CFB51 College Football Fan Community
The Power Four => Big Ten => Topic started by: ManHawk on October 11, 2026, 08:30:34 AM
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Well, some good teams survive big tests on the road, while the rest of the conference becomes even more muddled.
My power rankings are in a post below. What does everybody else think?
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Chaos.
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yup, supposed to get easier after 6 games
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1) Hoosiers - rounding into form with 22 straight wins. IU had 2 TDs in the 4th Qtr and kept grinding in Lincoln. Great call on 4th and 1 in tight formation but hits a strike for 44yds and a TD
2)Bucks - J. Smith scored touchdowns on his first two touches, Sayin had four TD passes vs the hapless Terps. Smith now has 38 career receiving TDs, one shy of the conference record. But Ryan Day just might have a lot of explaining to do late Saturday afternoon for some continued sloppy play under his direction.
3) USC - Tough call between them and their cross town rival Bruins as they both won on the road in some of the toughest places for opponents to play
4) UCLA - Even though they're 5-0 they beat a Duck team w/o their Heisman hopeful QB.Filling in Dylan Raiola completed only six of 18 passes for 43 yards and two interceptions for the Ducks before he was replaced in the fourth quarter. Ducks turned the ball over 7 X
5) Iowa - prolly the proper spot to park the Hawkeyes with an impressive win on the road in a short week. Their D-fence held the Huskies to minus-3 yards rushing
6) 'Skers - Lost at home...but a close one...to the defending national champs. Perhaps let down by their coaches late in the game. Skers offense couldn't put them away when they had the chance
7) Ducks - but if Moore stays in concussion Protocol,Raiola is going to have to step up his game and play to his potential for the Ducks to have a good season
8) Wiscy - parking the scrappy Badgers here with their 4-1 record had a bye week,so I'm both happy and sad for their fans that are chomping for a change
9) Wildcats - hammered Ball State at home
10) M* - had the week off licking their wounds after 2 straight Losses - as are the team they'll be playing in AA Saturday PSU with their own streak
11) Boilers - on a roll to respectability and seemingly resurgence with their 2nd straight win will be at home Saturday vs a fading Husky team
12)Gophers - had a chance for 5-1 but just didn't show up on the road
13) Lions
14) Huskies
15) Illini
16) Spartans
17)Terps
18) Knights
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1. Indiana - survives tough test in 4Q comeback win at Neb. Ind has also beat NW at home and won @Rut. Next up Ohio St plays at Ind in the big showdown for #1
2. Ohio St - has blown out ILL and MD at home and also won @Iowa. Next up Ohio St @Ind. Big question is who will dominate in the 4Q.
3. UCLA - survives in a close win @Ore. Has also bear Purdue at home and blew out MD on the road. Next up another test to see how good UCLA really is. Wisc @UCLA.
4. Northwestern - has close loss @Ind and dominant victory over Penn St at home. Next up NW @Mich St
5. Iowa - dominates Washington on the road. Also has close win over Mich on road and loss to Ohio St at home. Iowa gets next week oif.
6. Nebraska - close loss to Ind at home. Also won at Mich St and beat MD at home. Next up Neb @Ore
7. Oregon - close loss to UCLA at home. Also beat uSC on the road. Next up Neb plays at Oregon.
8. USC - big win in the eastern time zone at Penn St. Also barely won at Rut. Barely beat Wash at home and lost to Oregon at home. Next up USC gets the week off after playing every week since mid-August
9. Wisconsin '- had last week off. Has had a close win @Penn St and dominant win over Mich St at home. Next up Wisc plays at UCLA. Time to find out if Wisc is for real.
10. Purdue? - purdue suddenly surprisingly on a roll..big win over Minn at home.. plus won @ILL and loss @UCLA early in the season. Next up Wash plays at Purdue. Is purdue due for a letdown after 2 straight upsets?
11. Minnesota - Minn has big letdown @Pur after 2 upset wins in a row @Wash and over Mich at home. Next up Minn gets week off.
12. Michigan - had the week off. Previously had close loss at home to Iowa and close loss @ Minn. I have a hunch Mich is going to move up after a slow start. Next up Penn St plays at Mich in a battle to stay respectable?
13. Penn St - loss at home to USC. Previously loss at home to Wisc and loss @NW. Next up Penn St travels to Mich.
14. Washington - gets embarrassed at Home in loss to Iowa. Previously a close loss at home to Minn and close loss on road to USC. Next up Wash travels to play surprisng Purdue on the road.
15 Illinois - good enough to win @Mich St in OT. Previously loss to Purdue at home and loss at Ohio St. Next up ILL gets the week off.
16. Mich St - Good enough to lose in OT to ILL at home. Also loss to Neb and loss to Wisc. Next up Mich St hosts NW
17. MD - got beat @Ohio St. Also has loss at home to UCLA and loss @Neb . Next up MD hosts Ruthers. In the battle for #17 in the conference.
18. Rut - had the week off. Had close loss at home to USC and also loss at home to Ind. Next up rut plays at MD o see who really is the worst team in the conference.
