The Big Ten went 17-1 in Week 1. Let’s not talk about that.
The Big Ten Football Power Poll returns for the 2024 season. This is not a ranking of teams 1-18. Well, it kind of is, but it is based on a number of factors. Do I think that Minnesota is the worst team in the Big Ten—no I do not. Are they literally the only team in the conference to lose last week, well yes. Trust me I know North Carolina was probably the second or third toughest opponent in Week One depending on how you feel about West Virginia, but for our purposes today, 0-1 while everyone else is 1-0 puts you in the #18 spot. Don’t like it? Write your own damn article ;).
Did we learn much in Week 1, no probably not. Most of the top teams in the conference crushed inferior opponents. Some struggled early before dominating late in the games. Oregon struggled for a lot longer than that. So, long story short, take these initial Week 1 rankings with a grain of salt, because there is no way that the rankings after Week 1 look anything remotely like the rankings after Week 14. But here are the power poll rankings after Week 1.
#1 Ohio State Buckeyes (Win 52-6 over Akron)
The Buckeyes didn’t break a sweat in defeating an in-state school. One of the favorites to win the conference didn’t show any weaknesses and will host a Western Michigan team that lost to Wisconsin last week on Saturday. (On a separate topic—who the hell scheduled at Wisconsin and at Ohio State in back to back weeks for the Broncos. Ooof.)
#2 USC Trojans (Win 27-20 over LSU in Las Vegas)
Will USC be the #2 team in the conference at the end of the season, probably not, but that was still a very impressive win over LSU to start the season in Las Vegas. Miller Moss looked quite good and the offense will click. But the defense might have been more impressive. They host Utah State on BTN after dark on Saturday.
#3 Penn State Nittany Lions (Win 34-12 at Penn State)
The Nittany Lions started a bit slow but then steamrolled the Mountaineers in the second half enroute to a nice road win. Drew Allar played relatively well and Penn State should be a fairly strong team this fall. They host Bowling Green Saturday morning.
#4 Michigan Wolverines (Win 30-10 over Fresno State)
It was a slow start for the Wolverines and new QB Davis Warren but the Wolverines picked it up in the second half and beat a decent quality FBS opponent. This week will tell us a ton about the Wolverines as #3 Texas Longhorns come to the Big House for Big Noon Kickoff.
#5 Iowa Hawkeyes (Win 40-0 over Illinois State)
The first half was UGLY with a capital U. But in the second half the Hawkeye offense realized they were playing Illinois State and all of a sudden Cade McNamera looked decent and freshman receiver Reese Vander Zee went off. They did what you should do to a bad FCS team. In the second best game of the weekend in the conference it’s El Assico week as Iowa State comes to Kinnick.
#6 Oregon Ducks (Win 24-14 over Idaho)
Beating a FCS team—looking at you Ducks. Idaho gave Oregon a hell of a game and it was not locked up until late in the 4th quarter. Dillon Gabriel did throw for 380 yards and showed the promise is there. Plenty of time to get your Big Ten feet wet Puddles. Boie State comes to town for a Peacock game Saturday night.
#7 Nebraska Cornhuskers (Win 40-7 over UTEP)
Nebraska took care of business and protected freshman Dylan Raiola well as he went 19-27 for 238 and a pair of TDs in his college debut. We will see if he can handle the bright light as Deion comes to town with his Colorado Buffalo for a “Prime-Time” game on NBC Saturday night.
#8 Washington Huskies (Win 35-3 over Weber State)
The Huskies basically rebuilt their entire team under Jedd Fisch and took care of a decent FCS team at home. Nothing wrong with that, but will need to impress a bit more to move up these rankings. Eastern Michigan comes to Seattle this weekend for what should be another easy win.
#9 Maryland Terrapins (Win 50-7 over UConn)
Maryland made it look easy as they jumped on UCONN early and often. But we do know how September Maryland looks vs November Maryland. They open honest to god Big Ten play this weekend when Michigan State comes to town.
#10 Wisconsin Badgers (Won 28-14 over Western Michigan)
The Badgers get this pot only because they won over an ok MAC team. They played a team with a pulse and it was a tough game. Western had them on the ropes early in the 4th quarter until a muffed punt handed the Badgers the leading touchdown and they took control to win. But they found a way to win a tight game more than some team on this list did. South Dakota comes to Madison this weekend, but Chris Streveler probably isn/t walking through that door.
#11 Rutgers Scarlet Knights (Win 44-7 over Howard)
The Athan Kaliakmanis era at Rutgers starts with a win. He wasn’t great, but didn’t need to be as Rutgers ran over a undermanned Howard team. Akron comes to town on the heels of a blowout loss at Ohio State in what should be another comfortable win.
#12 Illinois Fighting Illini (Win 45-0 over Eastern Illinois)
The Illini crushed an in-state FCS opponent week one. Luke Altmyer had a great game going 19-24 for 213 yards and 4 TDs. We learned absolutely nothing as Illinois State probably isn’t great but Illini fans are happy never less. We will learn a lot more as #19 Kansas comes to town on Saturday.
#13 Purdue Boilermakers (Win 49-0 over Indiana State)
Indiana State was one of the worst FCS teams in the nation last year, so it should be no surprise Purdue smoked them Week 1. This will probably be one of those games we look back on in November and wonder just how bad Indiana State really was as Purdue sits at 3-7, but hey, a win is a win. Purdue is the first Big Ten team to get one of their two byes this week out of the way as they are off until Week 3 and a massive game against Notre Dame.
#14 Indiana Hoosiers (Win 31-7 over Florida International)
The Curt Cignetti era starts with a win as the Hoosiers beat up on FIU. I really don’t have much else to say about that. Western Illinois comes in to Bloomington for a Friday night game this week that should leave the Hoosiers one third of the way to bowl eligibility.
#15 Michigan State Spartans (Win 16-10 over Florida Atlantic)
This was another game that the Spartans didn’t lock away until the final whistle, but the Jonathan Smith era in East Lansing begins 1-0. They get their welcome to the Big Ten this weekend headed to Maryland to open the conference slate.
#16 Northwestern Wildcats (Win 13-6 over Miami, OH)
Their new temporary lakeside stadium is gorgeous in September. The play on the field…not so much. By November the stadium experience and the play on that field will probably look much more similar. The Brain Bowl happens Friday night as Duke comes to Evanston.
#17 UCLA Bruins (Win 16-13 at Hawaii)
UCLA should have lost this game about three times but Hawaii stepped on their own foot and the Bruins found away to get it done. They get to chill this week on bye before opening up Big Ten play next weekend against Indiana.
#18 Minnesota Golden Gophers (Lose 19-17 vs North Carolina)
Look I discussed it above—Minnesota is not the #18 team in this conference. BUT, they were the only team to lose Week 1. When 17 teams are 1-0 and you are the only one 0-1, you deserve the basement of the power poll. I don’t make the rules. (Well, maybe I do)
Just beat up on Rhode Island this Saturday on Peacock and the Gophers will leapfrog at least a few teams in next week’s poll.