Week 4 gives the Big Ten a real spotlight game, and it lands in Los Angeles with Oregon and USC both staring at a chance to shift the conversation.
Oregon entered the season with legitimate title hopes and a roster built to push Dan Lanning over the top. Instead, the Ducks have already taken a couple of early punches. An unexpected Week 2 loss to Oklahoma State followed a shaky Week 1 showing against Boise State, and now Oregon is closer to slipping out of the rankings than it is to looking like one of the country’s elite teams.
USC, meanwhile, has spent the first three weeks showing why Lincoln Riley believes this group can finally deliver. The Trojans have looked promising, even if the youth on the roster has created the kind of uneven September stretch that keeps perfection off the table for now. The upside is still there, and if it ever all comes together, the payoff could be enormous.
Saturday is the first real checkpoint for both programs. For Oregon, the question is simple: does it waste a prime chance to steady itself, or does it start getting back on track? For USC, the challenge is just as clear: is this the moment for a true statement win, or have the first three games been another version of the same fool’s gold Riley has been chasing for years?
The Big Ten is moving into full swing, and the conference headliner belongs to those two West Coast teams. The result in Los Angeles could go a long way toward shaping the race to Indianapolis in December.
After Week 3, the power rankings still have Indiana at No. 1 after a 38-0 win over Western Kentucky. Iowa moved up to No. 2 after blanking Northern Iowa 55-0, while Ohio State climbed to No. 3 following a 59-3 rout of Kent State. USC dropped to No. 4 despite its 42-35 win at Rutgers, and Michigan held at No. 5 after beating UTEP 52-17.
Penn State stayed at No. 6 after a 55-13 win over Buffalo. UCLA moved up to No. 7 after beating Purdue 52-38, and Northwestern jumped to No. 8 after a 41-7 win over Colorado. Nebraska climbed to No. 9 after handling North Dakota 34-7, while Washington slipped to No. 10 after a 48-16 win over Eastern Washington.
Minnesota sits at No. 11 after beating Akron 41-7. Illinois is No. 12 after a 48-10 win over Southern Illinois, Michigan State fell to No. 13 after losing 27-10 at Notre Dame, and Wisconsin is No. 14 after a 54-10 win over Eastern Michigan. Maryland dropped to No. 15 after losing 35-26 to UCLA, Oregon is No. 16 after its 84-0 win over Portland State, Purdue is No. 17 after the loss to UCLA, and Rutgers remains No. 18 after falling to USC.
The line that hung over Rutgers this week came from Greg Schiano, who said, “There are no moral victories.”
That came after the Scarlet Knights’ 42-35 loss to USC, and it says plenty about where things stand. Schiano returned to turn Rutgers into a respectable Big Ten program, but the results have largely stayed stuck in the same place the program has occupied since joining the conference in 2014.
Maybe the high point of this run has already come with the seven-win seasons in 2023 and 2024. If that’s the case, the direction now looks like it’s headed back toward the bottom. Rutgers is also the only winless Power Four team left in the sport.
In Other News...
Ohio State Fans Will Notice A Big Schottenstein Change This Season
Ohio State fans heading back to the Schottenstein Center this season will find a noticeably different building. The university completed a $5.2 million renovation that brought in a new scoreboard, larger ribbon boards and an upgraded audio system, giving one of the Buckeyes busiest venues a cleaner, more modern game-day feel.
Mens hockey will get the first look at the new setup on Oct. 23, with basketball right behind it as the mens and womens teams host games in late October and early November. For a building that already serves as a hub for so much Ohio State action, the changes should be hard to miss once the season gets rolling. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio State's Next Road Test Just Got A Lot More Real
Ohio State rolled past Kent State 59-3 to move to 2-1, and now the schedule is starting to bring a little more clarity to what comes next. The Big Ten announced that the Buckeyes will host Illinois before heading to Iowa on Oct. 3, a matchup now locked in for a 3:30 p.m. kickoff on CBS.
For a team still settling into the season, the timing matters because Iowa has long been one of the conferences more familiar measuring sticks for Ohio State. The series history includes its share of notable games and streaks, which is part of what gives this road trip extra weight even before the Buckeyes get there. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio State Is Closing In On A Priority RB Battle
Ohio States win over Kent State pushed the Buckeyes to 2-1, but the weekend also carried added recruiting weight as the program welcomed a wave of official visitors to Columbus. Among the most important names on campus was a 2027 running back who has quickly moved to the top of Ohio States board, giving the staff another chance to make its case in person.
The recruitment remains open-ended, with no commitment date set, but the Buckeyes are clearly in the thick of it and are widely viewed as a leading contender. For Ohio State, landing a back of that caliber would reinforce both the long-term roster plan and the programs ability to keep winning the kind of battles that matter most on the trail. [Read more 🡒]