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2 most interesting games in week 7 are at the complete opposite end of conference power rankings.
The big showdown of course is Ohio St @Indiana.
Going back to last year, Indiana has a history of coming through big time in the 4Q when the game is on the line. Ohio St has mostly dominated this year except for a strange 4Q collapse against Texas. Who will dominate in the 4Q in this game?
Then the other less obvious showdown is Rutgers @ Maryland.
The battle to finally decide who is the worst team in the conference. Both teams have shown some life but have not yet won in the conference ((yes I know there are still actually 6 winless teams in the conference but let's not ruin this story with facts)
I guess its also worth noting that winless Penn St is playing at winless Michigan. Whoever loses that game will remain tied for last place with the MD-Rut loser.
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worth noting
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worth noting
Better than being worth nothing I guess
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in the pre-season rankings, that game was supposed to be worthy
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2 most interesting games in week 7 are at the complete opposite end of conference power rankings.
The big showdown of course is Ohio St @Indiana.
Going back to last year, Indiana has a history of coming through big time in the 4Q when the game is on the line. Ohio St has mostly dominated this year except for a strange 4Q collapse against Texas. Who will dominate in the 4Q in this game?
Then the other less obvious showdown is Rutgers @ Maryland.
The battle to finally decide who is the worst team in the conference. Both teams have shown some life but have not yet won in the conference ((yes I know there are still actually 6 winless teams in the conference but let's not ruin this story with facts)
I guess its also worth noting that winless Penn St is playing at winless Michigan. Whoever loses that game will remain tied for last place with the MD-Rut loser.
Washington.
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worth noting
I'm not just noting it, I'm celebrating it. I even created a game thread just to celebrate it.
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1. Ohio State
2. UCLA
3. Indiana
4. Northwestern
5. Iowa
6. USC
7. Nebraska
8. Oregon
9. Wisconsin
10. Purdue
11. Minnesota
12. Illinois
13. Penn State
14. Michigan
15. Michigan State
16. Rutgers
17. Maryland
18 Washington
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now there's some healthy disrespect for the Hoosiers
but, you're not the only one
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Good road win yesterday and barely beat #4 at home.
IU has a "prove it" week ahead.
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now there's some healthy disrespect for the Hoosiers
Good road win yesterday and barely beat #4 at home.
IU has a "prove it" week ahead.
Outside of the Iowa game the Buckeyes beat the teams they should have nothing setting themselves apart. And lost a game in the Texas heat they seemingly had in the bag. And that loss to the then no.1 doesn't appear so stout today.
I miss the O-line coach URBZ had when they won the NC in '14 Ed Warriner. He got guys from other positions and made them starters or back ups - and good ones too. He always had at least a decent rotation to keep guys fresh. Day just hasn't been very good filling that void his lines have been pedestrian really - on both sides of the ball. He's great at snagging the so called skilled players but with the portal and with what he's paid - his attention to detail seems wanting.
We'll see and know more next Saturday, Day said after the game "We've got to get these things fixed." Well we are 6 games into the season and 8yrs into his tenure this isn't a rash of injuries causing line play problems. Either poor coaching or poor player procurement or both
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3) USC - Tough call between them and their cross town rival Bruins as they both won on the road in some of the toughest places for opponents to play
9) Wildcats - hammered Ball State at home
Right now I would say the biggest difference in our ratings are for USC and NW. I have USC #8 and NW #4. I give USC credit for coming east twice and winning, but I am not convinced close wins over Rutgers, Penn St and Washington are a sign of strength. Puts USC more around Wiscy's level i think. UCLA beat Oregon on road while USC lost to Oregon at home. So if nothing else I would put UCLA above USC.
Meanwhile NW has dominated Colorado and Penn St and haa a close loss @Indiana. So far they seem pretty good to me.
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Washington.
Yes, if you based the power rankings solely on the way Washington played defense against Iowa, they definitely should be ranked last.
Still trying to figure out how Wash kept it close against Minn and USC because against Iowa, Wash's defense was playing like a high school team. Missed tackles all game. Blown coverages leaving receiver's wide open. AND Iowa was playing its backup QB! Washington just looked awful I must agree.
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1) Ohio State: this week we get the answer everyone wants…
2) Indiana: everyone watching sees that this is not last year’s Indiana, but see above.
3) UCLA? Big win. Gets a chance to expose Wisconsin next week.
4) Northwestern: sneaky good.
5) Iowa: same as it ever was.
6) Oregon: not the same, but still good.
7) USC: not elite, but solid.
8) Nebraska: tough loss, but did better than expected.
9) Wisconsin: based on the current results. I expect a 3-game slide coming next.
10) Washington: not an easy out
11) Purdue? Took advantage of an unprepared Gopher team.
12) Minnesota: looked bad, bad, bad, but it was a classic let-down game.
13) Michigan: offense is bad.
14) Penn State: battle for the best of the mediocre blue bloods coming up next.
15) Illinois: what happened?
16) Michigan State: by virtue of their injury report.
17) Maryland
18) Rutgers: can’t forget UMass.