Big Ten power rankings, Week 11: Save us, Wisconsin, you’re the Big Ten’s only hope

4

Penn State Nittany Lions (7-2, 4-2)

Last week: L vs. Michigan State, 27-24
Last rank: 3rd

In two weeks, Penn State went from being the best team in the Big Ten to their season being over. Saquon Barkley went from being the Heisman favorite to dropping back down to second behind Baker Mayfield. Yes, they faced elite competition in Ohio State and Michigan State, but they lost to them by a combined margin of four points. They’ll be kicking themselves for these missed opportunities over the last two weeks.

It’s no secret that Penn State’s success is largely dependent on Barkley. After Ohio State’s front seven largely stymied him, he figured to face another tough test in the Spartans, whose greatest strength is arguably their run defense. Not only did the Spartans snap Barkley’s streak of 15 games with a touchdown, they held him to zero, you heard that right, yards in the first half.

While he started to find his rhythm in the second half, he may have cost his team the game. Once he found out how badly the Buckeyes were losing, Barkley supposedly told Chris Frey and Joe Bachie about it and said “we’re playing for a championship right now.” Perhaps he forgot that Michigan State was in that conversation as well, since they completed their comeback to kill off Penn State’s hopes of either making the Playoff or the Big Ten Championship Game.

With the toughest part of their schedule now through, James Franklin will at least hope his team can respond against Rutgers and will play well enough to pull his starters after a half.

3

Ohio State Buckeyes (7-2, 5-1)

Last week: L vs. Iowa, 55-24
Last rank: 1st

Even days later, it’s still difficult to process everything that happened in Iowa City. Not only did Ohio State get blown out after being double-digit favorites, this was the most points Urban Meyer has given up in his head coaching career. And after J.T. Barrett was near-perfect against Penn State, he threw four interceptions.

While Iowa deserves all the credit in the world for their performance, Ohio State must be held accountable. Whether they overlooked Iowa because they were focused on Michigan State, or they were still coming off an emotional performance against Penn State, this game was living proof that you can’t take any weeks off. They should’ve played even harder after they saw they were on the outside looking in. But while they had a chance to catch Clemson had they won out, that’s no longer on the table.

Even still, the Buckeyes control their own destiny as far as winning the East division and getting back to the Championship Game. And with games against Michigan State and Michigan on the horizon, there’s no reason for them to let up in these final three weeks.