Big Ten Football Power Rankings 11/11/24

18. Purdue Boilermakers

Purdue’s expected shutout loss at Ohio State, marks yet another disappointing turn in Ryan Walters’ second season and suggests 1-11 may well become reality in coming weeks. Its time for a new coach at Purdue.

17. Northwestern Wildcats

Northwestern is still within striking distance of reaching a bowl game as they enter their final weeks of competition against Ohio State, Michigan and Illinois. However, such an outcome remains unlikely; it’s much more likely they won’t win another game this season.

16. Maryland Terrapins

Maryland continued its decline with an expected road loss to Oregon on Saturday. Now just 1-5 in Big Ten play. Mike Locksley seems like his 8-5 seasons might soon become distant memories.

15. USC Trojans

USC closes vs. Nebraska, at UCLA and vs. Notre Dame. Two wins in those three games seem extremely unlikely, given the team’s form since the start of October. The Trojans are reportedly turning to UNLV transfer QB Jayden Maiava to start those contests. It’s hard to expect that change to ignite a turnaround.

14. Rutgers Scarlet Knights

Rutgers’ victory against Minnesota was certainly unexpected; both teams entered seemingly headed in different directions. Rutgers managed an upset win without star running back Kyle Monangai available. It indeed was an extraordinary performance.

13. Michigan State Spartans

Michigan State currently sits at 4-5, but appears likely to make a bowl game with remaining games against Illinois, Purdue and Rutgers. Like Wisconsin’s Badgers, their recent records are similar – boasting both impressive wins as well as tough blowout losses. Jonathan Smith should expect his team to claim six victories by season’s end.

12. Wisconsin Badgers

Wisconsin will close against Oregon, Nebraska, and Minnesota, and they are on their way towards bowl eligibility; however, they must demonstrate that their loss to Iowa was an isolated incident.

11. Nebraska Cornhuskers

Nebraska did not lose on Saturday for the first time since Oct. 5 because the team was on a bye week. It needs just one more win to clinch a bowl appearance for the first time since 2016, but somehow, that is not a given after a 5-1 start to the year.

10. Michigan Wolverines

This season hasn’t seen many stand-out performances from the team, mostly just scraping by against inferior competition. After winning a national championship last year and expected to compete for titles again, 2024 has been an enormous disappointment, particularly regarding handling the quarterback situation.

9. UCLA Bruins

Not enough has been said about UCLA’s current form under first-year head coach DeShaun Foster. The team has lost to Indiana, LSU, Oregon, Penn State and Minnesota — four of which are top-15 team teams in the country. The win over Iowa was its third consecutive victory. The margin would have been larger if QB Ethan Garbers hadn’t handed the ball away on the goal line twice.

Buy stock in UCLA. Foster’s debut has been as impressive as anybody not named Curt Cignetti.

8. Washington Huskies

Washington managed key wins against Michigan and USC while suffering devastating defeats against Iowa and Penn State, all of which defined its first season under Jedd Fisch.

7. Illinois Fighting Illini

Illinois stands in this cluster in the middle of the conference. The Illini have an easy closing slate against Michigan State, Rutgers, and Northwestern, which should propel Illinois into a nice bowl game.

6. Minnesota Golden Gophers

The Gophers were on a roll until a devastating loss at Rutgers that has somewhat slowed their roll. A bowl game will be a definite.

5. Iowa Hawkeyes

The Hawkeyes remain fifth-placed in this conference but are far removed from being competitive against No. 4.

4. Penn State Nittany Lions

Penn State sent out a strong signal with its convincing win over Washington on Saturday. It sent out a strong statement of intent that they are still contenders in the College Football Playoff discussion, even if their Big Ten championship hopes may seem unlikely.

3. Indiana Hoosiers

Indiana achieved its inaugural 10-win season against Michigan during Week 11, with two games left. A win against Ohio State on November 23 could shed new light on how Indiana can be more than an at-large CFP contender.

2. Ohio State Buckeyes

The Buckeyes beat up Purdue, like everybody else does. We are two weeks away from a Big Ten Championship play-in game between the Bickeyes and the Hoosiers that will send shockwaves throughout the College Football world.

1. Oregon Ducks

Oregon has not wavered from their early-season struggles. Now playing some of their best football ever seen at Oregon and not just the Big Ten level, Oregon’s only real test left will come against Wisconsin next weekend; otherwise, a 12-0 season looks assured, and a title game matchup against either Ohio State or Indiana.