Big Ten Power Rankings: Week 13

After a one-week hiatus the power rankings are back! Let’s look at the conference ahead of rivalry weekend.

1. Ohio State Buckeyes

Last Week: 28-17 win vs. Penn State (11-0)

SP+ Rankings: 1

Ohio State is the best football team in the country.

2. Penn State Nittany Lions

Last Week: 28-17 loss @ Ohio State (9-2)

SP+ Rankings: 7

Penn State wasn’t good enough to go toe-to-toe with the best football team in the country despite seemingly being the best matchup for the Buckeyes in the conference. Oh well.

3. Minnesota Golden Gophers

Last Week: 38-22 win @ Northwestern (10-1)

SP+ Rankings: 14

Giving up 20 points to a Mick McCall offense in 2019? Really? Sad!

4. Michigan Wolverines

Last Week: 39-14 win @ Indiana (9-2)

SP+ Rankings: 10

The Wolverines seem to be finding their groove, which means that The Michigan Men should be getting their hopes up for The Game, especially since it’s at home. Surely nothing will go wrong there.

5. Wisconsin Badgers

Last Week: 45-24 win vs. Purdue (9-2)

SP+ Rankings: 12

The Badgers pick up a win they needed in order to set up a winner-take-all rivalry week showdown with Minnesota for the B1G West title. Just one game behind the Gophers in the division, a win would presumably level things up and give Wisconsin a tiebreaker, sending them to Indianapolis to get slaughtered by Ohio State. It should be a fun game, definitely recommend watching.

6. Iowa Hawkeyes

Last Week: 19-10 win vs. Illinois (8-3)

SP+ Rankings: 21

Iowa will finish the season just out of reach in the division, but hey, a nine-win is pretty good. It feels very, very Ferentz-y. That’s assuming, of course, that the Hawkeyes beat Nebraska in Lincoln which shouldn’t be too tough.

7. Indiana Hoosiers

Last Week: 39-14 loss vs. Michigan (7-4)

SP+ Rankings: 22

You know what happened last week. You know what’s going down this weekend. #9WINDIANA hangs in the balance as the Hoosiers head to West Lafayette.

“And Here. We. Go.” - The late Heath Ledger as The Joker in The Dark Knight, circa 2008.

8. Illinois Fighting Illini

Last Week: 19-10 loss @ Iowa (6-5)

SP+ Rankings: 56

Already bowl eligible, the Illini were going for a big win to put the cherry on top of what’s been a surprising season. They didn’t quite get it, but they should still reach seven wins this weekend when they match up with Northwestern.

9. Michigan State Spartans

Last Week: 27-0 win @ rutger (5-6)

SP+ Rankings: 40

It must’ve been nice for Sparty to get a soft non-con opponent while the rest of the conference was playing each other. I still think that 13 is a weird number of teams to have.

10. Nebraska Cornhuskers

Last Week: 54-7 win @ Maryland (5-6)

SP+ Rankings: 52

The Huskers keep the postseason lights on, but a matchup with Iowa on Friday isn’t terribly promising. Seems like it’ll be 5-7 for Nebraska this season. One tiny step forward for Scott Frost’s program.

11. Purdue Boilermakers

Last Week: 45-24 loss @ Wisconsin (4-7)

SP+ Rankings: 62

Purdue has officially been eliminated from (regular) bowl eligibility, meaning that the team’s sole purpose now is to destroy #9WINDIANA. Great.

12. Northwestern Wildcats

Last Week: 38-22 loss vs. Minnesota (2-9)

SP+ Rankings: 91

Northwestern remains weird by kind of putting up a fight against one of the better teams in the conference? Too bad it means absolutely nothing.

13. Maryland Terrapins

Last Week: 54-7 loss vs. Nebraska (3-8)

SP+ Rankings: 88

Imagine getting buried at home by Scott Frost. Terrable.