Conference play is in full swing, with 16 of the 18 Big Ten teams facing each other in Week 4. It was a weekend of big upsets and teams showing early who can be competitive in the conference and who will be the punching bags for the top teams.
The hierarchy for the conference is still not set in stone, with every team having played just one conference game so far, but some big matchups are coming in Week 5 to hopefully give us a better idea of it.
There was a lot of movement in this week's power rankings, so instead of dwelling on it, let's take a look at who was able to jump a few tiers and who ended up taking a big tumble from the Week 3 Power Rankings.
Tier 5
18. Rutgers Scarlet Knights 1-3 (0-1) vs. Howard 58-7 W
17. Purdue Boilermakers 1-3 (0-1) vs. Notre Dame 49-10 L
Rutgers and Purdue are in a tier of their own now because they are taking up real estate at the bottom of the Big Ten. Rutgers finally got its first win of the season against Howard, probably the only other team on their schedule they would be able to find a win against. Other than that, both teams are 1-3 and should start thinking about next season already.
Tier 4
16. Maryland Terrapins 2-2 (0-1) vs. UCLA 54-3 L
15. Michigan State Spartans 2-2 (0-1) vs. Nebraska 31-13 L
14. Illinois Fighting Illini 2-2 (0-1) vs. Ohio State 42-19 L
13. Washington Huskies 3-1 (0-1) vs. Minnesota 27-24 L
12. Northwestern Wildcats 2-1 (0-1) vs. Indiana 29-23 L
11. Minnesota Golden Gophers 3-1 (1-0) vs. Washington 27-24 W
Illinois took a big tumble this week after getting walloped by Ohio State 42-19, and within 24 hours of the loss, defensive coordinator Bobby Hauck chose to step away from the program. So the Illini are not in the best standing right now, with a defense that is one of the worst in the conference and an offense that could be getting wasted this season, especially with Katin Houser at QB.
Minnesota is the only team with a conference win in this tier, but it came against their fellow tier member, Washington. The Golden Gophers looked better, but with a frustrated Michigan team coming to town this week, they could feel the wrath of the Wolverines.
Tier 3
10. Wisconsin Badgers 3-1 (1-0) vs. Penn State 24-20 W
9. USC Trojans 3-1 (0-1) vs. Oregon 41-27 L
8. Nebraska Cornhuskers 4-0 (1-0) vs. Michigan State 31-13 W
7. Penn State Nittany Lions 3-1 (0-1) vs. Wisconsin 24-20 L
6. Michigan Wolverines 3-1 (0-1) vs. Iowa 20-19 L
Wisconsin took a huge jump this week into the third tier of the Big Ten Power Rankings with a late win over No. 13 Penn State. The Badgers even received the most votes outside of the Top 25, effectively ranking them No. 26. Maybe things are looking up for Luke Fickell in Madison, or Penn State could be having some growing pains with Matt Campbell.
Speaking of Penn State, both the Nittany Lions and Michigan took a tumble this week after being in the Top 5 rankings for the past two weeks. USC joins them after taking a double-digit loss to Oregon at home in the Coliseum this week. All three teams need bounce-back weeks against teams clearly inferior to them.
Nebraska continues to slowly climb the rankings, but Michigan State wasn't the toughest test they could have faced; nonetheless, the Cornhuskers are still undefeated this season.
Tier 2
5. UCLA Bruins 4-0 (1-0) vs. Maryland 54-3 W
4. Iowa Hawkeyes 4-0 (1-0) vs. Michigan 20-19 W
3. Oregon Ducks 3-1 (1-0) vs. USC 41-27 W
Probably the most surprising team in this tier is by far UCLA. Who would have thought the Bruins would get back in the rankings this soon after the utterly poor play we have seen from them the last couple of seasons? The Bruins looked great against Maryland, but again, it was Maryland. How will they match up against their tier-mate Oregon this week? Who knows, with the Ducks rolling out with Dylan Raiola after Dante Moore took a horrible hit vs. USC, which will have him out for a while.
Iowa stays steady in the rankings this week after coming back to beat Michigan. The Hawkeyes were two seconds away from being where Michigan is in the rankings, but being able to come up clutch in big moments gets Iowa into Tier 2 this week.
Tier 1
2. Indiana Hoosiers 4-0 (1-0) vs. Northwestern 29-23 W
1. Ohio State Buckeyes 3-1 (4-0) vs. Illinois 42-19 W
Now, this will probably have people wondering what I am thinking, but hear me out. Ohio State came out against a clearly inferior opponent in Illinois and dominated. Indiana had the same setup with Northwestern and only won by six points. It is almost crazy how little we hear about the reigning National Champions, but with a soft non-conference schedule and only Ohio State, Michigan, and USC as the toughest opponents on the schedule, the Hoosiers won't get challenged much.
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