In a week full of chaos across the college football landscape, the Big Ten had little upsets to offer. The teams that should have won, took care of business and continue to run the conference. Michigan, Illinois, and Purdue all won their respective games and look to keep their division title hopes alive.
However, the biggest storyline may be in the number of starting quarterbacks that left their games early with injuries. All of Sean Clifford (Penn State), Tanner Morgan (Minnesota), and Taulia Tagovailoa (Maryland) left their games and did not end up returning. These changes could shake up the rankings down the line and two of these three teams ended up losing their games this past weekend.
Check out the latest power rankings below after week 7 of the college football season.
October 17th Big Ten Football Power Rankings
No. 14 Northwestern (1-5, 1-2 B1G)
Previous: No. 14; Last: Bye
Northwestern was on a bye this week at travel to Maryland this Saturday.
No. 13 Indiana (3-4, 1-3 B1G)
Previous: No. 13; Last: Loss against Maryland 38-33
Indiana should have won this game and now face a very uphill battle to make the postseason. A big matchup comes up next week when they travel to Rutgers in two teams that are currently struggling for wins this season.
No. 12 Rutgers (3-3, 0-3 B1G)
Previous: No. 11; Last: Bye
Rutgers was on a bye this week and host Indiana on Saturday.
No. 11 Nebraska (3-4, 2-2 B1G)
Previous: No. 10; Last: Loss at Purdue 43-37
Nebraska needed to win this game to have a reasonable chance at the postseason and failed to get it. They need to sort out their defense to get a chance at some more victories though and regroup for next season behind a new head coach.
No. 10 Wisconsin (3-4, 1-3 B1G)
Previous: No. 9; Last: Loss at Michigan State 34-28
Wisconsin’s first win under Jim Leonhard was probably more of a testament on how bad Northwestern is than how good Wisconsin is currently. They need to sort out their offense ahead of next week against Purdue.
No. 9 Michigan State (3-4, 1-3 B1G)
Previous: No. 12; Last: Win against Wisconsin 34-28 (2OT)
Michigan State won their first conference game of the season in a 2OT victory over Wisconsin. The Spartans still don’t look great, but at least they got a W before playing plenty of top conference teams still.
No. 8 Iowa (3-3, 1-2 B1G)
Previous: No. 8; Last: Bye
Iowa holds steady at No. 8 after a bye week. They travel to Ohio State this weekend.
No. 7 Minnesota (4-2, 1-2 B1G)
Previous: No. 6; Last: Loss at No. 24 Illinois 26-14
Minnesota also lost their QB after a blow to the head this weekend. It was a tough loss for the Golden Gophers, but they were not expected to win, and now, they need some luck on their side to win the division. Expect Ibrahim to have an even bigger role these upcoming weeks if Morgan is out for an extended period of time.
No. 6 Maryland (5-2, 2-2 B1G)
Previous: No. 7; Last: Win at Indiana 38-33
Maryland found a way to claw back and win at Indiana this weekend despite losing QB Taulia Tagovailoa. It will be tough to maintain momentum the rest of the season if he is out for a while, more updates will be expected as the week progresses.
No. 5 Purdue (5-2, 3-1 B1G)
Previous: No. 5; Last: Win against Nebraska 43-37
Purdue and Illinois look to be the teams that have the best chance in taking the West this season. They won as expected against Nebraska. When Purdue travels to Illinois in November, there may be big postseason implications on the line.
No. 4 Penn State (5-1, 2-1 B1G)
Previous: No. 2; Last: Loss at No. 5 Michigan 41-17
Penn State did not look great this past weekend, but The Big House is one of the hardest places to play in the country. Penn State had to face the loss of Sean Clifford and didn’t recover after his injury. They play Minnesota next week and look to get back on track to close out the season in the deep East.
No. 3 Illinois (6-1, 3-1 B1G)
Previous: No. 4; Last: Win against Minnesota 26-14
Illinois had DeVito back in the lineup and won against good competition in Minnesota and now look like a frontrunner in the West. They are now bowl eligible and have plenty of football left to play.
No. 2 Michigan (7-0, 4-0 B1G)
Previous: No. 3; Last: Win against No. 10 Penn State 41-17
Michigan ran all over Penn State in a lopsided 41-17 victory in Ann Arbor. The rushing attack had over 400 yards on the ground and their defense absolutely shut down a decent Penn State offense. Michigan will look to reload before playing a Michigan State team that has struggled this season.
No. 1 Ohio State (6-0, 3-0 B1G)
Previous: No. 1; Last: Bye
Ohio State was on a bye this week and watched as Michigan took care of business this past weekend. The upcoming game later this season has CFP implications written all over it at this point.
Featured Photo: Indiana Football