Big Ten power rankings after Week 3: Most of the East asserts itself, the West — not so much

The complexion of the Big Ten is becoming clearer, but there’s still a logjam at the top.

Michigan took on an overmatched UConn and went extremely deep into its bench in the process of a blowout, Ohio State‘s offense came alive again against Toledo, and Penn State went on the road and blew out SEC opponent Auburn. Minnesota prevailed over Colorado, Wisconsin rebounded, Iowa found enough offense amid numerous lightning delays, Maryland hanged on to beat SMU, Indiana won in OT vs. Western Kentucky, and Rutgers survived at Temple. However, the other teams weren’t so lucky.

Northwestern lost to an in-state FCS team, Nebraska was blown out by Oklahoma, Purdue was upended by Syracuse, and Michigan State fell to unranked Washington in Seattle. Illinois was idle in Week 3.

All that said, where does each team rank against the others? Did PSU or OSU’s big week see enough dominance to climb above last week’s No. 1, Michigan? Where did the other teams fall in line?

PREVIOUSLY: Big Ten power rankings after Week 2

Here are our latest Big Ten power rankings now that we’ve seen three weeks of college football in the conference.

Nebraska Cornhuskers (1-3)

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Well, the Mickey Joseph era is off to an inauspicious start, thanks to a blowout at the hands of an old rival.

Scott Frost was supposed to be the problem, but Nebraska lost in Norman last year by just one score in a competitive game. Actually, that’s how Nebraska lost most games. That streak is now over, thanks to a 49-14 drubbing by Oklahoma.

The rush defense was particularly poor, as the Huskers allowed 54 carries for 312 yards while QB Dillon Gabriel threw for 268 yards. Offensively, Nebraska did close to nothing, as Brent Venables’ defense stood tall — somewhat rare for a Big 12 team, as far as what recent history tells us.

While Northwestern’s loss to an FCS school should have it drop to last place, given Week 0, Nebraska still owns the position. It’s difficult to envision the Huskers winning another game, now that the Big Ten schedule is hitting. Thankfully, with the merciful bye week this upcoming week, they’ll have a chance to lick their wounds and figure out how to recalibrate.

But it’s obviously too late for much of anything worthwhile in 2022.

Northwestern Wildcats (1-2)

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When it comes to quality of opponent loss, Northwestern is on the outside looking in.

The Wildcats proved to not even be the second-best team in the state of Illinois, losing to the Southern Illinois Salukis, an FCS team that was winless coming in. All of the Week 0 magic in Ireland clearly didn’t convert stateside, thanks to a bevy of turnovers.

Northwestern QB Ryan Hilinski threw two interceptions and also lost a fumble — one of two for the Wildcats. After an electric start to the season, RB Evan Hull lost the other fumble while still managing 124 yards on 25 carries. Meanwhile, SIU did just enough in the passing game with 261 yards, three touchdowns, and just one interception, to sink NU.

It’s an embarrassing loss, and the nonconference game in Week 4 against 1-2 Miami (OH) is no gimme at this point.

Purdue Boilermakers (1-2)

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Purdue took its game on the road and only really came alive at an inopportune time — at the same time that Syracuse was doing the same.

If you look at the box score, you’d think that the Boilermakers dominated, with QB Aidan O’Connell passing for 424 yards, on 39-for-55 passing. He had three touchdowns, but also threw an interception. Running back King Doerue was out, and Purdue only managed 61 yards rushing as a result.

Defensively, it looked good on paper, with Syracuse managing just 181 yards through the air and 125 yards on the ground, but it was more the timing of it all that sunk the Boilermakers. The Orange hit on timely passes, including the game-winning touchdown.

Purdue is going to have a lot of work to do, especially considering it already has one loss in the Big Ten. However, it hosts FAU before traveling to Minnesota. It will need to come up with answers next week if it doesn’t want to eliminate itself from West division contention.

Indiana Hoosiers (3-0)

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Yes, Indiana is 3-0, but it took overtime against Western Kentucky to keep it that way.

