September 18, 2022 1: 37 am ET
Another week is in the books for the 2022 Big Ten football season, and it was another wild and surprising week. It’s hard to know what the true identity of some of the teams in the league is with the level of competition they’ve played so far, but we at least now have a few weeks to observe.
And observe we have. After each weekend we try to make sense of all the action in the Big Ten and provide a power ranking of which teams are playing best. It’s not a prediction of what will happen, but rather what we’ve seen with our own eyes and how each team looks.
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So far, we’ve had Ohio State on top despite others criticizing a lack of offense, but that can’t be the case any longer. So where are things this week with the pecking order of the conference? Purdue suffered a heartbreaking loss, Indiana, Nebraska, and Northwestern struggled, and Penn State made a massive statement in SEC country.
Here’s how it all impacts the Week 3 Big Ten football power rankings.
14
Nebraska Cornhuskers (1-2)
Credit: USA TODAY Sports
Why the Ranking?
I know Nebraska has been searching for its former glory years and there have been some lean times over the last couple of decades, but I’m not sure it’s ever been as deep in the valley as things are now. After a public flogging administered at the hands of Oklahoma, there are even more questions with very few answers to grasp at.
| Previous week | Change |
| 14 | no change |
Next Up
vs. Indiana (10/1)
13
Northwestern Wildcats (1-2)
Sep 30, 2017; Madison, WI, USA; Northwestern Wildcats helmets on the field prior to the game against the Wisconsin Badgers at Camp Randall Stadium. Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
Why the Ranking?
It’s beginning to look like the first win of the year in Ireland was more about Nebraska than Northwestern. The Wildcats have struggled mightly since coming back across the pond and did so again this week in a loss vs. Southern Illinois.
| Previous week | Change |
| 12 | -1 |
Next Up
vs. Miami (OH)
12
Iowa Hawkeyes (2-1)
Dec 4, 2021; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Detailed view of Iowa Hawkeyes helmet on the sidelines in the Big Ten Conference championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium. Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Why the Ranking?
It was good to see Iowa get a little offense going for the first time this year, but we have to see it more and against better competition. You feel like the Hawkeyes will eventually figure things out to some extent, but there are still a lot of concerns with things getting much more difficult ahead. Until we see more, we’re keeping the Hawkeyes pretty low on this list. As unusual as it is, Iowa didn’t even finish its game at the time of these rankings. There were multiple lightning delays and we’re going to go out on a limb and count the 17-point lead into the win column and move the Hawks up a wee-bit.
| Previous week | Change |
| 13 | +1 |
Next Up
at Rutgers
11
Illinois Fighting Illini (2-1)
Dec. 30, 2019; Santa Clara, California, USA; General view of the Illinois Fighting Illini helmet during the second quarter against California Golden Bears at Levi’s Stadium. Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports
Why the Ranking?
The Illini were idle this week so there’s no reason to move Bret Bielema’s crew anywhere crazy. We still don’t really know how this team will respond once the heart of Big Ten play gets going.
| Previous week | Change |
| 11 | no change |
Next Up
vs. Chattanooga
10
Indiana Hoosiers (3-0)
Sep 5, 2015; Bloomington, IN, USA; A Indiana Hoosiers helmet sits on the ground while the players warm up before the game at Memorial Stadium. Credit: Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports
Why the Ranking?
Indiana sits at 3-0 but really had to pull victory out of the fire this week against Western Kentucky. It looks like Tom Allen has this team as an improved bunch, but we have a feeling winning games will be harder in the weeks to come once the rough and tumble Big Ten gets a crack at the Hoosiers.
| Previous week | Change |
| 10 | no change |
Next Up
at Cincinnati
9
Purdue Boilermakers (1-2)
Oct 14, 2017; Madison, WI, USA; A Purdue Boilermakers helmet during the game against the Wisconsin Badgers at Camp Randall Stadium. Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
Why the Ranking?
