Big Ten Power Rankings - Week Four

Here are my power ratings for the Big Ten heading in to Week Four. These rankings are based on how good I think the teams are right now, not how well I think they’ll finish, or what they’ll do based on their schedule. It’s a ranking of how the teams would do on a neutral field tomorrow.

1. Ohio State – If the Buckeyes steal a Big Ten crown this year, it’ll be Tressel’s best non National Championship coaching job. The win at Washington was huge; the Buckeyes went in to a hostile environment and made their first big statement since the Florida debacle, and laid the wood to an offense that had been surging. The emergence of Brandon Seine as a counter punch to Chris Wells gives OSU the best backs in the conference, and the defense has been rock solid against 2.5 good offenses.

2. Penn State – Buffalo isn’t the dead beat squad that most folks think, but the Lions’ slow start against the Bulls raised some eyebrows. Buffalo’s Drew Willy has been hot lately, but 330 passing yards against this Nittany D? I had the Lions #1 last week, but their propensity for slow starts so far dropped them a notch. PSU better beware of coming out of the gates slowly next week: an early lead might be all Michigan needs to find their sea legs.

3. Wisconsin – The pick nouveau to win the conference and challenge for a national title, the Badgers gave a piss-poor defensive showing against the Citadel, giving up 31 points en route to a too close for comfort 45-31 victory. This team has the potential to win the Big 10 going away, but isn’t there yet. It took a TD pass with 2 minutes left to beat UNLV, and the defense got worked by an FCS team. We’ll see how much Tyler Donovan has learned this week against Iowa; the Hawks will successfully bottle the run, forcing Donovan to throw more often than he’s used to.

4. Purdue – Honestly, this team could finish anywhere from 1^st to 7^th in the conference, and I wouldn’t be shocked. The offense has looked unreal, with Curtis Painter near the top ten nationally in both completions and yards, and second in passing TDs. How good is the defense, though? The Boiler D has given up 342 ypg against some pretty bad competition, and its just frankly hard to tell if they’re good yet. I know they’re not great, I know they don’t stink. I’m guessing we’ll find out how tough they are on October 8^th: Ohio State comes to town.

5. Indiana – Yep, I really do think they’re this good. Frankly, 5^th in the Big Ten this year doesn’t say a whole lot, but I think the Hoosiers are good enough to clear the top half of the conference and contend for an Alamo type bowl game. I wasn’t impressed with this squad until last week, when Kellen Lewis gave a studly dual-threat performance against one of the MAC’s stingiest D’s. Indy hasn’t played a team with good corners yet, and we’ll see how it affects Lewis’ ability to both run and pass when that happens. For now, I like this squad.

6. Michigan State – Mark D’Antonio has done about as well with this squad as could be expected; there’s three wins, 100 points, and zero flag planting on opponents fields. That probably won’t change this week, despite how much the Spartans and Irish really don’t like each other. We knew last year that Brian Hoyer was a competent QB; he’s looked great this year, but the O-Line has to protect better. 8 sacks in three games against this caliber of competition isn’t good.

7. Michigan – There have been plenty of columns written on the demise of the Wolverines in the last couple weeks, but this is still a bowl team that will scare teams throughout the year. The win over the Irish doesn’t show much, except that Michigan still cares, but the following stats do: the offensive line has been competent (40^th in the nation in sacks given up), the defensive line is still dangerous (13 sacks in 3 games), and Mike Hart is one tough SOB (3^rd in rushing yards, 1^st in guaranteed wins). This team will make a bowl game.

8. Illinois – I know, Illini fans, but hear me out. I think this is a quality football team that will be just on the cusp of making a bowl game. The win over Syracuse isn’t that impressive, although I think it’s a great W for this program. Juice Williams showed me something Saturday with his ability to get out of the pocket and run – it was a nice performance, and I hope as many people as possible watch the Juice vs. Kellen Lewis matchup this week. For all the ink that has been spilled the last few years over Drew Tate, Drew Stanton and Brett Basanez, these are two of the most exciting talents the Big Ten has seen in awhile.

9. Iowa – I learned a lot about the Hawkeyes Saturday. Not only did Iowa drop a rough one to Iowa State, but its two previous opponents (No. Illinois and Syracuse) were both embarrassed, with NIU ending Eastern Michigan’s 7 game losing streak, and ‘Cuse getting bombed by the Illini. The Iowa defensive front is a gang of monsters against the run, but couldn’t get any pressure on Bret Meyer. I’m not knocking the Iowa D; they’ve been great, giving up just six field goals in three games. But where is the offense? The very good duo of Albert Young and Damien Sims didn’t find running room against a pretty lackluster Cyclone front, and Jake Christensen couldn’t find receivers, despite having plenty of time to throw in most cases. To win in the Big Ten, the Hawks are going to have to do what Iowa has always done well: run the ball between the tackles, involve a very good TE (Tony Moeaki), and excel at play-action. Is Christensen up to the task?

10. Northwestern – Well, nothing to kill some buzz like ending Duke’s 22 game winless streak. The ‘Cats committed 13 penalties for a whopping 125 yards Saturday, and were stopped 4 times on 4^th downs. That’s how you lose to a team you outgain by 200 yards. What can you say now? The Duke offense had absolutely nothing going on the ground, getting just 2 ypc, but managed to win because Thaddeus Lewis only missed on 4 passes. The schedule actually is kind to N’Western, with winnable games against Michigan, Minnesota, Iowa and Indiana all in Evanston. Anybody that commits a penalty at practice this week oughta get tazed.

11. Minnesota – The Tim Brewster era is off to a whimper in the Twin Cities, with the Gophs just a shanked Miami (Oh.) FG away from being 0-3. How can a team that scores so easily in second halves be so brutal at the outset? Minny is getting outscored 65-28 in the first half, but dominating second halves and OT, outscoring teams 83-44. The defense is 116^th in D-I right now in total yards, and hasn’t really shown signs of stopping anyone, at any time.