BadgerBlitz.com's power poll is back for another season, where Jon McNamara, Jessi Schoville and I will rank the Big Ten teams after each week of action.
Our ranks following the last round of conference play are included below.
1. Ohio State (11-1, 8-1) … 3 first place votes
The Buckeyes might be the best team in the Big Ten – but they lost the wrong regular season game. Still, they’re sitting pretty for the College Football Playoff. It seems likely they will make the playoff even without playing for the conference title.
2. Wisconsin (10-2, 7-2)
The Badgers are heading to Indianapolis as the outright Big Ten West champions, with a chance to move in to the College Football Playoff if they win the conference title and get some extra help.
3. Michigan (10-2, 7-2 Big Ten)
The Wolverines had the Buckeyes on the ropes until they didn’t. They should still get a nice bowl slot, but it’s far from what Michigan fans were hoping for at the start of the season.
4. Penn State (10-2, 8-1)
The Nittany Lions are heading to the Big Ten Championship Game for the first time in program history – which is quite the accomplishment for a program that looked stuck in the mud after two early losses. A win over Wisconsin could put them in the playoff, too, but a Rose Bowl big would be a good fallback prize as well.
5. Nebraska (9-3, 6-3)
We left Nebraska at the No. 5 spot because of their total body of work, even though they lost to Iowa in a laugher on Black Friday. Nine wins in a season is nothing to scoff at – but with who the Cornhuskers played this year it might not be a whole lot to write home about, either.
6. Iowa (8-4, 6-3)
Iowa finished their season on a high note – even if they didn’t come as close to repeating as division champions as they were hoping to.
7. Minnesota (8-4, 5-4)
The Gophers appeared to be on the precipice of winning Paul Bunyan’s Axe for the first time since 2003 after three quarters, but a fourth quarter meltdown by Mitch Leidner came between them and college football’s best trophy. We’ll see if Minnesota’s next quarterback can beat Wisconsin.
8. Northwestern (6-6, 5-4)
Northwestern is bowling again after a win over Illinois – you have to give them credit for bouncing back after a slow start to the season. They still might be a few steps behind the rest of their division, though.
9. Indiana (6-6, 4-5)
The Hoosiers are going to a bowl game for the second season in a row – which is a major accomplishment for this program. We’ll see if they can keep taking steps forward next year.
10. Maryland (6-6, 3-6)
The Terps went 1-6 over their last seven games, but making a bowl game in D.J. Durkin’s first season in College Park should give them some momentum.
11. Michigan State (3-9, 1-8)
The Spartans aren’t going bowling for the first time in a while – we’ll have to wait and see if this season was a one-off fluke or a sign of more problems to come for Michigan State.
12. Illinois (3-9, 2-7)
There’s only so much you could expect out of Illinois after some program turmoil, but the Fighting llini were not very competitive in their first season under Lovie Smith. We’ll see if they can some more fight in year two.
13. Purdue (3-9, 1-8)
Purdue’s season is over, which means they can get down to business and hire a new head coach. Purdue needs a solid hire this time around – or else they might be stuck in the same three-year cycle.
14. Rutgers (2-10, 0-9)
“Year zero” is in the books for Chris Ash and his staff. Rutgers has a long way to go – for his sake the Rutgers athletic department should give him space to continue to build the program. But another winless Big Ten season next year would be a tough blow.
