Big Ten Power Football: Week 5 Power Rankings

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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As conference play began in the Big Ten, teams finally got their chance to see how they match up against the teams they’re fighting for a Big Ten Championship with.

Teams like Wisconsin, Michigan, Penn State, and Iowa all battled to move up in the conference. As Big Ten play finally gets under way, the Big Ten power rankings will begin to take full shape.

14. Illinois

Week 5 result – 31-16 loss to Nebraska

A lot of Big Ten teams came into conference play and stunned the college football world. Unfortunately, Illinois was not one of those teams.

Their 31-16 loss to Nebraska was expected, which didn’t hurt them much. But if the Fighting Illini were able to pull off an upset, they could’ve taken a significant leap in the Big Ten power rankings. Instead, they continue to sit at the bottom of the conference with little sign of improving.

Lovie Smith has some big-time recruits headed to Illinois next season. But he better get used to Illinois being a bottom feeder in the conference for the rest of the year.

13. Rutgers

Week 5 result – 58-0 loss to Ohio State

Well, Rutgers took an impressive loss to Iowa and turned it into absolutely nothing. Getting shut out by Ohio State isn’t much of a surprise to anyone outside the top 25 in college football. A 58 point shut out, however, is something that stands out.

This back and forth Scarlet Knights team is on the verge of finishing .500, which in hindsight isn’t a terrible season for Rutgers. The chances of them actually having an impact on the Big Ten or making a bowl game are all but gone, though.

Right now, this season is a loss. The Rutgers shouldn’t expect much more excitement to happen in 2016.

12. Purdue

Week 5 result – 50-7 loss to Maryland

This game can be looked at one of two ways. Either Maryland proved they are the real deal, or Purdue proved they aren’t any kind of threat.

Purdue has been a middle of the pack team this season, showing just about nothing so far in 2016. This loss to Maryland left a black mark on the Boilermakers’ season that seems to be the only mark they have thus far.

This team needs to change quick. If they aren’t able to pull off a few victories in the upcoming weeks, they may take this loss much worse than they hope.

11. Northwestern

Week 5 result – 38-31 win over Iowa

Well well well, would you look who woke up. Iowa may be a team on the decline, but Northwestern couldn’t care less. This game finally showed a little fight for the Wildcats, who haven’t seemed to be able to get anything going in 2016.

Northwestern still isn’t going to turn this 2-3 season into any spectacular. At best, they’re hoping to win enough games to make a bowl game, but even that isn’t likely. This win against Iowa is impressive, and Northwestern is much more talented than they’ve shown. But they’ve fallen too far behind to make 2016 anything to remember.

Right now, they just want to carry this momentum into the rest of their Big Ten play.

10. Minnesota

Week 5 result – 29-26 loss to Penn State

It took one game to bounce Minnesota into reality this season. During their first actual game of the year, they weren’t able to defeat Penn State. Although a three-point loss isn’t a blowout, they should have beaten the Nittany Lions according to their last three games.

With the Big Ten taking a severe blow this week, Minnesota’s loss to a less than impressive team only hurts them more. They had the opportunity to take advantage of teams like Michigan State and Iowa losing. Instead, they moved to the bottom five in the conference.

With Penn State being their first loss, Minnesota has a chance to bounce back for the rest of the season. They cannot allow another loss to an inferior team if they want any chance at competing for the Big Ten championship.

9. Penn State

Week 5 result – 29-26 win over Minnesota

Penn State stayed right where they belong this week, beating Minnesota 29-26. They’ve proved this season that they can’t hang with the big boys of the Big Ten. However, they do stand tall amongst the bottom of the rut teams in the conference.

They’re slowly making steps towards returning to the top 25 in college football, but this season they aren’t there yet. With a 1-1 Big Ten record so far, they have an opportunity to still make noise, but it isn’t going to happen.

They should expect to continue barely beating low-end Big Ten teams for the remainder of 2016.

8. Michigan State

Week 5 result – 24-21 loss to Indiana

Wow has Michigan State dropped in 2016. Coming into 2016 as a potential College Football Playoff team, to losing their second game of 2016. Indiana looks good, but not beat Michigan State good.

This team can’t seem to find it’s identity, and it might be because they don’t have strong point. Each week they show more and more weaknesses. Now that they’ve fallen out of the top 25, it isn’t likely that they’ll remain relevant in competing for the Big Ten championship.

No one knows what happened to this team. Maybe Connor Cook meant more to the Spartans than many people thought. Maybe this young team just isn’t ready to take on the top of the NCAA yet. Either way, Michigan State has a lot to fix moving forward.

