It isn't every day that you see a conference game decided by 78 points but that is what transpired in Piscataway on Saturday night, as Michigan trounced Rutgers in legendary fashion. While that victory may not do much for Michigan's pedigree nationally, it certainly does not reflect positively on the Scarlet Knights, and that is just one of many story lines in the Big Ten this week.
At the top, Ohio State and Michigan have clearly separated from the pack, especially with the relative scuffles of Iowa and the disaster happening in East Lansing. The Michigan State Spartans have been awesome under Mark Dantonio, but after a highly disappointing home loss to BYU, the team is now 2-3 and they have been blasted accordingly in our rankings.
The middle tier, occupied by Nebraska, Penn State and Wisconsin, is quite interesting and, well, the bottom is (very) bad with Rutgers and Illinois. To be honest, the Illini looked better in losing to Purdue (insert laughter here) than Rutgers did against Michigan, and that is the only reason for the disparity you will see below.
At any rate, here are this week's Big Ten power rankings. Be gentle.
Big Ten Power Rankings: Week 6 (last week's rank in parentheses)
- Ohio State (?")
- Michigan (?")
- Wisconsin (?")
- Nebraska (?")
- Penn State (?")
- Iowa (?' 5)
- Maryland (?" 1)
- Indiana (?")
- Minnesota (?" 2)
- Michigan State (?" 1)
- Northwestern (?" 1)
- Purdue (?' 2)
- Illinois (?" 1)
- Rutgers (?" 1)