QB Connor Bazelak completed 60% of his passes, going 33-for-55 for 364 yards, which are solid numbers, making up for a lack of a run game. However, the Hoosier defense allowed 548 yards, looking bad on both the pass and the run game.

Listen, Western Kentucky is a tricky team given its high-powered offense, but if Indiana wants to prove it belongs, at least, in the middle of the Big Ten, it cannot go to OT vs. a team like the Hilltoppers.

Illinois Fighting Illini (2-1)

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Illinois was idle and moves down one spot to No. 10. Yes, we still have the Illini ahead of Indiana — a team that beat them — but given that the Hoosiers were lucky to escape Western Kentucky, we still feel like that’s the right call.

Iowa Hawkeyes (2-1)

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Shockingly, Iowa found some semblance of offense. It only took three weeks to get there. That doesn’t mean it was pretty.

The Hawkeyes scored 17 early points — including two touchdowns! — but had to suffer through a long weather delay against Nevada, before getting going again, and then getting delayed, again, due to lightning in the area.

We’re moving Iowa up anticipating that the Hawkeyes will win this one, up 17-0. However, with some long weather delays, the game won’t likely be resolved soon.

Update

Iowa won, 27-0. The defense was impressive and the run game took awhile, but finally got going, with Kaleb Johnson amassing over 100 yards. Perhaps it’s the start of the offense getting into the end zone? With Michigan in two weeks, we’ll have a lot more answers.

Rutgers Scarlet Knights (3-0)

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We’d love to rate the undefeated Knights higher, especially considering we expected Rutgers to go 1-2 in nonconference in the preseason. However, Temple has proved to be a bad team through Week 2, and RU simply escaped its second road game of the year.

After a solid start to the season through the air, Evan Simon struggled mightily in this one, while the run game was OK. The pass defense was mediocre, while the run defense was stellar.

There’s no way to tell, at the moment, whether or not Rutgers can take down a Big Ten East big dog, and a win is a win, but this one didn’t exactly give the Scarlet Knights a vote of confidence.

Rutgers has two tough ones coming up: hosting Iowa before going to Ohio State.

Michigan State Spartans (2-1)

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After playing two cupcakes, Michigan State had the ABC prime-time game and did not look good on the national stage.

The Spartans looked abysmal, particularly on defense. Former Indiana QB Michael Penix Jr. carved the perpetually out-of-place MSU secondary apart, hitting open receiver after open receiver. QB Payton Thorne at least battled, continuing to throw well-placed balls, albeit his big plays were far too little, far too late.

Credit MSU for battling for the entire game. The defense made two goal-line stands, and the Spartans turned what was looking like a rout in Seattle to a somewhat respectable game. Any team taking on Michigan State is going to have to battle for 60 full minutes, that’s for sure. But if MSU played how it did down the stretch for the entire game, we could be having a different conversation.

Maryland Terrapins (3-0)

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Well, the Maryland defense still isn’t very good. Granted, SMU entered the game with the No. 16 offense in the country, but the Mustangs passed all over the Terps.

It wasn’t looking good in College Park for a long while, and Southern Methodist is a good team, entering the game undefeated. However, eventually Maryland asserted itself thanks to a balanced attack, with Roman Hemby really impressing from the running back position.

But the defense has long been the issue for the Terrapins, and SMU QB Tanner Mordecai had a day, eclipsing 300 yards. If the Mustangs can do that, what will Michigan do next week? Still, credit for keeping SMU out of the end zone when it had a chance to tie the game, late.

We’re still not convinced that Maryland has turned the corner. However, with the offense at full-strength, it’ll likely still surprise someone. Key word: surprise — not assert itself against a big dog.

Wisconsin Badgers (2-1)

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That’s more like it, Wisconsin.

The Badgers rebounded from a surprising home loss against Washington State, though it did so against a now 0-4 New Mexico State team. Still, it was an impressive outing, with Wisconsin doing what it needed to do, 66-7. Graham Mertz was efficient, going 12-for-15 for 251 yards, with three touchdowns, but one interception. The Badgers racked up 260 yards on the ground while allowing just 242 yards of offense.

