Two weeks into conference play, the Big Ten’s top shelf still belongs to Indiana, Ohio State and Oregon. Nobody has knocked those three off course yet.
But below that? It’s a swamp.
Preseason hopefuls Penn State and Washington are both 0-2 in league play, and the conference’s middle class still hasn’t produced a real challenger to break up the Big 3. The Big Ten can still push more than three teams into the College Football Playoff race, but the threat of a season where only two make it remains very real.
One team that might have helped itself was off in Week 5, which only adds to the feeling that the league is waiting on somebody - anybody - to separate from the pack.
At the bottom, Rutgers stayed stuck after Indiana rolled to a 47-15 win. The Scarlet Knights let the Hoosiers settle in early and never really changed the game. Greg Schiano, for now, appears to be waiting things out.
Illinois also took another hit, falling 24-17 to Purdue. The Illini’s defense continues to be a problem all by itself.
After defensive coordinator Bobby Hauck fired himself after the unit allowed four touchdowns to Jeremiah Smith in Week 4, there still wasn’t much improvement. Purdue still managed 24 points, and that’s a rough look for a program that won nine games in each of the last two seasons under Bret Bielema.
Michigan State dropped again after a 31-3 loss at Wisconsin, and the slide is likely tied to the injuries it absorbed in Week 4, including the season-ending loss of star running back Cam Edwards.
Maryland didn’t win, but it at least steadied itself a bit after UCLA’s blowout in College Park last week. Even so, Mike Locksley still looks like he’s headed out.
The most troubling tier belongs to Penn State and Washington, the two preseason Top 25 teams who were supposed to be in the CFP mix. Instead, they look more like the 12th and 13th best teams in the league - maybe worse.
Penn State’s 34-13 loss at Northwestern was especially ugly. The Nittany Lions had leaned on their defense after the Week 4 loss to Wisconsin, pointing to the three takeaways forced from Colton Joseph.
That argument didn’t hold up in Week 5. Chip Kelly’s Northwestern offense ran wild for 413 yards on the ground and didn’t just scheme around Penn State - it beat the Nittany Lions up in the trenches.
There’s not much talent on that roster, and the problem doesn’t stop there. Matt Campbell has been badly outcoached in his first two Big Ten games.
Washington had a last gasp in Los Angeles, making one more push against a USC team that was also coming off a Week 4 loss to Oregon. Jedd Fisch kept reaching into the bag with trick plays, and Demond Williams flashed enough to keep things interesting, but the Huskies still came up short in a 25-21 loss. If anything, the game only reinforced the concerns about Washington’s offense and did nothing to calm the questions around USC.
The Big Ten’s middle is crowded enough that eight teams landed in the same tier. Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Michigan, Northwestern, Nebraska, USC and UCLA all sit in that messy second band behind the league’s elite trio.
Wisconsin kept rolling with a 31-3 win over Michigan State. Minnesota added another strong result by beating Michigan 20-14.
Iowa, meanwhile, fell 31-14 to Ohio State. Michigan slipped to 3-2 after the loss at Minnesota.
Northwestern moved up after handling Penn State. Nebraska stayed unbeaten at 5-0 with a 48-23 win over Maryland.
USC beat Washington 25-21, and UCLA was idle.
Minnesota’s win over Michigan, coming after Iowa beat the Wolverines in Week 4, made the rankings trickier. Michigan still stays ahead of Minnesota and Iowa here, even if the Golden Gophers and Hawkeyes have the better recent results.
On a down-to-down basis, Michigan looked better than Iowa, and its ceiling still feels higher than what Minnesota has shown. Still, the Little Brown Jug win was no fluke, so there’s room to revisit that take.
At the top, Oregon sat out Week 5, Ohio State handled Iowa, and Indiana finally looked the part of a defending national champion in its 47-15 win at Rutgers. The only real question now is whether Indiana is actually clicking with the new pieces Curt Cignetti brought in, or whether Rutgers just made everybody look good.
In Other News...
Penn State Fans Wont Like What An In-State Rival Coach Said
Pat Narduzzi had plenty to say after Pitts close win over Virginia Tech, and much of it was bound to land with Penn State fans as a familiar jab from across the state. The Pitt coach addressed a controversial missed field goal in that game, then turned his attention to the AP Top 25, questioning Penn States placement despite the recent losses that have piled up for the Nittany Lions.
Narduzzi also used the moment to make a case for his own program, pointing to Pitts undefeated start and current ranking as proof his team deserves more respect. It was the latest reminder that the tension between Pitt and Penn State remains very much alive, with Narduzzi continuing a public back-and-forth that has long carried extra weight in a rivalry shaped by him and former Penn State coach James Franklin. [Read more 🡒]
Penn State Just Lost The Spotlight For A Huge Michigan Trip
Penn States trip to Michigan on October 17 no longer has the feel of a late-night showcase. The Big Ten announced the game at Michigan Stadium will kick off at 3:30 p.m. ET, pulling it out of the prime-time window many had anticipated and shifting some of the national spotlight away from what had shaped up as one of the leagues more intriguing midseason matchups.
It still carries plenty of weight in the Big Ten race, though. Both teams are 0-2 in conference play, which is the first time that has happened to Penn State since it joined the league in 1993, and that makes the meeting even more important for two programs trying to steady themselves. Before that trip, Penn State gets its own marquee stage Saturday night, hosting No. 19 USC in a White Out game at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCs Big Ten Saturday Night. [Read more 🡒]
Penn State Faces A Season-Shaping White Out Problem Against USC
White Out week has a way of making Beaver Stadium feel like its own event, but Penn State enters the home showdown with No. 18 USC carrying a lot more than the usual pageantry. The Nittany Lions are trying to steady themselves after a rough opening stretch in Big Ten play, and this one arrives in prime time with the kind of stakes that can turn early-season frustration into a much larger problem if it goes wrong again.
USC brings a dangerous offense led by quarterback Jayden Maiava, and the Trojans have also shown enough recent defensive improvement to make this less of a shootout guarantee than it might have looked a month ago. Penn States own offense has been dealing with injuries, which only raises the pressure on the home team to find answers and avoid an 0-3 start in conference play. [Read more 🡒]