Big Ten Football Rankings - Week 8 - Mild Shuffling In The Conference

Hey folks, welcome back to another week of Big Ten Football Rankings.

Today we take a look at the top of the conference and move it around a little bit. Penn State’s loss on the road to Ohio State dropped them but not out of the Top 3. I mean, come on, it wasn’t a bad loss and they’re still light years ahead of the rest of the conference.

Iowa’s loss to Minnesota dropped them and wins by everyone else in the “meh” column up a spot.

As for the “Hot Garbage” section of the poll. There were some wins, but no one is coming out of that one anytime soon.

Enjoy!

The Top 3

1. Michigan (8-0 Overall 5-0 Conference) Beat Michigan State 49-0

• Last Week #1 - No move
• We will see how you do against Penn State in Happy Valley in three weeks. You will stay here until then.

2. Ohio State (7-0 Overall 4-0 Conference) Beat #7 Penn State 20-12

• Last Week #3 - Moved up one spot
• Still hasn’t beat Michigan since the Trump administration.

3. Penn State (6-1 Overall 3-1 Conference) Lost to #3 Ohio State 12-20

• Last Week #2 - Dropped down one spot
• Franklin is a good coach. Penn State has good players. You played in a hostile environment in the Horseshoe. It’s okay, maybe you will win next year. I’d focus on Michigan now.

The Middle “Meh”

4. Maryland (5-2 Overall 2-2 Conference) Bye

• Last Week #5 - Moved up one spot
• You had a bye. I’m not dropping a team for having a bye.

5. Wisconsin (5-2 Overall 3-1 Conference) Beat Illinois 25-21

• Last Week #6 - Moved up one spot.
• Congrats, you almost lost to Illinois but didn’t.

6. Rutgers (6-2 Overall 3-2 Conference) Beat Indiana 31-14

• Last Week #7 - Moved up one spot.
• You might very well be better than Wisconsin or even Maryland. Right now, I’m just shuffling this group around because one of you lost. Keep plugging away Mr. Rutgers. I am a believer.

7. Iowa (6-2 Overall 3-2 Conference) Lost to Minnesota 10-12

• Last week #4 - Dropped three spots.
• No offense is going to kill you in the long run. Regardless of how the refs called the game.

Mom Still Hasn’t Figured Out Why You Haven’t Taken Out This Pile Of Hot Garbage (In Alphabetical Order)

Illinois (3-5 Overall 1-4 Conference) Lost to Wisconsin 21-25

• You beat Maryland one week and lost to Wisconsin the next. You had it. I mean, you were ahead of Wisky by 18. Then, Wisconsin came back. Bret, get your defense figured out.

Indiana (2-5 Overall 0-4 Conference) Lost to Rutgers 14-31

• Remember the whole “9 Win Indiana” thing? Yeah, that was so 2020.

Michigan State (2-5 Overall 1-4 Conference) Lost to #2 Michigan 0-49

• ‘lil brother...

Minnesota (4-3 Overall 2-2 Conference) Beat #24 Iowa 12-10

• Yes, you beat Iowa. Yes, Floyd is coming home to Minneapolis for the first time since 2014. Yes, you also had your first win in Iowa City since 1999. No, you will not be moving out of the “Hot Garbage” category. Keep winning and we can talk.

Nebraska (4-3 Overall 2-2 Conference) Beat Northwestern 17-9

• Nice ugly win. Keep it up. You have Purdue this week. Maybe we can start talking about a bowl when November comes around.

Northwestern (3-4 Overall 0-3 Conference) Lost to Nebraska 9-17.

• You are doing the best you can with what you have. This is one of the saltier NW teams that I have seen in some time. Keep it up and you might just pull off another upset or two this season. You do have Purdue and Illinois left on the schedule so it might just happen.

Purdue (2-5 Overall 2-3 Conference) Bye

• Bye

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