7. Iowa

Week 5 result – 38-31 loss to Northwestern

Iowa may not have fallen off as bad as Michigan State just yet. That doesn’t mean that they aren’t on their way out of the top half of the Big Ten. Losing to the 2-3 Northwestern Wildcats, not a great way to stay in the top half.

The Hawkeyes have been nothing but a disappointment in 2016. Losses to North Dakota State and Northwestern are about as bad as it gets for a team who started in the top 25. It’s only Week 5, but it may be time to call it quits for Iowa this season. They have shown little promise, continuing to get worse each week.

Don’t be surprised if Iowa falls to the bottom five in the Big Ten power rankings by the end of the season.

6. Indiana

Week 5 result – 24-21 win over Michigan State

How about Indiana! This team proves everyone wrong week after week, beating Michigan State in Week 5 24-21.

The Hoosiers are the biggest surprise of the Big Ten so far. Their loss to Wake Forest last week has almost become irrelevant because of how well they bounced back. It may have been a fluke game, and yes, Michigan State is on a downslide. But take this game as the victory it is. Indiana took out a top five Big Ten team and are making their claim for a potential conference championship run.

It’s early, but if there were winners and losers of opening week of Big Ten play, Indiana would be the ultimate winner.

5. Maryland

Week 5 result – 50-7 win over Purdue

Maryland may be the quietest team in college football right now. This team is dominating teams and making no noise while doing it. Yes, they haven’t played a significant game yet, but they also haven’t let these easy games get the best of them.

At 4-0 the Terripans still aren’t ranked, and that’s a problem. This team is the real deal. They may not be a top 10 team, but they’ve certainly made a strong case to be in the top 25. An impressive win against Penn State next week, and there’s no way they can stay out of the AP Polls.

Starting next week, Maryland’s schedule goes from easy to difficult. Week 6 begins the real test for this team, whether they continue to dominate is completely up to them.

4. Nebraska

Week 5 result – 31-16 win over Illinois

Nebraska continues to roll this season following their 31-16 victory over Illinois. The Fighting Illini aren’t an impressive win by any means. Their 1-4 record and lack of any sort of impactful wins means nothing to Nebraska, the Big Ten power rankings, or the AP Polls.

What it is, is another W. Nebraska is riding this hot streak hard with little sign of slowing down. Breaking the top 10 is insight, with games against Indiana and Wisconsin coming within the next three weeks.

At the beginning of the season towards the back Big Ten power rankings, Nebraska is creeping their way into Ohio State territory.

3. Wisconsin

Week 5 result – 14-7 loss to Michigan

Don’t take Wisconsin’s 14-7 loss to Michigan as a negative. The only bad thing that came out of this game was a one in the loss column. Besides that, Wisconsin did nothing wrong.

The Badgers proved that they could hang, and hang tight, with a top four team in the country. Wisconsin’s loss is going to be difficult to overcome. Being that it’s early in the season, though, the Badgers may be able to squeeze their way into the college football playoffs. It all starts next week against Ohio State.

If Wisconsin is able to beat the Buckeyes in Week 6, they’ll certainly make a strong claim for the top 5. But if they fall to their second team in two weeks, they can basically call it quits this season.

2. Michigan

Week 5 result – 14-7 win over Wisconsin

Michigan survived the biggest game of their season so far. A seven-point win isn’t a blowout, but against Wisconsin, who has proved to be one of the best in the NCAA, any kind of victory is worthy of praise.

The Wolverines slowed down from their first four games, yet they still showed they belong at the top of the NCAA. They still haven’t shaken Ohio State. Whether or not they are the better team will be determined during the last game of the season when Michigan will try to end their losing streak to the Buckeyes.

Until this matchup with the Buckeyes, Michigan will only have one challenge remaining. Unless you still consider Michigan State a threat, the Wolverine’s only other nerve-wracking game will be against Indiana.

1. Ohio State

Week 5 result – 58-0 win over Rutgers

Ohio State continues to shut down anyone and everyone each week. They look like their only quest is to outshine Alabama each week.

This Buckeyes team is unstoppable. J.T. Barrett, along with the rest of this offense, is one of the strongest forces in the NCAA. On the other end of the ball, allowing zero points, against Rutgers or not, is an impressive stat.

This team is one of the best. It’s too early in the season to name them a favorite for the college football playoffs. Especially when they still have to play Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Michigan. But if they pull off victories against all three of these Big Ten teams, they’ll be hard to bet against come December.