Chapman's B1G Power Rankings [BLOG]

By: Brian Chapman
@bchapsports

That game at the Big House was disappointing, but not shocking (despite my Guaransheed.) Penn State's offense has been struggling for weeks, Christian Hackenberg has not taken a step forward after his strong freshman season, the offensive line is terrible and will not improve this year and on Saturday they had the brilliant idea of throwing wide receiver screens the entire second half even though that's not how they scored in the first half and it's certainly not how Rutgers scored the previous week against Michigan.

On the other side of the ball, Michigan is not a good football team, but they played hard and when you keep playing hard, sometimes good things happen. Despite the injuries, the Wolverines stuck together, took advantage of the Nittany Lions playing not to lose and remained undefeated in night games at Michigan Stadium. Too bad the game meant nothing on the national scale or in the conference championship race. Maybe in two years it will mean something again.

So how do I see the conference heading into October 18? Like this:

1. Michigan State (5-1, 2-0, last week No. 1)… For the second straight week, the Spartans have failed to completely close the casket and, more importantly, run up the score on an inferior opponent. When you're trying to make the College Football Playoff "a win is a win" most likely doesn't apply. This is not the NFL and style points could matter when comparing Michigan State to other teams with one loss. Allowing a pair of 4^th quarter touchdowns and leading the bottom feeding Boilermakers by just one touchdown with less than two minutes to go suggests Michigan State is not one of the top four teams in America.
2. Ohio State (4-1, 1-0, last week No. 2)… The Deep South Buckeyes don't have Braxton Miller and are still fifth highest scoring team in the country at 44.6ppg. I know they haven't played any strong teams so far, but that's still very impressive. Right now it looks like the only two things that can stop Urban Meyer's boys are the Michigan State Spartans and another NCAA investigation. They're overdue for the latter.
3. Nebraska (5-1, 1-1, last week No. 3)… Last week I wrote that with road trips to Northwestern and Wisconsin left on the schedule, the Corn Huskers could go finish 6-2 in the conference. Then Northwestern lost and Wisconsin had way too much trouble with Illinois. Now it's looking more likely that they could finish 7-1. However, we all know Bo Pelini's teams always find a way of pushing their fan base to the ledge with a puzzling loss or two for the ages. Perhaps that will come next weekend when they host Rutgers. Perhaps a 45-21 loss?
4. Wisconsin (4-2, 1-1, last week No. 5) … On one hand, the Fighting Illini scored 14pts in the final nine minutes of the game when the outcome had already been decided. On the other hand, the Badgers gave up 28pts in Madison to Illinois! Illinois just lost to Purdue. The Fighting Illini are the worst team in the conference and they came within 10pts of a road win in against the Badgers! This is back to back unimpressive wins for the Wisconsin and when you consider that their major non-conference foe LSU isn't looking so great, the Badgers appear to be just a notch above the B1G's impoverished middle class. It's a good thing they can still run.
5. Minnesota (5-1, 2-0, last week No. 7)… How do you win a B1G game in 2014 at home when you rack up only 274yds of total offense, complete only ten passes, lose the time of possession battle and give up 28 first downs? Special teams. Jalen Myrick's 100yd kickoff return in the 4^th quarter put the Golden Gophers atop the B1G West's standings. Minnesota is only one win away from bowl eligibility again and with Purdue and Illinois on the schedule next, they'll certainly play a 13^th game, just don't expect it to be in the conference championship game. Their record will make a sharp adjustment to the mean in their final three games against Ohio State, Nebraska and Wisconsin.
6. Northwestern (3-3, 2-1, last week No. 4)… So much for Northwestern's winning streak. If they wanted a shot to win the B1G's Western Division, they almost had to beat Minnesota on the road and their special teams let them down in a 7pt loss. The Wildcats still have a decent shot to get to the B1G Championship Game and will be favored to get there if they beat the Corn Huskers this weekend in Evanston, but a loss next week and a mid-tier Big Ten bowl in December is the most likely scenario for Pat Fitzgerald's crew.
