After a relatively disappointing opening weekend, the Big Ten bounced back with a solid Week 2. Big Ten teams went 12-2, including a 3-1 mark against teams from the Power Five conferences (though in fairness, one of those teams was Iowa State). As a result, you’ll notice an incredible lack of movement in this week’s power rankings.
1. Ohio State, 49 points
The defending national champions rolled past Hawaii for a 38-0 victory, but don’t expect anyone to be impressed by a convincing win over an obviously inferior opponent.
As Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema pointed out last week, the Buckeyes’ schedule is a cakewalk compared to the gauntlet that SEC teams must run through. If there’s any justice in the world, the College Football Playoff selection committee will hold Ohio State accountable for its weak schedule and reward teams such as the Razorbacks, who, even though they lost this past weekend, still had the cojones to take on a national power like Toledo.
2. Michigan State, 41 points
College football’s marquee matchup from this past weekend took place in East Lansing, where the fifth-ranked Spartans welcomed in No. 7 Oregon. Behind a solid performance from quarterback Connor Cook, Michigan State won 31-28, successfully avenging its loss to Oregon last year.
With the victory, the Spartans earned what will likely be the Big Ten’s biggest non-conference win of the season. That is, unless anybody from the conference completes the seemingly insurmountable task of defeating Arkansas in a bowl game.
3. Wisconsin, 30 points
A week after being soundly defeated by college football’s evil empire, the Badgers returned to Camp Randall and completely obliterated Miami (the one without all the national titles).
Joel Stave continued to lay the foundation for his darkhorse Heisman campaign and the defense pitched a shutout in Wisconsin’s dominating 58-0 win. Sure, it came against a team that has the same number of conference wins since 2013 as Arkansas does under Bret Bielema, but the Badgers got back on track and could get even better once running back Corey Clement returns from injury.
4. Minnesota, 13 points
Just one week after nearly upsetting No. 2 TCU to open their season, the Gophers needed overtime to escape with a win against Colorado State because football.
The Gopher defense once again was stout and held a formidable offense in check, but its offense looked fairly lackluster for a second straight week. If Minnesota can cobble together anything resembling a cohesive offense by the start of conference play, the rest of the Big Ten West should be very afraid.
5. Northwestern, 7 points
Through two games, the Wildcats have surrendered only six points, own a victory over Stanford and have now returned to the AP rankings. So is Pat Fitzgerald’s team the real deal? It’s still too early to tell, but Northwestern will get tested next Saturday when it leaves the comforting confines of the mystical realm of Evanston for its first road game against Duke.
