Big Ten power rankings: Michigan, Purdue move up; Ohio State exposed
By Ethan Lee
After the Purdue Boilermakers demolished the Ohio State Buckeyes, the Big Ten has a new team on top in this week’s Big Ten power rankings.
The Michigan Wolverines are probably pretty grateful for the Purdue Boilermakers right now. In addition to the simple fact that the Boilermakers beat down one of Michigan’s rivals, Ohio State’s loss advanced the Wolverines to the top of the Big Ten East standings.
The fact that the Buckeyes have already put Michigan in the driver’s seat of the Big Ten may not bode well for Ohio State down the line. OSU can’t afford to slip up again at all this season if they want to win their conference and sneak into the playoffs. But enough about Ohio State trying to get into the College Football Playoff.
There’s plenty of other notable storylines from the games that happened this past weekend. Michigan dominated Michigan State, Nebraska got its first win of the year, and Wisconsin got back on track.
This week became a bit of a crazy one for the Big Ten and shifted up the Big Ten’s power rankings. Certain teams were able to skyrocket up after huge, program-defining wins while others came crashing down to earth.
And while plenty of other teams moved up and down, Rutgers didn’t budge one bit. The Scarlet Knights had yet another frustrating loss on Saturday, extending their losing streak to seven games. In the game on Saturday, Rutgers challenged a seemingly mediocre Northwestern team that somehow keeps finding new ways to win.
If Rutgers fans thought that things were rough up to this point, then they’re going to need to go ahead and buckle up for the rest of the year. The Scarlet Knights get a bye week this week, but they will play at No. 23 Wisconsin the first weekend of November, host No. 6 Michigan and then No. 18 Penn State the next two weeks, and finish the season at No. 24 Michigan State.