Big Ten Power Poll - Week 8

Ranchbabe: OSU and Nebraska handled Bye with aplomb and so I decided to make the Spartans sit in the #3 corner for a week. I mean, the Huskers’ oh-so-close 4th quarter comeback was great and all, but then they let Purdue do it too. Bad Sparty. Minnesota is looking solid and Iowa found some offense*.

I really didn’t know what to do with the Badgers. They let Illinois back into the game late and for that they are relegated to the mushy middle. They do seem to be accepting the fact that you need a quarterback who can complete a pass once in a while, so there’s that.

Northwestern may have lost, but they still deserve to be ahead of the rest. Michigan won, so the Wolverines get to feel not-as-bad for a couple weeks before they visit Sparty--who will be tired of listening to comments about their recent penchant for letting teams hang around….but I’m getting ahead of myself. I am so glad this bye week is done. Let’s get back to some Husker football.
*against Indiana’s defense

Paul: Sparty did everything it possibly could to lose to a team that should thank its stars that the NCAA doesn’t have relegation.  But in the end, they didn’t lose.  Much like Florida State, which seems to sleepwalk through games and still find ways to win, Michigan State continues to win.  Nebraska and Ohio State had byes, so any movement there is kinda silly to me.  So my top 3 are identical to last week.

Early on Saturday, I tweeted this:

Iowa rolls Indiana, Baylor over TCU, Northwestern over Minnesota.

— Paul Dalen (@paul_dalen) October 11, 2014

Northwestern made a liar out of me, but I got the Iowa part right.  I think Iowa has enough talent and a sufficiently cupcake schedule to make it the Thanksgiving Friday matchup with Nebraska at 10-1.  They’re my #4 and Minnesota, which also keeps defying expectations, is my #5.

After that, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Michigan’s case of acute cranial-rectal inversion appeared in remission a bit with a win over a bad Penn State team.  Should that count for anything?  I don’t know.  It’s arguably better that what Penn State accomplished.

Jon: Michigan State had a hangover game against Purdue. Connor Cook threw several balls he had no business throwing, and the Spartans once again appear to be confounded by the fact there are four quarters in a football game.

Minnesota fans know all too well about how their team can lose. I can only imagine the "Oh no, not again" feeling many of them had when Northwestern tied the game late. Then came the 100-yard kickoff return by the Gophers for the win. Under Jerry Kill, the Gophers are 18-0 when leading at half. That’s remarkable.

Michigan got angry. Let’s see if they can play that way the rest of the season.. HAHAHAHA - it won’t matter. Dave Brandon isn’t going to fire Brady Hoke unless the bottom completely falls out because he hired him and the university president won’t fire Brandon because he’s too well connected. The whole thing will continue to burn into the ground.

Aaron: I bumped up Ohio State past Michigan State this week. Something is still missing from Sparty and I think OSU is in a prime position to be able to take them down. 3,4, and 5 are interchangeable at this point, IMO. Nebraska may make it’s claim to the third best team in the conference down the road, but I don’t currently see them as being any better than Iowa and Minnesota. Maryland, Rutgers, Wisconsin and Northwestern are all playing average ball right now. Purdue is getting better and Penn State is getting worse.

Ty: How much can it really change week-to-week?  I guess Michigan gets to feel the pure joy of… mediocrity (AN UPGRADE!) this week, but I’m guessing Sparty will take the happiness away.

Really, this conference is nuts.  Can the Huskers get through to the Iowa game with one loss?  There’s no reason they can’t (WHAT HAPPENED WISCY?!), and let’s hope with another bye week in there, we can get healthy and our heads right.

Husker Mike: I think what we saw is a reminder of that old adage about "any given week" and why Pelini keeps harping on trying to be consistent.  Because nobody is, and if you can be consistent, you’ll go far.  And if you aren’t, well, you’ll lose to Michigan State.

Or get a scare from Purdue.

Top three teams continue to separate themselves from the rest of the pack.  Then you get a muddled mashup of a bunch of teams.  Then Purdue and Illinois.

Looking at other Big Ten power polls, BTN has Nebraska #3 and Iowa #4, the Detroit News has Nebraska at #3 and Iowa at #6, Comcast Sports News Chicago has Nebraska #2 and Ohio State #4, and Talking 10 has Nebraska #1 in the West Division.