BuckeyeGrove.com - Big Ten Power Rankings: Week 9

November 2, 2009

Ari Wasserman
Staff Writer

It is a true challenge to make the weekly Power Rankings mean a whole lot before the Big Ten Conference schedule kicks off, but now as the season is hitting its peak they start to indicate where teams are headed.

As usual, the conference as a whole had its highs and lows in this last week and we take you through those before we think about next Saturday. BuckeyeGrove.com breaks down which teams are on pace for seasons to remember and what other squads may be in for a long year.

As of now, it looks like the conference title is down to a 3-team race. Check out the following Power Rankings for all the answers.

1. Iowa: When watching the Hawkeyes play there really isn't anything spectacular that jumps out at you, aside from the fact that Iowa always has done what it needs to do to win the game. On Saturday against Indiana, Iowa probably should have lost the game at three or four different points during the contest, but instead battled through with some key big plays and posted a score that would make it seem like it wasn't even close. It wasn't necessarily an impressive win, but yet again the Hawkeyes did what they had to do and are still unbeaten on the season.
Last week ranking: 1

2. Penn State: The Nittany Lions had a little bit of a scare in Evanston Saturday as they were looking up at Northwestern at halftime, but Penn State took care of business in the second half and made sure the Wildcats had no chance to escape with the victory. Since Penn State suffered its only loss of the season to Iowa in the Big Ten opener, the Nittany Lions have seemingly hit their stride. They are playing fantastic football and now they will really be put to the test when Ohio State invades Happy Valley on Saturday.
Last week ranking: 2

3. Ohio State: Since the Buckeyes dropped the game at Purdue, Ohio State has continued on with two wins en route to trying to achieve their goal to get their fifth-straight Big Ten title and a trip to the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1997. Now, however, is when the challenge really starts. Sure, the Buckeyes responded with two blowouts following the loss to the Boilermakers, but now they start a stretch of games that has them going to Penn State, hosting Iowa, and then traveling to Michigan. Running the table and winning the Big Ten isn't out of the question, but go time is here. It will be interesting to see how Ohio State responds at Penn State Saturday.
Last week ranking: 3

4. Wisconsin: The Badgers don't always win their games in flashy ways, but on Saturday they made sure Purdue had no shot at winning. Wisconsin started off their season like they usually do, with a 5-0 start, but then hit that seemingly inevitable mid-season slump after getting blown out by Ohio State in Columbus. However, Wisconsin took care of business Saturday en route to a big 37-0 win over the Boilermakers. The tough part of the season is over for the Badgers, who shouldn't have any real problem finishing the year out with four straight wins. Unfortunately, they lost to the only two big challenges on the schedule in consecutive weeks.
Last week ranking: 4

5. Minnesota: After getting beaten handily by both Penn State and Ohio State, Minnesota bounced back Saturday with a big win over Michigan State. In what is a testament to the kind of hodge podge the bottom half of the Big Ten is, a 3-3 Minnesota squad can make it into the five hole of the Power Rankings. They haven't been overly impressive this year, and now that they are without wide Eric Decker, they could be in for even more trouble. However, the Gophers have done enough somehow to be in the top half of the Big Ten rankings.
Last week ranking: 8

6. Michigan State: The Spartans have been the model of inconsistency, but it hasn't been enough to completely knock Michigan State to the bottom of the power rankings. Due to the mediocrity of the rest of the conference, two consecutive losses for the Spartans still wasn't enough for them to drop below the No. 6 spot. However, that doesn't mean that I won't come out and say that the Spartans overall 4-5 record isn't incredibly disappointing for Mark Dantonio and his staff. This team always seems to be the trendy pick in the preseason, but will it ever come to fruition?
Last week ranking: 5

7. Northwestern: The Wildcats have won every other Big Ten game they have played this season, but their most recent loss was a blowout at home by Penn State. Northwestern actually had the lead going into the third quarter, but Penn State just blew their doors off in the second half. What is interesting, however, has been the Wildcats' trend of winning every other conference game. They lost Saturday, but they do face Iowa this weekend. Will the streak continue? We will find out this weekend.
Last week ranking: 7

8. Purdue: Given the shape most people thought Purdue would be in when Danny Hope took over the program this season, I have to say the Boilermakers have done better then I expected in the first year head coaches first try. However, the two-game Big Ten winning streak was ruined Saturday in Madison with a 37-0 blowout. Purdue still is far from the worst team in the conference, so by that measure I guess they did surpass some of those predictions of being a cellar dweller.
Last week ranking: 6

9. Indiana: I can't help but feel bad for Indiana sometimes. If you look at their record, there are three games on their Big Ten schedule that probably should have been wins. Indiana blew the Michigan game in the conference opener, then blew a 28-3 lead two weeks ago to Northwestern, and Saturday had Iowa in the corner and just couldn't pull them away. Indiana is a different team, but if they get those three wins they probably should have had, they'd be in the top half of the conference. That being said, good teams don't repeatedly blow football games.
Last week ranking: 10

10. Illinois: Let's give a round of applause for Illinois. They finally got their first win against a Division I opponent (I know, finally) and it came in convincing fashion. In addition, they moved up a slot in the Power Rankings, which is something I personally thought wouldn't happen this season. However, they blew out a struggling Michigan team who will replace Illinois at the bottom of this list.
Last week ranking: 11

11. Michigan: With each passing week, it looks more and more like Michigan's fast 4-0 start to the season was nothing more of a combination of bad opponents and a fluke win over Notre Dame. Since Big Ten play has started, Michigan got a lucky win over Indiana and have lost every other conference game in between. Sure, they blew out Delaware State, but the Wolverines have proven to still be quite behind in their development. Losing is excusable at times, but getting blown out by the most pathetic team in the conference this year lands you at the bottom of the list. Michigan has hit rock bottom.
Last week ranking: 9

Ari Wasserman is a staff writer for BuckeyeGrove.com. He can be reached at Ari@BuckeyeGrove.com.

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