The first full week of Big Ten play is in the books, and the league already feels scrambled in all the usual ways. Indiana is still sitting on top, but only barely.
UCLA is crashing the party. Iowa is suddenly talking playoffs.
And yes, Mike Locksley still has a job and will fix things.
At No. 1, Indiana is 4-0 overall and 1-0 in conference play, but the Hoosiers took a small step back in the eyes of this ranking after surviving Northwestern.
They hit on some big chunk plays against the Wildcats’ run defense and got the win, but it was close enough that the onside kick at the end nearly flipped the whole thing. Northwestern, meanwhile, earned a real bump for making that game such a fight.
That kind of performance can be a problem for anybody.
Ohio State checks in at No. 2 at 3-1 overall and 1-0 in the Big Ten. The Buckeyes’ offense looks every bit as dangerous as expected, and it was strong enough to get Illinois’s defensive coordinator fired this week.
Still, the defense gave up a ton of yardage to the Illini and allowed 6 yards a carry. The headline number is the 19 points allowed, but there’s at least a little something to file away there.
Maybe the Buckeyes can be had on that side of the ball. MAYBE!!
Then comes Iowa at No. 3, and this is where the ranking starts to get fun. The Hawkeyes are 4-0 and 1-0 after winning at Michigan, and that is not a small thing.
They came alive in the fourth quarter, just like they did against Iowa State, Hank Brown was great, and Iowa also scored on special teams, won the turnover battle, and finished with fewer penalty yards. A lot of the hidden-yardage battle went the Hawkeyes’ way.
Whatever you want to call it, this is exactly where Iowa wants to be in the middle of this Michigan-Ohio State-Washington stretch. Also Kirk is now big-time.
Oregon sits at No. 4 after what can only be described as a huge rebound. The Ducks are 3-1 and 1-0, and winning in the Coliseum by two scores without their starting quarterback is as strong a win as anyone has posted all year. They’re right back in the mix.
Nebraska is next at No. 5, and Saturday looked like exactly the sort of game the Huskers have lost over and over in recent years: a road trip to a tricky venue against a good coach. Instead, Nebraska had Michigan State in a head lock from the start and handled it impressively.
UCLA lands at No. 6 and takes the top spot in the standings after a dominant road trip to Maryland. The Bruins are 4-0 and 2-0, and they went three time zones east without missing a beat.
They completely destroyed Maryland, and the game included one of the worst Pick 6’s you’ll ever see. Maybe even the worst.
LOL!
Wisconsin is right behind at No. 7 after a huge win at Penn State. The Badgers trailed 17-0 almost immediately, then turned it into a very Wisconsin kind of comeback.
A tight end - a BIG tight end, close to a big man TD - scored a long touchdown that ended up being the game-winner. It’s hard to say Wisconsin is definitely that good, but this is a nice answer for Luke Fickell after a rough start in Madison.
They’re playing hard.
Northwestern climbs to No. 8.
The Wildcats are 2-1 and 0-1, and even in a loss they earned respect for how they handled Indiana. They nearly won it, they showed they can fight, and now they get Penn State at home in their new stadium.
Good luck, Nittany Lions.
Michigan drops to No. 9 at 2-2 overall and 0-1 in the Big Ten, and the loss to Iowa came with plenty of self-inflicted damage. The Wolverines had a turnover at the 2, failed to convert a fourth-and-1 deep in Iowa territory, and gave up a late hit on Tony Diaz that extended Iowa’s winning drive.
Still, there’s a strange sense that they’ve improved a bit after a couple of so-so games and a stolen victory. Not great, not terrible, despite the gut punch.
Bryce Underwood was GREAT on Saturday except for maybe two throws, maybe three. Dude is a unit.
Minnesota is No. 10 after a strong road win in the Pacific Northwest. The Gophers are 3-1 and 1-0, and they were in control for most of the game.
Penn State falls to No. 11 at 3-1 and 0-1, and the temperature is already rising in Happy Valley. Matthew Campbell is feeling some heat after taking a bunch of players from a Big XII team that went 8-4 last year and trying to make it work in the Big Ten. This could go sideways.
USC is No. 12 at 4-1 and 1-1, and this feels like the kind of team that can fool you for a while before the bill comes due. The Trojans struggled with Rutgers on the East Coast, then had a huge game against a former league rival and got ragdolled all night.
