Big Ten Football Power Ranking: 10/28/24

The Big Ten Championship looks to be a four-way race between Oregon, Ohio State, Penn State, and Indiana. This week’s game of the week will be Penn State hosting Ohio State in Happy Valley; the winner will have the inside track to a Big Ten championship game.

18. Purdue Boilermakers

Purdue did not lose this week, which means they had a bye.

17. UCLA Bruins

The Bruins have played a demanding schedule and seem to be improving.

16. Nortwestern Wildcats

Northwestern had an unsuccessful trip to Kinnick Stadium and lost badly against Iowa, dropping them to just 1-4 in Big Ten play.

15. Maryland Terrapins

Maryland endured an unfortunate week against Minnesota as they were overwhelmed from start to finish, trailing 34-10 by halftime and seemingly no hope of coming back into contention. Things won’t improve any after the upcoming bye week either.

14. Rutgers Scarlet Knights

Rutgers continued the trend of going coast to coast and losing on the road in Big Ten play falling to USC late Friday evening 42-20.

13. Michigan State Spartans

Michigan State’s early season high has quickly dissipated after losing to Michigan. Michigan State may still make a postseason bowl game, but it must first overcome Indiana and Illinois in its next two games before any such bowl bid becomes realistic.

12. Washington Huskies

Some had predicted Washington would give Indiana its first serious challenge this season, yet instead trailed 17-7 at halftime before suffering a two-touchdown defeat at the hands of one of Big Ten’s surprise contenders.

11. USC Trojans

USC needed something of an antidote against Rutgers on Friday night – their home game late that evening against them proved the perfect opportunity to do just that. USC desperately needed this boost.

10. Wisconsin Badgers

Wisconsin held a lead against Penn State at halftime and knocked out their starting quarterback. Still, without running the ball, Wisconsin put too much pressure on its passing game to create plays and score points against Penn State, and they eventually conceded defeat.

9. Nebraska Cornhuskers

Nebraska was expected to be trashed again this week after what happened to them In Indiana the week before, yet they came close to pulling an upset in Columbus. Nebraska held the lead going into the fourth quarter but could not finish.

8. Michigan Wolverines

Michigan ended its two-game losing skid against its in-state rival, Michigan State, and is poised to change the entire Big Ten race, with Oregon visiting Ann Arbor next week. Or, more likely, they are poised to be beaten at home by Oregon.

7. Minnesota Golden Gophers

Minnesota may not have time to make a serious run at making it into the Big Ten championship game. Still, few teams seem as consistently improving week after week as Minnesota is. And with games against Illinois and Penn State still to come in November, Minnesota still may play spoiler to someone.

6. Iowa Hawkeyes

Iowa has become quite an enjoyable team to watch this season, which feels surreal. After an entertaining first half against Northwestern and an emphatic third quarter showing against them, Iowa is better on home turf than on the road.

5. Illinois Fighting Illini

Illinois was expected to lose at Oregon on Saturday, but their performance was unexpectedly disappointing. Illinois fell behind the Ducks 14-3 after one quarter and trailed at halftime. The Illini stay this high in these rankings because they own more ranked wins than any Big Ten team in the country.

4. Penn State Nittany Lions

Penn State found themselves on the road against Wisconsin on Saturday night, taking home an impressive road win despite injuries to key starters on both sides. After trailing at halftime once more, their defense scored the go-ahead score and their backup quarterback led two key touchdown drives in the second half to remain undefeated. Now comes their most challenging test yet against an opponent that owns them entirely in this rivalry, the Ohio State Buckeyes!

3. Indiana Hoosiers

The Hoosiers were not dominant like the week before, but they could still win with their backup Quarterback playing. The Hoosiers are dominant up front and can pound the rock. Next up is a trap game at Michigan State, which is followed by games against Michigan and Ohio State. This team with a healthy Kourtis Rourke is a college playoff contender.

2. Ohio State Buckeyes

Ohio State appears vulnerable in certain key areas, yet it could still fend off Nebraska and avoid an upset attempt in The Shoe on Saturday. Will Howard had a three-torque performance, while Ohio State’s offense appeared to be struggling at times. Ohio State will head east next week when it travels to play Penn State.

1. Oregon Ducks

Oregon looked every bit the nation’s top-ranked team this weekend against Illinois, dominating easily and living up to preseason hype. After an uneven start to the season, Oregon finally came through on preseason expectations and has been living up to them ever since the win over Ohio State.