After an exciting first week of college football, BadgerBlitz.com's BIG Ten Power Poll kicks off its 2018-19 regular season rankings. Here, I display my title of exceptional ranking aficionado and use some common sense to compile a complete ranking of the BIG Ten’s best.

1. Wisconsin Badgers (1-0, Last Game: Defeated Western Kentucky, 34-3)

The Badgers won convincingly against Western Kentucky in front of a crowd of 74,145 at Camp Randall on Friday evening. Although sophomore running back Jonathan Taylor stole the show with 145 yards and two touchdowns, the Wisconsin defense succeeded in its supporting role. The unit allowed just three points and saw plenty of new faces find success in starting roles.

2. Ohio State Buckeyes (1-0, Last Game: Defeated Oregon State, 77-31)

The Buckeyes recorded their 19th consecutive season-opening victory last week and rolled past Oregon State, 77-31. Sophomore quarterback Dwayne Haskins had an excellent game and broke both the passing yardage (313) and touchdown (5) record for a OSU quarterback making his starting debut. If there is a negative to take away from OSU's outing, one should look no further than the 33 points allowed.

3. Penn State Nittany Lions (1-0, Last Game: Defeated Appalachian State, 45-38 in OT)

It was a dramatic win, but a Penn State win, nonetheless. Give credit to the PSU defense, specifically the senior trio of linebacker Koa Farmer, safety Nick Scott and corner Amani Oruwariye. They combined for 19 tackles and the game-sealing overtime interception. As a whole, the defensive unit is still young, but the veterans helped the Lions avoid a scare in Week 1.

4. Michigan State Spartans (1-0, Last Game: Defeated Utah State, 38-31)

Michigan State quarterback Brian Lewerke had an inconsistent game, completing 23 of 33 passes for 287 yards, but guided his offense to a late game-winning drive against the Aggies. The team was severely hurt by red-zone penalties, which kept Utah State close. MSU displayed late heroics both on offense and defense, but there are certainly more questions than answers as the team looks ahead.

5. Northwestern Wildcats (1-0, Last Game: Defeated Purdue, 31-27)

Despite the rotating quarterback position, the Wildcats' offense was better-than-advertised against the Boilermakers. Fifth-year senior Clayton Thorson finished 16 of 26 passing for 172 yards while redshirt junior TJ Green was 7 of 11 for 63 yards with a one-yard touchdown run. As for the defense, the unit had highs and lows. Regardless, if the Wildcats are to knock the Badgers from the top of the West, early-season wins are necessary.

6. Iowa Hawkeyes (1-0, Last Game: Defeated Northern Illinois 33-7)

Seven true freshmen saw action and the Iowa defense stood strong against Northern Illinois on Saturday. The offense didn't need to outwork itself, but it did boast a couple of long-distance touchdown drives. Pair these positives with head coach Kirk Ferentz's 144th victory- the most in program history - and the Hawkeyes find themselves in the sixth spot in my poll.

7. Michigan Wolverines (0-1, Last Game: Defeated by Notre Dame, 17-24)

It wasn't the start the Wolverines or quarterback Shea Patterson (20-30, 227 yards, 1 INT) were hoping for against Notre Dame, but there's still plenty of time to turn things around in Ann Arbor. However, it is concerning that Michigan consistently falls short against tough opponents. It's much of the same old problems for the Michigan offense.

8. Maryland Terrapins (1-0, Last Game: Defeated Texas, 34-29)

The process of turning the page on a disastrous 2017 regular season/offseason is headed in the right direction for Maryland after its win over Texas. Although you might have seen the latest Texas loss coming, it is likely you were not expecting the young Terps to make such an immediate impact, with more than half of the team's rushing yards and more than 100 of its receiving yards coming from freshmen.

9. Indiana Hoosiers (1-0, Last Game: Defeated Florida International, 38-28)

The Indiana offense picked apart Florida International and these Hoosiers appear more balanced. Head coach Tom Allen implemented an effective game plan and used an array of receivers. In fact, the receiving corps caught 75 percent of the passes thrown to them. Even though the defense is still a work in progress, more things went right than wrong for Indiana.

10. Minnesota Golden Gophers (1-0, Last Game: Defeated New Mexico State, 48-10)

Minnesota's five touchdown, blowout win over New Mexico State is a healthy boost of confidence for a program that was knocked around near the end of the 2017 season. The quarterback situation wasn't as nerve-wracking as some perceived, but the offensive line still needs work. In Week 2, Fresno represents a good test for a program that must focus on producing results instead of continued optimism.

11. Purdue Boilermakers (0-1, Last Game: Defeated by Northwestern, 27-31)

The Boilermakers weren't plagued by bad play against the Wildcats. Rather, Purdue dug its own grave because of ill-timed penalties and turnovers.

"This weekend was a loss that stung us. It should. It was disappointing," head coach Jeff Brohm said on Sunday. "I know our guys are a little bit angry, which they should be. We have a lot of work to do. Without question we need to get better in a lot of ways."

An opportunity to improve awaits against Eastern Michigan.

12. Nebraska Cornhuskers (0-0, Last Game: DNP)

The highly-anticipated debut of head coach Scott Frost and co. has to wait one more week after the match-up between Nebraska and Akron was canceled due to weather. This could end up hurting the Huskers in more ways than one, though. Not only is the team behind schedule, they must face a Pa. 12 opponent riding momentum instead of a program from the MAC East.

13. Rutgers Scarlet Knights (1-0, Last Game: Defeated Texas State, 35-7)

Rutgers opened its 2018 season with a strong performance against Texas State and revealed a much improved offense under returning offensive coordinator John McNulty. Although freshman quarterback Artur Sitkowski made his share of mistakes, his showing was mostly positve. With one game under his belt, one of the toughest tests for Sitkowski awaits in Week 2 with a showdown against the Ohio State defense.

14. Illinois Fighting Illinois (1-0, Last Game: Defeated Kent State, 31-24)

Nothing seems to go right for the Illini. Despite the Week 1 victory, the team recently lost Illinois wide receiver Mike Dudek for the remainder of the season with a season-ending injury. It's his third season-ending injury for Dudek, who has experienced a fall from grace since catching 76 passes for 1,038 yards in 2014.

A couple of wins could boost the Illini's credibility in my power poll, but they remain at the bottom for now.

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Jonathan Mills covers Wisconsin football and basketball for BadgerBlitz.com on the Rivals.com network. Follow him on Twitter at @therealJMlLLS