Dante Moore went out, and guys were apparently celebrating it, which is just ugly. This could get hairy for Lincoln Riley, who has the same record at this point in his tenure as Clay Helton had in his, 39-19.
The schedule doesn’t exactly ease up either: at Penn State, at Wisconsin, Ohio State, at Indiana, and then the crosstown game with UCLA. Lots of travel east.
Washington is No. 13 at 3-1 and 0-1, and the questions are piling up. The Huskies have had some guys banged up, but that only explains so much.
They’ve got good talent, even if they’re a bit young, and Minnesota had no trouble hammering them all night. From an Iowa angle, it’s a free hit this weekend with Ohio State, then everything turns toward this one.
Illinois sits at No. 14 at 2-2 and 0-1. The good news: the Illini piled up yardage against Ohio State at the Horseshoe, and not many teams do that.
They found some holes in the Buckeyes’ armor. The bad news: they fired their defensive coordinator after four games, gave up a mountain of yards themselves, and only scored 19 points.
Michigan State is No. 15 at 2-2 and 0-1. The Spartans weren’t able to hang with Nebraska the way some thought they might, and it never really got that close. Tough year for Patrick Fitzgerald.
Rutgers comes in at No. 16 at 1-3 and 0-1. The Scarlet Knights still have work to do, and beating Howard doesn’t change much.
But after the rough opening losses - and with UMass possibly being good, since the Minutemen are 4-0, receiving votes, and already have more points this year than they scored all of last season - Rutgers has at least been competitive lately. Still bad, still leave, but other teams were worse this week.
Far worse.
Purdue is No. 17 at 1-3 and 0-1, and the slide keeps going. Notre Dame is a tough assignment, sure, but this was effectively over in about 10 minutes.
The Boilermakers can’t get a stop, and they’re just a bad team. They’ll live in the bottom two or three spots in these rankings all year.
Maryland rounds out the list at No. 18 at 2-2 and 0-1 after getting wrecked by UCLA.
In Other News...
Iowa Has A Real Shot To Shake Up The Big Ten Again
Iowas trip to face No. 5 Ohio State carries the kind of buzz that tends to follow a team after it has already shown it can wreck a contenders plans. The Hawkeyes are ranked No. 14 and coming off an upset of Michigan, a win fueled by quarterback Hank Browns late drive that gave Iowa a fresh sense of belief heading into another heavyweight matchup.
Now comes a different kind of test, with Ohio States offense leaning on its running backs and quarterback Julian Sayin against Iowas top-ranked scoring defense. The Buckeyes have had some recent issues on that side of the ball, which only adds to the intrigue for a Hawkeyes team that has already shown it can make the Big Tens title picture a little messier. [Read more 🡒]
Caitlin Clark Got Dragged Into A Viral Hawkeyes Hearing Mix-Up
A strange little Iowa footnote popped up in a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing when U.S. senator Eric Schmitt pressed U.S. attorney Jack Smith over texts that referenced a Hawks game. Schmitt took that to mean the Atlanta Hawks, but Smith said he was actually at a womens college basketball game on Feb. 3, 2024, watching the Iowa Hawkeyes face Maryland.
The mix-up was easy enough to see once the shorthand got sorted out, but it still sent Caitlin Clark and Iowa into an unlikely political crosscurrent. For Hawkeyes fans, it was just another reminder of how often the program and its biggest star have become part of a much larger conversation, even when the subject at hand has nothing to do with basketball. [Read more 🡒]
Iowa Faces One Kinnick Test That Could Change Everything
ESPN analyst Greg McElroy is already circling Iowas Week 5 trip to Ohio State as one of the Big Tens first real measuring sticks, and his breakdown showed why. He pointed to the Buckeyes passing game, led by receiver Jeremiah Smith, while also giving Iowa credit for the kind of defensive structure that usually keeps the Hawkeyes in games well into the fourth quarter. In a matchup like this, the margins tend to be thin, and McElroy made clear that both sides have areas that could swing the night.
For Iowa, the conversation naturally starts with the run game and the red zone defense, two areas that often decide whether the Hawkeyes can turn a close road test into something more. McElroys prediction leans Ohio State, but the bigger question for Iowa is whether those strengths can travel well enough to make the Buckeyes uncomfortable. If they do, this game could look very different from the one many are expecting, and that is exactly what makes it such an intriguing early-season test. [Read more 🡒]