Big Ten Power Rankings Week 9

14) Indiana Hoosiers

High hopes meet misery! I will give Indiana that playing Iowa and Cincinnati at the start of the season would be tough for anybody, but this team has failed miserably to live up to the hype.

13) Rutgers Scarlet Knights

BYE

12) Maryland Terrapins

A great start to the season, followed by a total collapse. T%he Terps looked headed for great things until they had to start playing good teams

11) Northwestern Wildcats

The Wildcats have steadily improved since week one. They played Michigan tough for a little over a half but let’s face it; this is a rebuilding year for the Wildcats.

10) Nebraska Cornhuskers

The Cornhuskers are coming off a bye, and much like Northwestern, they are an ever-improving team that could cause some trouble from here on out.

9) Illinois Fighting Illini

The Illini shocked the college football world with an overtime win in Happy Valley. The Illini started the year off strong beating Nebraska, but since then had struggled until going to Penn State. Now the question is can they build off of it?

8) Penn State Nittany Lions

The Nittany Lions once-promising season ended in a blink of an eye on Saturday; there will be no playoff and no Big Ten Championship game this year.

7) Purdue Boilermakers

Purdue got rung up by Wisconsin in a game that could have changed thinking about Purdue football.

6) Wisconsin Badgers

The Badgers physically pummeled the Iowa Hawkeyes, and if they have figured out the offense just a little bit, the Badgers will be dangerous against anybody they play.

5) Minnesota Golden Gophers

PJ Fleck finally has the Gophers playing well behind quarterback Tanner Morgan, and they are now firmly in play to make a run at the West division title. A game with Iowa will tell us exactly how good this team is?

4) Iowa Hawkeyes

The Hawkeyes had hopes of a CFP berth destroyed by Purdue and now have to set their sights on winning the West, and that sets up a showdown with Minnesota for the right to get thrashed by Ogio State.

3) Michigan Wolverines

Number two will be decided by a Michigan/Michigan State matchup this coming weekend. The Wolverines aren’t always impressive, but so far, they have found a way to win.

2) Michigan State Spartans

They don’t look that impressive, much like Michigan, but they win with their defense and physicality.

1) Ohio State Buckeyes

C.J. Stroud is the real deal and the Buckeyes defense, which was an issue earlier in the season, is now a strength.