7. Maryland (4-2, 1-1, last week No. 8)… The Buckeyes hammered the Terps in Maryland's first trip to Columbus as a member of the B1G. Luckily for Terps, they only play one more conference powerhouse (Michigan State) the rest of the year (in large part because the conference is so weak.) The rest of the schedule is loaded with middle class B1G teams and Maryland has done well against middle class teams this year. If their big wideouts can get lose, they could finish 6-2 and in a decent bowl… only to be crushed in December.
8. Iowa (5-1, 2-0, last week No. 11)… Last week really wasn't much of a test for the Hawkeyes. Hoosiers QB Nate Sudfeld went down in the first half and his backup completed just a quarter of his passes the remainder of the game. Considering this is just the second time in six games that they've scored more than 24pts, this win proves absolutely nothing about how good Kirk Ferentz's team is. Winning two of their next three against middle class B1G teams Maryland, Northwestern and Minnesota would prove a little something.
9. Penn State (4-2, 1-2, last week No. 6)… Even though it was only a loss by five points on the road, it was a horrifying loss by the Nittany Lions. Questionable play calling, a strange fake punt call, mismanaging of timeouts, an inability to take advantage of Michigan's porous secondary and getting shutout in the second half drop Penn State from the top half of the B1G and make it nearly impossible for them to climb back into the top 7 by the end of the season. They stay ahead of Michigan and Rutgers because all three have played one another and all three are 1-1 against one another, but Penn State played both teams on the road.
10. Rutgers (5-1, 1-1, last week No. 9)… It's a good thing Rutgers took out Michigan because they are just one win away from bowl eligibility. However, the bye came at a really bad time. The extra week will not help them to take down the Deep South Buckeyes, especially since Ohio State had a bye week as well. In addition, four of their final six games are on the road. If the Scarlet Knights don't beat Indiana at home next month, that magical night against the Wolverines will be the highlight of the season. And that's not saying much in 2014.
11. Michigan (3-4, 1-2, last week No. 12)… While ESPN was so far down on the Wolverines that they labeled them one of the ten worst teams in college football and the second worst team in the B1G (behind Purdue and only ahead of Illinois) I knew they weren't nearly that bad and they showed it on Saturday night. It certainly wasn't an impressive victory against Penn State or a sign that Michigan is back, but they fought hard, played through injuries and adjusted to Penn State's weak play calling to earn their first conference win of the season.
12. Indiana (3-3, 0-2, last week No. 10)… How in the world did this team beat Missouri at Missouri? It was the conference's biggest non-conference victory and it looks more and more puzzling as the season goes along and Indiana looks more like a vintage Indiana football team. This past weekend they dropped to 0-2 in conference play with a 16pt loss to a mediocre Iowa team. I know that QB Nate Sudfeld left the game in the first half and he could have kept the game closer, but he doesn't play defense and apparently nobody else does on the Hoosiers. Expect a lot of points and a lot of excitement from RB Tevin Coleman for the rest of the year, just don't expect many wins.
13. Purdue (3-4, 1-2, last week No. 13)… Two weeks ago I labeled Purdue the worst team in the B1G. Since then they beat the current worst team in the B1G by double digits and gave the best team in the B1G a late scare. The Boilermakers' defense is no good, their running game is not solid enough to carry the team and they're not going to a bowl game, but they're enough showing improvement that they may not be a pushover in their final five games of the season.
14. Illinois (3-4, 0-3, last week No. 14)… I don't think Illinois will win a conference game all season and Tim Beckman will be out at the end of the year, but they scored 28pts against Wisconsin in Wisconsin. That suggests they have the potential to win a game. Either way, they still lost to Purdue last week. Worst team in the B1G.

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2014/09/25/big-ten-power-rankings-blog/  Week 5

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2014/10/01/big-ten-power-rankings-blog-2/ Week 6

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2014/10/10/chapmans-b1g-power-rankings-blog/ Week 7

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