Full recap of power rankings for every Big Ten football position group entering 2024 season

mdk02

Heisman
Aug 18, 2011
25,939
18,312
113
Need to get that TE ranking out of the basement. It was usually a strength during Schiano 1.0
 
Feb 5, 2003
10,900
9,218
113
AK ranked below the Iowa QB - oof, if accurate.

I am not a scout, but I saw a lot of things I liked in Fletcher near the end of last season. I think he will be better than that rank.

Our OL is too low, too.

DL is #8, LB is #9, CB is #9, Safety is #9 - but we were a top 25 defense nationally last season (#16 in yards allowed per game) with the same guys, more or less, playing with a subpar offense? Get outta here with that.
 
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dicemen99

All-Conference
Nov 15, 2005
3,006
2,297
113
DL is #8, LB is #9, CB is #9, Safety is #9 - but we were a top 25 defense nationally last season (#16 in yards allowed per game) with the same guys, more or less, playing with a subpar offense? Get outta here with that.
You do realize that the B1G had the top 4 defenses in the country, 5 in the top 10 (including Oregon) and 7 in the top 20, don't you? Being 8th or 9th in defense in the B1G is still borderline top 25.
 
Feb 5, 2003
10,900
9,218
113
You do realize that the B1G had the top 4 defenses in the country, 5 in the top 10 (including Oregon) and 7 in the top 20, don't you? Being 8th or 9th in defense in the B1G is still borderline top 25.
Yes, I realize that. So at worst, we were the 6th defense of the teams that will be in the conference. We have everyone back except Jennings and Melton. Yet, every part of that defense is only mid-tier at best?

Further - if you assign 1 pt for 1st place to 18 pts for 18th place (man that is a lot of teams), here is how the defenses stack up in these rankings:

1 - Ohio State 8
2 - Michigan 12
3 - Iowa 13
4 - Oregon 16
5 - Penn State 22
6 - Nebraska 25
7 - Wisconsin 28 (driven by a bad DL ranking, they are very high in the other three)
8 - Rutgers 35

Are we really only the 8th best defense in the conference this season? Maybe it is my scarlet-tinted glasses talking, but that feels too low.
 

Eagleton95.99

All-American
Jul 25, 2001
7,511
6,428
113
Yes, I realize that. So at worst, we were the 6th defense of the teams that will be in the conference. We have everyone back except Jennings and Melton. Yet, every part of that defense is only mid-tier at best?

Further - if you assign 1 pt for 1st place to 18 pts for 18th place (man that is a lot of teams), here is how the defenses stack up in these rankings:

1 - Ohio State 8
2 - Michigan 12
3 - Iowa 13
4 - Oregon 16
5 - Penn State 22
6 - Nebraska 25
7 - Wisconsin 28 (driven by a bad DL ranking, they are very high in the other three)
8 - Rutgers 35

Are we really only the 8th best defense in the conference this season? Maybe it is my scarlet-tinted glasses talking, but that feels too low.
Whole greater than the sum of the parts. Mn ranked higher than us in almost all position groups, but behind is in the overall ranking.
 

dicemen99

All-Conference
Nov 15, 2005
3,006
2,297
113
Yes, I realize that. So at worst, we were the 6th defense of the teams that will be in the conference. We have everyone back except Jennings and Melton. Yet, every part of that defense is only mid-tier at best?

Further - if you assign 1 pt for 1st place to 18 pts for 18th place (man that is a lot of teams), here is how the defenses stack up in these rankings:

1 - Ohio State 8
2 - Michigan 12
3 - Iowa 13
4 - Oregon 16
5 - Penn State 22
6 - Nebraska 25
7 - Wisconsin 28 (driven by a bad DL ranking, they are very high in the other three)
8 - Rutgers 35

Are we really only the 8th best defense in the conference this season? Maybe it is my scarlet-tinted glasses talking, but that feels too low.
Teams ranked above Rutgers in defense last year:
Michigan
OSU
PSU
Iowa
Oregon
Nebraska
Wisconsin

That's 7. How do you figure there were only 5? Removing Oregon doesn't make sense - they are included in the position rankings for 2024 you are citing.

If most of your position ranks are 8th or 9th, you're probably around the 8th overall. Makes sense doesn't it?
 
Feb 5, 2003
10,900
9,218
113
I was going by yards per game allowed, not scoring D. There's no perfect metric here, as special teams and offense sometimes put a D in a bad place to stop scoring.

1 Michigan
2 Penn State
3 Ohio State

7 Iowa
10 UCLA (I missed that one, but everyone seems to be predicting them to be worse this season)
11 Nebraska

16 Rutgers

I didn't intentionally leave anyone out. Oregon gave up slightly more yards than we did.