Big Ten Power Rankings: Michigan tied with Iowa, behind Michigan State

Nick: Hey, guys. How do we think about the Big Ten this week?

Ed: I think we learned quite a bit last week. For me, Penn State is clearly on top until someone dethrones them, but what Ohio State did to Maryland was very impressive. Here I am thinking Maryland is turning into a solid team, and the Buckeyes hold them to only 66 total yards.

From there, Wisconsin and MSU both jump Michigan because of what they did last Saturday, but I still have the Maize and Blue ahead of Iowa. The Hawkeyes showed some grit against Penn State a couple weeks ago, but they struggled for the most part in East Lansing and then were battling with Illinois in the third quarter until they finally broke it open.

Andrew McDonald: For me, the biggest shakeup in the standings obviously comes from MSU defeating Michigan in Ann Arbor on Saturday night. Regardless of the weather and not having guys like Speight and Tarik Black available, a loss is a loss and the Spartans did everything they had to do.

Ohio State jumps to the No. 3 spot following the Michigan loss and Iowa takes No. 5 due to nearly beating Penn State and Michigan losing. Minnesota drops to 0-2 in the conference and sits at ninth in the standings, while the bottom of the conference remains relatively the same.

Andrew Bailey: Let me just add this: Saquon Barkley is Marshall Faulk 2.0; quietly, the Buckeyes are rolling right now; and Iowa is two or three plays from being undefeated and is going under the radar. Unfortunately, as Jim Harbaugh can tell you, being a play away from winning the game doesn’t mean you’ve won it.

And hats off to Wisconsin, who’s as boring and reliable of a contender as there is right now.