Big Ten Power Rankings: Where things stand heading into fall camp

As July turns to August, the sweet atmosphere of college football will take shape for all of those who watch the boys of fall.

With that comes the overwhelming hype for the 2023 Michigan Wolverines, which has never been so huge in any offseason under head coach Jim Harbaugh. Now, no one is ready to hand the defending Big Ten champs anything just yet. The Wolverines will need to once again bully their way to a third straight conference championship in order to secure their place in the College Football Playoff.

Certain teams remain a question mark as we take a 50-foot glance of the conference ahead of fall camp, but there’s somewhat of a pecking order to be established here and our Maize n Brew staff has some ideas:

Von Lozon

1) Michigan

2) Ohio State

3) Penn State

4) Wisconsin

5) Iowa

6) Maryland

7) Minnesota

8) Illinois

9) Nebraska

10) Purdue

11) Michigan State

12) Rutgers

13) Indiana

14) Northwestern

Von: Michigan is the clear No. 1 heading into the season, coming off back to back Big Ten titles and returning a bulk of its production. OSU and PSU are the clear second and third teams in the conference — I could go either way on the ranking for those two. After that, it’s anyone’s guess who’s next. I think Wisconsin and Iowa have the best shot in the West this year, but the conference will once again run through the East Division for the final time before divisions (finally) go away.

Andrew Bailey

1. Michigan

2. Penn State

3. Ohio State

4. Iowa

5. Wisconsin

6. Illinois

7. Maryland

8. Minnesota

9. Michigan State

10. Nebraska

11. Purdue

12. Rutgers

13. Northwestern

14. Indiana

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Andrew: The Michigan Wolverines are two-time defending conference champions and return the third-most production in the Power Five. Any ranking in the Big Ten lower than No. 1 is unfounded and probably rooted in overly optimistic, “What ifs.”

Ohio State has an argument for second, especially considering head coach Ryan Day has never lost a Big Ten game to any team not coached by Jim Harbaugh. However, I favor Penn State’s defensive prowess and running back durability to be enough for them to finish second in the East.

The Big Ten West will be gridlocked in mediocrity, and no team and quarterback know how to navigate that better than Iowa and Cade McNamara. Head coach Luke Fickell and Wisconsin will have their moments this season, but sloppy quarterback play will doom them against the Hawkeyes. Illinois will again be formidable, but the talent gap will be too great to overcome after several key losses from last year’s team.

Maryland will regress this season regarding on-the-field play, but will still be better than the rest of the Big Ten East. Despite losing several cornerstone players, I trust PJ Fleck’s established Minnesota system over the other three West teams breaking in new head coaches and quarterbacks.

In a make-or-break year for Mel Tucker, I lean toward the latter, especially with no change at defensive coordinator. Nebraska over Purdue simply because I have seen Matt Rhule succeed at the college level and Ryan Walters is an unknown. Rutgers leads the bottom three because of the lack of controversy and the hope resting on quarterback Gavin Wimsatt’s arm. Northwestern is still engulfed in flames, but while they are slow-roasting to a 3-9 season, the Wildcats still have more roster talent than Indiana.

Matt Hartwell

1. Michigan

2. Ohio State

3. Penn State

4. Iowa

5. Wisconsin

6. Maryland

7. Illinois

8. Minnesota

9. Nebraska

10. MSU

11. Purdue

12. Rutgers

13.Indiana

14. Northwestern

Matt: In my mind, Michigan has to be considered as the consensus No. 1 team in the Big Ten following back-to-back conference championships. Both Ohio State and Penn State enter the season with first-year starters at quarterback and will have to prove they can pick up upon the same success they left off with last year. Iowa and Wisconsin seem like the likeliest culprits to compete as outside threats, while teams like Nebraska, Maryland and Minnesota will undoubtedly be pesky as always.

Not foreseeing much movement from the Big Ten’s bottom-feeders, but I DO think Michigan State will crack the fringe top-10 in the conference this year.

Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

Dan Plocher

1. Michigan

2. OSU

3. Penn State

4. Wisconsin

5. Iowa

6. Illinois

7. Maryland

8. Michigan State

9. Minnesota

10. Nebraska

11. Rutgers

12. Purdue

13. Indiana

14. Northwestern

Dan: After winning consecutive Big Ten championships, Michigan has to be the favorite to do it again. Returning starters across the board (and most importantly at quarterback) give them the edge over Ohio State and Penn State, which have a lot of talent but new faces under center. Wisconsin will be the surprise team in the conference with Luke Fickell taking over and bringing in a veteran, Tanner Mordecai, at quarterback. Iowa will have a chance, though, after bringing in Cade McNamara and Erick All, and maintaining the superior defense in the West. I suspect 1-7 of my rankings will be above .500 and bowl eligible and anyone below to be teetering that line except for Purdue, Indiana and Northwestern. The Boilermakers lost too much talent and their head coach over the offseason, Indiana is still rebuilding, and Northwestern has the least amount of talent and the most amount of drama in the conference.

David Woelkers Jr.

1. Michigan

2. Ohio State

3. Penn State

4. Maryland

5. Wisconsin

6. Minnesota

7. Purdue

8. Iowa

9. Illinois

10. Rutgers

11. Nebraska

12. Michigan State

13. Indiana

14. Northwestern

David: Taking the temperature of the Big Ten is a lot easier in the very best teams and the very worst teams than it is in the middle. The top three is self-evident — Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, though I’d probably consider the Nittany Lions a tier below the Wolverines and Buckeyes. I’m admittedly taking a gamble on Maryland putting it at four, but I think there’s plenty of talent there to finally break out of its losing conference record slump. Then comes the West; of the four teams caught in a traffic jam at the middle of my power rankings, I’m very hesitantly placing Wisconsin at the top more because of my confidence in Luke Fickell than anything else.

Among the bottom five, it’d probably be fair to say I might be a little too harsh when it comes to the Spartans, but between Greg Schiano needing results headed into his fourth season at Rutgers and Matt Rhule having something to prove in his first season at Nebraska, there’s simply more upside in those squads than Michigan State. Finally, I expect absolutely nothing from Indiana this season, and even less than that from Northwestern.

Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

Matt Eifert

1. Michigan

2. Ohio State

3. Penn State

4. Iowa

5. Maryland

6. Wisconsin

7. Illinois

8. Minnesota

9. Nebraska

10. Purdue

11. MSU

12. Rutgers

13. Indiana

14. Northwestern

Matt: The Wolverines have earned the right to be the preseason No. 1, coMing off back-to-back Big Ten championships and returning the most talent under Jim Harbaugh. Meanwhile, both Ohio State and Penn State have to break in a new starting quarterback for the first time in a few years, and Maryland will be the best team in the East, per usual.

For the West, Iowa’s got the best shot thanks to an improving offense with Cade McNamara under center. Wisconsin should also be a West contender thanks to Luke Fickell, but how soon can the Badgers be a legitimate threat? Illinois is due for a step back, while Minnesota, Nebraska, Purdue and Northwestern are in the bottom tier of the division.

Kellen Voss

1. Michigan

2. Ohio State

3. Illinois

4. Wisconsin

5. Penn State

6. Iowa

7. Maryland

8. Nebraska

9. Michigan State

10. Purdue

11. Minnesota

12. Indiana

13. Rutgers

14. Northwestern

Kellen: The top of the list is pretty unchanged, as I expect Michigan and Ohio State to finish at the top of the conference. I think Wisconsin takes a massive leap with Luke Fickel contending for the Big Ten West with Bret Bielema. The only thing I know for certain is Northwestern will finish last — and may not win a single game.