because it cost Ohio State in every big game they lost while he was at Ohio State before their playoff run. At Penn State Frames Janklin is too stupid to put those training wheels on Knowles and Knowles' defense just gave up 42 points and 450 yards to an 0-4 team that was the worst team in the P4- had gotten blown out at home by New Mexico and Utah and had NEVER LEAD FOR A SINGLE SECOND IN ANY OF THEIR PREVIOUS FOUR GAMES. Said team which never had a lead for a single second in any of their other 4 games- never trailed Penn State for a single second- they had the lead the entire game.
Drew Allar is flat out...an awful QB. And he's a SR in the same system for 4 years with 4 years of starting experience now and he flat out has regressed and is just a bad QB. He stinks. And their passing offense is completely DOA without their 1st rd NFL TE that is now balling out in the league.
That defense was never going to be as good as it was last year- they lost their top 4 tacklers from a season ago including Abdul Carter- who was the best EDGE rusher in CFB last season. They are in short: a complete and total fraud.
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Hmmmm...
if Penn St is as awful as you are saying, then suddenly their schedule is looking pretty tough. Looking at PSU's upcoming schedule and probable outcomes.
NW - win
@Iowa - loss
@Ohio St - loss
Indiana - loss
@MSU - 50/50
Nebraska - 50/50
@Rutgers - 50/50
PSU may be looking at 3-6 in Big Ten play and 6-6 overall. Well, at least they can still go to a bowl, I guess.
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Hmmmm...
if Penn St is as awful as you are saying, then suddenly their schedule is looking pretty tough. Looking at PSU's upcoming schedule and probable outcomes.
NW - win
@Iowa - loss
@Ohio St - loss
Indiana - loss
@MSU - 50/50
Nebraska - 50/50
@Rutgers - 50/50
PSU may be looking at 3-6 in Big Ten play and 6-6 overall. Well, at least they can still go to a bowl, I guess.
@ Iowa will be a knock out drag out low scoring game- they have a shot but it's a toss up imo and we saw Indiana struggle mightily in Kinnick and I'd lean Iowa right now.
Ohio State is going to absolutely destroy them in Columbus and Indiana will out-duel them in Happy Valley because Penn State's offense will just not be able to keep up pace with Indiana's offense.
They'll beat Michigan State because Michigan State has an OL that couldn't block a JV high school team and are comically bad on defense.
Nebraska they'll probably beat because it's at home and Matt Rhule stinks, but that one is a 50-50 because Raiola is a future NFL draft pick QB and they have pretty good WRs.
They'll beat Rutgers. I mean, c'mon at the end of the day that's still Rutgers.
They are a 4-5 loss team this year and they will get destroyed by the two top 10 teams they face tOSU and Indiana.
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Contenders:
1) Ohio State: same as it ever was
2) Oregon: but that big win last week picked up a little tarnish
3) Indiana
Top 25-ish:
4) Michigan: not very exciting, but solid.
5) Illinois: not looking all that good, but good enough.
6) USC: big game upcoming.
7) Penn State: inexcusable, but unsurprising with a 3000 mile road trip. Not who we thought they were.
Also-rans:
8) Iowa: trip to Madison should be interesting for a team committed to the ground game.
9) Nebraska: not inspiring, but a win. That’s what gets you put here.
10) Washington: cross country travel is hard and a win is a win.
11) Minnesota: this just in: the Buckeyes are good.
12) Maryland: wow, they thought they would win that game.
13) Rutgers
14) Michigan State: Nebraska isn’t terrible.
Pur-Don’t:
15) Purdue: outplayed, but put up a fight.
16) Wisconsin: is there a win out there between hosting Washington and Illinois and the Axe against Minnesota?
17) Northwestern: winning is fun.
Mountain West Division of the B1G
18) UCLA: don’t t let that shocking win, with a 3000 mile travel voucher assisting, distract from losing at UNLV and getting smoked at home by New Mexico (and Utah)
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Contenders:
1) Ohio State: same as it ever was
2) Oregon: but that big win last week picked up a little tarnish
3) Indiana
Top 25-ish:
4) Michigan: not very exciting, but solid.
5) Illinois: not looking all that good, but good enough.
6) USC: big game upcoming.
7) Penn State: inexcusable, but unsurprising with a 3000 mile road trip. Not who we thought they were.
Also-rans:
8) Iowa: trip to Madison should be interesting for a team committed to the ground game.
9) Nebraska: not inspiring, but a win. That’s what gets you put here.
10) Washington: cross country travel is hard and a win is a win.
11) Minnesota: this just in: the Buckeyes are good.
12) Maryland: wow, they thought they would win that game.
13) Rutgers
14) Michigan State: Nebraska isn’t terrible.
Pur-Don’t:
15) Purdue: outplayed, but put up a fight.
16) Wisconsin: is there a win out there between hosting Washington and Illinois and the Axe against Minnesota?
17) Northwestern: winning is fun.
