Corn Nation Big Ten Power Poll - Post Week One

OK. Somewhere in #CNafterDark I volunteered to [wo]man the Big Ten power poll this season. I wasn’t organized enough to get the preseason one done and published, but after seeing the results from Week 1, it doesn’t matter anyway. They would have looked nothing like this.

Anyway, here is what your esteemed Corn Nation staff thinks of the B1G. With Salt off on his honeymoon, there was no one to vote Northwestern #1. Sorry ‘Cats, even Cobby didn’t take up your cause. Losing to a MAC directional school means you forfeit NU to us until further notice. Those are the rules.*

*I may or may not have just made that rule up. That is why it’s beneficial to leave a woman in charge.

Pat Janssen: A few things.

1. I know I’ll probably be read as a bit of a homer for putting Nebraska at number four, but comparing the level of opponent versus the decisiveness of victory, they are, objectively speaking, the team most deserving of that fourth spot.
2. I’m maybe a tad inconsistent in choosing what I apply and where. Quality of opponent deserves to be measured, as does how good a team looked in victory. Measuring those two things with such a limited sample size is going to create some movement. I tried to measure solely on week 1 results, but I also couldn’t take Northwestern down below a couple teams with huge victories knowing that the Wildcats are likely a far superior team than, say, Purdue. Also, it’s not like Northwestern lost to a group of deaf puppies. People see the name Western Michigan and assume they’re of equal quality to many of the other directions schools who were pummeled. They are not. The Broncs are solid, and Northwestern will likely find its way to the middle by the end.
3. Wisconsin had the most impressive win. They’ll still sift down to the middle by the time all is said and done just because they have the most brutal schedule in the Big Ten. But for right now, they’ve earned the right to be at the top.
4. Michigan State had questions. Now they have more. Where I placed them is as high as they deserve to be right now.
5. Michigan fans will probably find this and complain about not being in the top two (because that’s all they seem to be doing right now). I hope they do. Beat a team with a higher-caliber quarterback than Ryan Leaf, and I’ll consider moving the Wolverines up.

Keith Yaple:

1. Michigan and Ohio State were both impressive, so they are clearly the top two.
2. Wisconsin and Nebraska are close to each other. Wisconsin has a good defense, but man is LSU overrated. Wisconsin passing is going to be a sad story.
3. Michigan State was unimpressive against a FCS team, hence why they are sitting at 11th.
4. Illinois was impressive against an FCS team, so I rewarded them for good play, same with Indiana and Minnesota.
5. Penn State last was just because the ten minutes I watched were horrendous..

David: With the league going 12-2 on the week, and only have one game in the books, it’s hard to distinguish one team from the other. Therefore, Wisconsin had the best win of the week, they get top billing, if only for a week. If you lost, sorry, you’re in the bottom and that loss Northwestern, well, that was bad. Nebraska’s sluggish first half kept them ranked a little lower than I think they’ll end up, but I thought how they handled all the emotions that came with this game fairly well. They’ll have opportunity to move up soon.’

Brian: I don’t get a lot of teams from 7 to 14. Is NW that bad? Is Illinois a breathing thing? Does Indiana have a defense? Also, I don’t think that Wisconsin is that good, they just got the benefit of a shit-ass LSU offense last weekend.

Andy: This is simply based upon a single week’s body of work. Wisconsin is on top for taking down a #5 SEC team. After that, I just tried very unscientifically to rank everyone else in descending order of beatdowns & embarrassments. Nebraska could’ve been lower but they weren’t alone in dicking about with 100’ish power-ranked teams until the latter part of the 2nd half. Rutgers laid an unchallenged claim to the bottom spot by taking the fetal position at kickoff on the way to a 34-3 halftime nutstomping. I gave Northwestern the #13 slot for losing to a MAC directional school. They’ll probably win 9 games anyway, I mean sure they will, because, well…Northwestern. Illinois handled their HYUUGE Murray St. win with more class than Kansas simply by not storming the field – so #5. Enjoy it while you can, Lovie. I think Maryland literally played a guy named Howard. But he’s a buffalo, not a duck. OK, I’m rambling.

Jill: I think Michigan State is better than they ended up in this poll but they eventually have to prove it. Michigan is probably that good, but stomping on a bad Hawai’i team that didn’t know what time zone they were in seems unfair. Wisconsin had the most impressive win, but even I couldn’t bring myself to vote them #1 yet. I just think Urbz+JT Barrett is a pretty potent combination, even if they have to scrape the Beck off their shoes from time to time. Minnesota looked just as offensive (actually non-offensive, as in, their offense is still bad) as last year. My theme this week?  Go Cyclones.