Ben Bolch’s Big Ten Power Rankings
Game of the Week: UCLA (4-0 overall, 2-0 Big Ten) at Oregon (3-1, 1-0), 12:30 p.m. PT Saturday on CBS. Coach Bob Chesney’s Bruins will come barreling into Autzen Stadium with one of the nation’s best run games and plenty of mutual respect after Chesney offered to check on Dante Moore after the Oregon quarterback was sent to an LA hospital with a concussion sustained against USC last week.
1. Ohio State (4-1) Buckeyes might just be in a Big Ten class of their own. (Last week: 1)
2. Indiana (5-0) Close call against Northwestern suddenly doesn’t look nearly as bad. (2)
3. Oregon (3-1) Who figured Ducks’ big test from an LA school might come from UCLA? (3)
4. Iowa (4-1) Hawkeyes would rather have been at an Atlanta Hawks game Saturday. (5)
5. UCLA (4-0) Beat Oregon and it’s time to start talking CFP for Bob Chesney’s Bruins. (6)
6. USC (5-1) Trojans’ new spot is adjusted for deflation. (4)
7. Minnesota (4-1) P.J. Fleck rivaling fellow Minnesotans Prince, Bob Dylan in popularity. (10)
8. Wisconsin (4-1) Luke Fickell’s fate may no longer be fickle if this keeps up. (8)
9. Northwestern (3-1) Lifelong Bruin Jerry Neuheisel says, “It’s a great day to be a Wildcat!” (13)
10. Nebraska (5-0) Unbeaten fun will almost surely end against Indiana this week. (12)
11. Michigan (3-2) Plummeting Wolverines will be .500 in reality soon enough. (7)
12. Washington (3-2) Huskies seemed as surprised as everyone else to be in USC game late. (11)
13. Penn State (3-2) Why did the Nittany Lions get rid of James Franklin again? (9)
14. Purdue (2-3) The streak is over! Boilermakers log first Big Ten win since 2023. (16)
15. Illinois (2-3) This was not the kind of history Illini wanted to be part of. (14)
16. Michigan State (2-3) Just a completely dreadful display of football against Wisconsin. (15)
17. Rutgers (1-4) Scarlet Knights played Indiana, and it went exactly as you’d imagine. (17)
18. Maryland (2-3) Terrapins blow big lead with pick six that may deep-six Mike Locksley. (18)
