Big Ten Power Rankings, Week 1

These rankings are a combination of how good I think the team is and how good they have played thus far (with most recent games weighted more heavily as the season goes on).

1) Iowa - we all knew they were a good team and they came up smoking against a weak opponent. Which is more than I can say for the next 2 teams.
2) Michigan - the offense answered all the questions, but the D was simply putrid against a pretty good NIU offense.
3) Ohio State - similar performance to Michigan all around. The D was pretty good (against lesser competition), the O looked good at times but does this game really answer any questions about an offense that was putrid most of last year? Maybe, maybe not. I still say the first 3 are all top 10 quality nationally.
4) Purdue - has yet to play, but I still think top 20 nationally
5) Minnesota - Laurence Maroney is good. The Minnesota offense will score some points. Still not sold on them being much better than a borderline bowl team.
6) Wisconsin - Brian Calhoun looked like a Heisman candidate against Bowling Green. Unfortunately, the Wisconsin D looked like MAC caliber. Considering how heavily they relied on D last year, I don't think that is a good omen. Omar Jacobs is a great QB, but he torched them.
7) Penn State - their offense had a few big plays, but all in all it was a pretty unimpressive performance against poor competition.
8) Michigan State - their O rolled up some big numbers against Kent State. Tons of questions remain about their D.
9) Illinois - I was impressed by their resiliency in a 20 pt comeback against Rutgers.
10) Northwestern - big W over Ohio
11) Indiana - a close win over Central Michigan does not inspire much confidence


All in all, 10-0 for the Big Ten thus far which is pretty damn good considering the upset losses I watched from Oklahoma and Auburn.