Purdue played well, coming from behind on the road but couldn’t finish the deal in a bizarre game at Syracuse. To be fair, the Boilermakers received a very bad break with a pass interference call late in the game, and this team still looks like it could factor into the West division race … if it can finish games that is.
| Previous week | Change |
| 8 | -1 |
Next Up
vs. Florida Atlantic
8
Michigan State Spartans (2-1)
November 19, 2011; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan State Spartan helmet on the sideline during the game against the Indiana Hoosiers at Spartan Stadium. Michigan State won 55-3 to clinch the Legends division of the Big Ten. Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports
Why the Ranking?
Michigan State got its reality check this week in a disappointing loss to Washington. It looked like the slow start in Week 1 had been figured out in an impressive showing in Week 2, but now there are some things to correct, most notably on offense. It won’t get any easier from here.
| Previous week | Change |
| 5 | – 3 |
Next Up
vs. Minnesota
7
Wisconsin Badgers (2-1)
Nov 9, 2019; Madison, WI, USA; A Wisconsin Badgers helmet during the game against the Iowa Hawkeyes at Camp Randall Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
Why the Ranking?
That was more like it from Wisconsin this week. The Badgers did what you expect them to do by physically dominating an inferior opponent in the form of New Mexico State. There’s still the bad look against Washington State last week, so we can’t go all knee-jerk here. We’ll know a lot more when Wisconsin heads to Columbus to play Ohio State next week.
| Previous week | Change |
| 9 | +2 |
Next Up
at Ohio State
6
Rutgers Scarlet Knights (3-0)
Nov 20, 2021; University Park, Pennsylvania, USA; A detailed view of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights football helmets during a warmup prior to the game against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Beaver Stadium. Credit: Matthew OHaren-USA TODAY Sports
Why the Ranking?
Rutgers is still unbeaten but got about as stiff as a test as you can get on the road vs. Temple. There’s really no reason to move Greg Schiano’s crew up or down too much until we see more, but so far, so good.
| Previous week | Change |
| 7 | +1 |
Next Up
vs. Iowa
5
Maryland Terrapins (3-0)
Oct 1, 2021; College Park, Maryland, USA; A detailed view of a Maryland Terrapins helmet on the sidelines during the second half of the game between the Maryland Terrapins and the Iowa Hawkeyes at Capital One Field at Maryland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Taetsch-USA TODAY Sports
Why the Ranking?
We finally got to see Maryland challenged against a decent SMU opponent and things didn’t go quite as well as the prior two games. Still, it was a decent win and we’ll see if the Terps can continue to be competitive when they get into the Big Ten because that’s been a “Lord of the Rings” journey in recent years.
| Previous week | Change |
| 6 | +1 |
Next Up
at Michigan
4
Minnesota Golden Gophers (3-0)
Oct 26, 2019; Minneapolis, MN, USA; A general view of Minnesota Golden Gophers helmet before a game against the Maryland Terrapins at TCF Bank Stadium. Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports
Why the Ranking?
Minnesota continues to impress with another blowout victory, this time against a bad Power Five squad Colorado. To be fair, the Golden Gophers haven’t really played anyone to test them yet, but you still have to like what you see on both sides of the ball. Could this be your West Division favorite right now?
| Previous week | Change |
| 4 | no change |
Next Up
at Michigan State
3
Penn State Nittany Lions (3-0)
Nov 16, 2013; University Park, PA, USA; General view of a Penn State Nittany Lions helmet prior to the game against the Purdue Boilermakers at Beaver Stadium. Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports
Why the Ranking?
We were tempted to move Penn State up with that impressive win on the road vs. Auburn but still believe the two teams ahead of the Nittany Lions in this ranking are better. Penn State sure looks like it could have something to say about Ohio State and Michigan’s claim to the East, but we’ll have to see how things play out the rest of the way and if quarterback Sean Clifford can keep from displaying some of the inopportune mistakes he has in the past.
| Previous week | Change |
| 3 | no change |
Next Up
vs. Central Michigan
2
Michigan Wolverines (3-0)
Nov 18, 2017; Madison, WI, USA; An Michigan Wolverines helmet during the game against the Wisconsin Badgers at Camp Randall S