Big Ten Power Rankings ahead of Week 5 of college football

After another week of Big Ten college football, this is how ESPN has the teams ranked in the conference’s power rankings after Week 4 of the college football season.

FPI (Football Power Index Rank vs. all FBS teams) is ESPN’s measurement used to grade and rank teams based on criteria like strength of schedule, game control, and strength of rank.

1. Ohio State Buckeyes (4) – Ohio State did exactly what they were supposed to do on Saturday and beat up on Akron. The biggest surprise of the game involved now-former Buckeye linebacker K’Vaughan Pope.

2. Michigan Wolverines (7) – The Michigan Wolverines beat Rutgers in a close one last Saturday 20-13. This week they have another tough matchup against the Wisconsin Badgers who are fresh off a loss at the hands of Notre Dame.

3. Penn State Nittany Lions (11) – The Penn State Nittany Lions started a little slow against the Villanova Wildcats, leading just 7-3 after the first. But they would shake off that slow start to score 31 straight unanswered points, winning the game 38 -17

4. Michigan State Spartans (15) – The Spartans of Michigan State won a close won in overtime against the Nebraska Cornhuskers 23-20. That win now puts them at 4-0 heading into this Saturday’s matchup against Western Kentucky.

5. Iowa Hawkeyes (21) – The Iowa Hawkeyes played like they were asleep at the wheel last week against Colorado State. At halftime, they were down 14-7. They must have gotten a wake-up call at the half because they came out and scored 17 unanswered points two win 24-14.

6. Nebraska Cornhuskers (26) – The Nebraska Cornhuskers are coming off a second straight tough road loss against a ranked opponent. The Cornhuskers were able to force overtime but were defeated after they threw an interception on their possession and Michigan State kicked a game-winning field goal.

7. Wisconsin Badgers (27) – Wisconsin was any all the way to the end (of the third quarter) against Notre Dame. They headed into the fourth quarter tide 10-10. After that, the Badgers preceded to get blown out 31-3 in the fourth quarter alone. Mertz Threw four interceptions in the game. But the last two were of the pick-six variety.

8. Rutgers Scarlet Knights (35) – The Scarlet Knights entered the murderers’ row of their schedule last week. Against Michigan, they suffered their first loss of the season. Up next for Rutgers is an Ohio State team who is looking to prove that they are still the kings of the Big Ten.

9. Maryland Terrapins (43) – The Terrapins continued to roll last week as they took care of business against Kent State. This week has them facing a much harder opponent, No. 5 ranked Iowa Hawkeyes. If Maryland is to prove they are for real in the Big Ten, they will need to take care of business at home Saturday night.

10. Purdue Boilermakers (45) – The Boilermakers scored 13 points in a game for the second week in a row. Fortunately for them, they were going up against Illinois. That 13 would prove to be enough as they went on to win the game by a score of 13-9.

12. Indiana Hoosiers (55) – Indiana was able to put away Western Kentucky on the road this weekend behind quarterback Michael Penix 373 yards through the air. However, the game was much closer than they would have liked as they won 33-31.

8. Minnesota Golden Gophers (63) – The Golden Gophers are coming off a head-scratcher of a loss to Bowling Green. In a game in which the Falcons had just 192 yards of total offense and only converted two of 14 third-down attempts, Minnesota could not figure out a way to get the ball in the end zone more than once losing 14-10.

13. Northwestern Wildcats (69) – Northwestern did away well with the Ohio Bobcats 35-6 last week. In the game they had 461 yards of total offense, 373 of them came on the ground. Let’s see if they can repeat that performance against Nebraska this week.

14. Illinois Fighting Illini (83) – After knocking off Nebraska in their season opener Illinois has fallen flat on their face. They have lost their last two games by a combined seven points. But this week’s game against Charlotte should give them the pick-me-up they need to get the ball rolling back in the right direction.

Expect to see a lot of shifting in the power rankings after Week 5. Teams are starting to jockey for bowl game position and a possible College Football Playoff berth. With several in-conference marquee matchups, this week anticipate more movement.

Week 4 Big Ten Power Rankings