After two weeks of college football, the Big Ten has a combined record of 29 wins to only five losses! The teams are all starting to take shape more after their Week 2 matchups. Both Purdue and UCLA had their first bye weeks, so they both stay at 1-0 this week. Besides them, all 16 other teams played and most played well (looking at you, Michigan). With that, let’s see where we left everyone in our Big Ten football power rankings last week.
Ohio State Buckeyes
Penn State Nittany Lions
Oregon Ducks
USC Trojans
Michigan Wolverines
Iowa Hawkeyes
Washington Huskies
Nebraska Cornhuskers
Maryland Terrapins
Purdue Boilermakers
Illinois Fighting Illini
Wisconsin Badgers
Rutgers Scarlet Knights
Minnesota Golden Gophers
Indiana Hoosiers
Northwestern Wildcats
Michigan State Spartans
UCLA Bruins
As a reminder, these Big Ten football power rankings are based on a both how well these teams have played against their previous matchups, and how these team would theoretically perform against the teams right next to them in the rankings. Let’s look at where these teams all fall now!
Big Ten Football Power Rankings
1. Ohio State Buckeyes (2-0) [–]
There’s not much to say here. Ohio State went out and played Week 2 just like they did Week 1, dominating. Sure it was against Western Michigan, but you cannot beat up on just any Group of 5 school 56-0 (right Notre Dame?).
Over the first two weeks of the season, the Buckeyes look unbeatable. This upcoming week against Marshall is sure to keep that the same. Then they head out on the road to play at Michigan State. These Buckeyes are looking to win it all this year and it does not look like anyone in the Big Ten will be able to stop them!
2. USC Trojans (2-0) [+2]
The Trojans move up here to the No. 2 spot in these Big Ten football power rankings after another impressive performance! Should they have been up this high last week? Maybe. They definitely deserve to be here now!
After a close match against a good LSU team, the Trojans followed it up with a domination of Utah State. 48-0 is the kind of performance you hope to see a team of this caliber have against a G5 school. The Trojans allowed only 190 yards by Utah State‘s offense. Meanwhile the Trojans had two running backs (Woody Marks 103 yards & Quinten Joyner 84 yards) combine for nearly that many yards rushing!
3. Nebraska Cornhuskers (2-0) [+5]
Nebraska showed off Week 1 against their opponent University of Texas El Paso. The one thing they did not show was how good of a defense they really had. Last week, they were at No. 8 because they needed to show more. Not only did they show more, they did so against Deion Sanders’ Colorado Buffalos.
Nebraska shut down all of Shedeur Sanders‘ plans on offense and dominated Colorado’s defense. The Cornhuskers have looked like one of the best teams in the Big Ten and Dylan Raiola looks like the next great college quarterback and future first round pick in the NFL Draft.
4. Penn State Nittany Lions (2-0) [-2]
Penn State has moved down two spots in these Big Ten football power rankings because of how they struggled against Bowling Green. Going into halftime, Bowling Green was up over Penn State 24-20. In the second half, Penn State was able to overcome Bowling Green and win 34-27. Penn State struggled most of this game, but Bowling Green is a really good team.
Could they be lower? Theoretically, yes. The issue is that no other teams had a major victory this week to push them over the Nittany Lions. Penn State has their first Bye Week this week and will then come back to play against Kent State.
5. Oregon Ducks (2-0) [-2]
Oregon looked rough this week against Boise State. This normally would not be that big of an issue, but this is worrisome after we saw Oregon struggle against Idaho State in Week 1. This is now two weeks in a row that this “championship contender” has struggled against lower competition level teams.
Oregon will finally play against a Power 5 Conference team this week in their instate matchup against Oregon State. All eyes should be on this game to see just how good is Oregon. If they struggle against an Oregon State team that is not as good as most Big Ten and SEC teams, then it may be time to hit the panic button on the Ducks. If all things go to plan though, the Ducks will roll through the Beavers and establish themselves before going into Conference play.
6. Iowa Hawkeyes (1-1) [–]
Iowa started off slow again this week when they lost to Iowa State. However, this second-half Iowa team may be the best in the Big Ten. If Cade McNamara can figure this out and start playing full games like he has the past two second halves, Iowa will make a run to the playoffs.
Looking at McNamara’s splits between first and second halves in these first two games is wild. His combined first half performances have him at 18 of 36 for 154 yards and no touchdowns. In the second half of games, he is 21 of 31 for 196 and three touchdowns. That’s a difference in 16.7 percent completion rate!
If second half McNamara showed up for full games, Iowa would be dominate. Until that happens though, the Hawkeyes will stay here at 6th this week.
7. Michigan Wolverines (1-1) [-2]
This was a bad game by Michigan – no ifs, ands, or buts about it! They hosted a fellow top-10 team in Texas and got absolutely beat down. In last week’s Big Ten football power rankings, Michigan was noted as needing to improve on offense and figure out who their primary quarterback is. They did not do that at all.
Michigan still played this two-QB system that did not work well. Every time Alex Orji came onto the field, Texas was able to predict the run and stack the box against Michigan. On top of that, Donovan Edwards needs to see his usage changed.
Edwards has 19 rushing attempts for 68 yards. Compare that to the “backup” running back Kalel Mullings’ 21 rushing attempts for 117 yards and you will see just how different these two RBs play. Michigan needs to fix this running game, figure out who the QB is that can win them games, and get it together on Offense.