Mountain West Division of the B1G
18) UCLA: don’t t let that shocking win, with a 3000 mile travel voucher assisting, distract from losing at UNLV and getting smoked at home by New Mexico (and Utah)
flip Penn State to 8 with Iowa moving to 7 and that's probably my exact list.
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- Oregon: Bye week before a big showdown with Indiana
- Ohio State: Defense is just murdering people. Sayin is extremely accurate. Bo Jackson emerging has been important.
- Indiana: Big huge game this week
- Michigan: Coming in fits and starts but if they can mount a consistent running game they are a contender
- Illinois: The performance against Indiana exists. But everything else has been pretty good. They host the Buckeyes this week, could be interesting.
- Iowa: We all know Iowa
- USC: All gas, no brakes against the other team. Very interesting game with Michigan this week
- Washington: Nice comeback against the Terps
- Penn State: They can move up when they show some signs of life against a good team
- Nebraska: Raiola is pretty good. The rest of the team is tough to figure
- Maryland: They figured out in the fourth quarter that it's no longer September
- Minnesota: They are must more thoroughly average than I expected them to be
- Michigan State: Still figuring things out but I think they will bite someone eventually
- Rutgers: In that mushy middle where they are not bad but also not good
- Purdue: No defense, but maybe they can improve on that. More faith that they will compared to to USC
- UCLA: Wild
- Northwestern: They exist
- Wisconsin: This team blows.
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https://twitter.com/A_M_D_16/status/1974966316370145442
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1. Oregon
2. Ohio State
3. Indiana
4. Penn State
5. Michigan
6. Washington
7. USC
8. Nebraska
9. Illinois
10. Iowa
11. Wisconsin
12. Maryland
13. Minnesota
14. Michigan State
15. Rutgers
16. Northwestern
17. UCLA
18. Purdue
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(https://i.imgur.com/zMjCYuZ.jpeg)
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[img width=218.784 height=500]https://i.imgur.com/zMjCYuZ.jpeg[/img]
For some reason, this chart got me thinking about how pre-season expectations affect power rankings. And what would the rankings be like instead if all that was used was results from conference games this year. Maybe I will work on that later.
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It has Maryland as 4-0, but they just lost to UDub.
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I noticed that gaff
Cohen obviously doesn't have much help
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Ok, what would the rankings be instead if only the results from this year's conference games were used? What do we know?
Ohio ST > @Minn
Ohio St > @wash
Ind > ILL
Ind > @Iowa
Ore
> @PSU
Ore > @NW
Mich > @Neb
Mich > Wisc
ILL > USC
ILL > @pur
USC > MSU
USC > @Pur
Wash > @MD
NW > UCLA
Iowa > @Rut
Minn > Rut
MD > Wisc
Neb > MSU
UCLA > PSU
So that would mean
1. Ohio St + 63
2. Indiana +58
3. Oregon +26
4. Michigan +17
5. Illinois
6. USC +12
7. Washington
8. MD +7
9. Iowa +5
10. Neb. +5
11. NW
12. UCLA
13. Penn St -11
14. Minnesota
15. Rutgers -13
16. Mich St -19
17. Wisconsin -31
18. Purdue - -38
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not too dissimilar
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not too dissimilar
Right, I almost said never mind on the idea. The big difference in the rankings was PSU slid to #13 and UCLA bumped up to #12.
It also highlighted to me that Purdue has been pretty bad in conference play so far. Losing 2 games at home by double digits. Clearly the worst team performance wise so far.
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Maryland got a little bump
their home game vs Nebraska this Saturday will help settle things - it's early
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11. Wisconsin
12. Maryland
Maryland 27, Wisconsin 10, in Madison. Wisconsin scores garbage time TD to get to 10.
Just sayin.
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Last week in parentheses
- OHIO STATE (1) - suffocating
- OREGON (2) - bye week
- INDIANA (3) - bye week
- MICHIGAN (5) - played with their food a bit but was never in doubt
- ILLINOIS (6) - offense still sharp, have to get the defense squared away
- USC (7) - bye week
- WASHINGTON (9) - impressive comeback on the cross country trip
- NEBRASKA (10) - nice response after it seemed like the game was slipping away
- IOWA (8) - bye week
- PENN STATE (4) - all time woof
- MARYLAND (11) - the only team that can't take advantage of a team travelling is October Maryland with a 3 score lead
- MINNESOTA (12) - throw away the game tape
- MICHIGAN STATE (13) - battled in a tough road environment, but OL and secondary remain brutal
- RUTGERS (14) - bye week
- WISCONSIN (15) - kept it close-ish, but never felt in doubt
- PURDUE (16) - offense put up a solid fight
- NORTHWESTERN (17) - take that Sun Belt!
- UCLA (18) - big win, but just makes them the worst team, not the worst team by an enormous chasm
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Not sure about all-time woof for PSU but holy moley
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Was it worse than their blowout loss to Toledo in 2000?