Wisconsin still has some ways to go and Saturday night, it will take on the vaunted Ohio State Buckeyes. Slow down OSU and keep the offense going, it has a chance to make right of its early wrongs.

Minnesota Golden Gophers (3-0)

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Minnesota may be rated too low, here.

The Gopher defense allowed Colorado just 226 total yards of offense and recovered a fumble while racking up 334 yards on the ground. QB Tanner Morgan didn’t have an overwhelmingly great game, but he didn’t need to, considering the run game. He went 11-for-16 for 157 yards, and threw three touchdowns and an interception.

So far, Minnesota has faced three teams, including a Power Five team this week, and dominated in all three. It is the class of the Big Ten West, and look like it should be that division’s inclusion into the Big Ten championship game in December.

Up next, it will travel to East Lansing to take on Michigan State. Win that, and it’s more evidence that the Gophers are for real.

Penn State Nittany Lions (3-0)

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Easily the most impressive win in-conference, Penn State went down to Jordan Hare Stadium and finished its two-game sweep of the Auburn Tigers.

The most eye-opening aspect is that freshman running back Nick Singleton, the former five-star, appears to be for real, rushing 10 times for 124 yards and two touchdowns. The Nittany Lions, who have been inept in running the football in recent years, managed 245 yards on the ground.

The troubling thing in this one is the pass defense, which allowed two Auburn quarterbacks to pass for 296 yards. PSU did manage to pick one ball off. The rush defense was solid, allowing just 119 yards and no touchdowns, and the Nittany Lions also were the beneficiaries of two fumble recoveries.

Auburn may not be good, and Bryan Harsin’s days look to be numbered. However, the Tigers were 2-0 heading into this game, and Penn State dominated an SEC team. The only reason PSU isn’t rated higher is because we’re still not sure that this is a consistent deal in Happy Valley. With Central Michigan, Northwestern, and a bye week the next three weeks, Penn State has a little time before it faces off against Michigan in Ann Arbor to figure out how to cure any ills it might have.

Ohio State Buckeyes (3-0)

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Ohio State finally looked like Ohio State again, essentially burying Toledo by halftime. The offense was on fire, with C.J. Stroud throwing for nearly 300 yards in the first half, alone. The run game impressed, despite TreVeyon Henderson leaving the game early with injury. The Buckeyes scored 77 points and let up 21 — exceedingly impressive, but not perfect.

The defense still has questions in Jim Knowles’ third game as defensive coordinator, however. While the Buckeyes handled the Rockets overall, some coverage busts, which we’ve seen now in all three games thus far, raise questions about OSU’s ability to be complete. However, it might not be challenged in that regard any time soon, with Maryland and Michigan State struggling to get much offense going of late, and the only teams that could potentially challenge look to be Penn State (Week 9) and Michigan (Week 13).

Still, this was vintage Ohio State, though it’s against a MAC team. Regardless, it’s a step in the right direction and proof that OSU will likely be among the two teams to beat in the Big Ten.

Michigan Wolverines (3-0)

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Michigan played another overmatched opponent, and while that doesn’t tell us much about where the Wolverines stand, what does is how the maize and blue dismantled the UConn Huskies, looking impressive in every way.

The Wolverines may have played three of the worst teams in the FBS, but the starting defense has yet to give up a single point, while the offense has moved the ball with ease in all three games. Thus far, Michigan looks like a complete team, and it’s now even more explosive with J.J. McCarthy leading the charge. McCarthy has now gone 30-for-34 in 2022 for 473 yards passing and four touchdowns overall. He’s completing 88.2% of his passes, and that number should actually be higher.

While the score might not be as impressive as Ohio State’s outing, remember: Michigan managed to get 101 players into this one, including seven quarterbacks — all of whom completed a pass (McCarthy, of course, completed more than one).

We’ll get a much better idea of what the Wolverines are defensively when they take on Maryland in Week 4, and offensively when Michigan faces Iowa in Iowa City in Week 5.

Story originally appeared on Wolverines Wire