Big Ten power rankings, Week 6: P.J. Fleck’s boat gets capsized
By David Rouben
With every team now having a Big Ten game under their belt, there’s been plenty of movement in this week’s power rankings.
With Power Five teams beginning their conference slates, this is the most important part of the college football year. While the non-conference schedule can sometimes provide the opportunity to bolster a team’s playoff resume, the best way to get in is by winning your conference. Case in point: after USC looked like 2014 Florida State through the first four weeks, their loss to Washington State could cost them a playoff spot.
While the top teams solidified their status as the Big Ten’s elite, this week proved that any team can fall. Minnesota was supposed to handle Maryland, Iowa was supposed to beat Michigan State — neither thing happened, and now they find themselves in an early hole. How they recover will be one of the most intriguing things to watch going forward.
Rutgers Scarlet Knights (1-4, 0-2)
Last week: L vs. Ohio State, 56-0
Last rank: 13th
If Rutgers showed during the first four weeks that they’ve made improvements, Ohio State seemingly wiped out all of that progress by beating them 56-0 in their barn. The margin of victory was only two points less than their meeting from last season. In fairness, they were without Janarion Grant, but he wouldn’t have made a difference. The way Kyle Bolin played, he clearly had no answer for the Buckeyes’ fearsome pass rush.
Illinois Fighting Illini (2-2, 0-1)
Last week: L vs. Nebraska, 28-6
Last rank: 14th
Despite how bad things have gotten for Nebraska, they have done one thing well this season – limit the rushing attack of their opponents not named Oregon. As such, their gameplan against Illinois was a simple one, since Chayce Crouch wasn’t going to beat them through the air. Not only did the Illini fail to put up a touchdown, their defense failed to pick off Tanner Lee. When you can’t even do that, you know there’s something fundamentally wrong.