8. Washington Huskies (2-0) [-1]
Washington has moved down No. 8 mostly because of the rise of Nebraska. The Huskies played well in both matches, but not well enough to put them above Michigan currently. They have held their opponents to a total of 12 points combined. The issue has been their offense looking sluggish.
Between these two lower level teams, Washington has only put up 65 combined points. That is a lot, but that’s not overly impressive against teams like Eastern Michigan or Weber State. The Huskies will be playing against Washington State this week. If they come out strong and win this matchup, Washington could see themselves moving up higher in these power rankings.
9. Illinois Fighting Illini (2-0) [+2]
Illinois jumps up here to 9th because they have looked strong against lower level opponents like Eastern Illinois and won in a close match against strong opponents with their win over Kansas. The Fighting Illini looked like a good team and will be competitive in the Big Ten. They moved up here because of how these rankings were outlined last week. After seeing how well the Fighting Illini played against the Jayhawks this week, this team moved above the “middle” team of Purdue because this Illinois team looked like they would beat Purdue at a neutral site.
10. Purdue Boilermakers (1-0) [–]
Purdue remains in these Big Ten power rankings as the middle-ranked football team. The Boilermakers did not play this week after coming off a great win against their Week 1 opponents. Purdue will play at home against Notre Dame who is coming off of an upset. If Purdue holds their own and can force a shootout, Purdue may be able to bring out the Spoilermakers for the first time under Ryan Walters.
11. Indiana Hoosiers (2-0) [+4]
The Hoosiers hosted a team that was on a 25-game losing streak and absolutely dominated them! Should they have won that game – yes. Would just any team beat Western Illinois 77-3? No, not just any team could do that.
Last week, Kurtis Rourke looked rusty against FIU. This week, Rourke looked like his 2022 MAC Player of the Year form. This week, IU will travel to California to play at UCLA. IU should win this matchup. How they play against UCLA will show more of who the Hoosiers really are as a team.
12. Rutgers Scarlet Knights (2-0) [+1]
Rutgers played well yet again in Week 2. They have been best when they can establish the run and play solid defense. Kyle Monangai has played incredibly well so far this season. He has set himself apart from most running backs in the nation and has shown he should be in the talk for a top-5 RB in the Big Ten and possibly top-10 in the nation.
When it comes to the passing game. Athan Kaliakmanis has played well, but not elite. His 61.7 percent completion rate is solid and his nearly 190 passing yards and three touchdowns per game is what you want in a run-first offense.
13. Michigan State Spartans (2-0) [+4]
The Spartans were at No. 17 last week because they looked bad in their win in Week 1 against FAU. In Week 2, they came out and won against a strong Maryland team. This week they will play another lower tier opponent with Prairie View coming to Michigan State. The following week they will play at Boston College and then at Ohio State afterwards.
These next few games will show more about this rebuilding Michigan State team with young QB Aidan Chiles, who looks like a mix of 2015 Jameis Winston with Daniel Jones‘ notorious run where he tripped before the goal line. Against Maryland, Chiles went 24 of 39 for 363 yards, three touchdowns, and three interceptions along with eight rushes for 11 yards on the ground. There is a lot to like about Chiles, but there is a lot he needs to improve on.
14. Maryland Terrapins (1-1) [-5]
Maryland looked great in Week 1 and then struggled against Michigan State in Week 2. Billy Edwards Jr. looked great in Week 1 going 20 of 27 for 311 and two touchdowns. In Week 2, he went 26 of 34 for 253 yards, two touchdowns, with an interception. Edwards has played well, but the Maryland running game and defense have both struggled.
Going forward, Maryland will face Virginia and Villanova before going into the rest of their Big Ten schedule. They will need to play better on defense and start running the ball better.
15. Minnesota Golden Gophers (1-1) [-1]
Minnesota looked rough against North Carolina in Week 1 and bounced back in Week 2 against Rhode Island. However, Max Brosmer still looked bad against a lower tier team in Rhode Island. The running backs were the best part of this team in Week 2.
Having Darius Taylor back with his 4.6 yards per carry on 14 rushes was a great addition to this team. Backup RBs Marcus Majors and Jaren Mangham added solid breaks for Taylor to rest and catch his breath before coming back in.
Minnesota is this low because they won against a team they should have won against and lost to a UNC team that they should have won. Going forward against Nevada and Iowa, Minnesota will likely struggle on defense and try their best to be competitive in these games.
16. Wisconsin Badgers (2-0) [-4]
Wisconsin is coming off of a matchup with South Dakota that they should have won by a landslide and instead barely won. They are hosting Alabama this week and then travel to USC the week after. Wisconsin is going to struggle the next two weeks and will be limping into their matchup against Purdue to start October.
17. Northwestern Wildcats (1-1) [-1]
Northwestern barely won against Miami of Ohio and did lose to Duke. Both were close games where Northwestern should have walked away with these games. This Northwestern team has already come out and say they will be making a change at QB this upcoming week against Eastern Illinois. If this does not help them, Northwestern may quickly fall to last in the Big Ten – and in these football power rankings.
18. UCLA Bruins (1-0) [–]
UCLA is down here because of how they looked in Week 1 and how they should have lost against Hawaii. They will look to make a statement against Indiana this week to try and show that they belong in the Big Ten and that they can make big plays and win. It just doe not seem likely that UCLA will beat IU this week, even with them hosting the game.
Hunter Greene
Hunter started writing for The League Winners in the summer of 2021. Hunter has been playing fantasy football for about a decade, starting in middle school. Now he’s a professional landscaper and avid Colts and Purdue fan.