Big Ten Power Rankings: Week 7

1. Michigan State- They're still undefeated and they're still rolling. Most well rounded team east of the Mississippi, no joke.

2. Iowa- The defense is pretty damn good and Kirk Ferentz is an amazing coach. Their doors are wide open to the Big Ten Championship with consistent play from a decent offense.

3. Wisconsin- They beat the number 1 team in the country, and lost to my #1 in the Big Ten power rankings. The offense is led by the greatness of the White/Clay combo on offense, and a hard nosed defense.

4. Ohio State- Lost to a tough Wisconsin team, but still in position to win 11 games this season with Pryor and that defense at the helm.

5. Michigan- The defense has not improved all year but that Michigan offense is absolutely dominant, but they need help from the defensive side of the ball. Turnovers will be huge if they want an 8 win season up in Ann Arbor.

6. Illinois- Zook still has this team with some passion, but their talent is still not quite there in order to win the games necessary for eight wins. 6-7 wins is very realistic, though.

7. Purdue- No Robert Marve, no problem as Purdue has gotten back to 4-2 after their open week. This team looks good enough for 6 MAYBE 7 wins right now.

8. Northwestern- With a bye week this week, the Wildcats were able to recoup after their loss to Purdue after joining the Top 25 for the first time this season. 8 wins are a possibility.

9. Penn State- Penn State is not there mentally or physically. The offense is always stagnant and the defense is doing pretty well, but a bowl game would be the best case scenario.

10. Indiana- Good offense, tough schedule, bad defense. 6 wins is possible, but I do not see it happening.

11. Minnesota- Tim Brewster is gone and this team does not have anything to look forward to. 6-6 is the best POSSIBLE case scenario, but we all know that will not happen.

Big Ten Power Rankings

1. Ohio State- Ohio State nearly got ZOOK’d but Sweatervest realized that he was at a football game later on in the 2^nd half and quickly brought the game out of reach. Terrelle Pryor is PO’d that he isn’t able to utilize his god given talents, but hey, that’s what you get when you commit to the largest, smallest city in the Mid-West. Ohio State’s defense is too dominant to consider TOSU anything but #1 in the Big Ten until a loss comes their way.
2. Iowa- Yes, Iowa has a loss. No, it was not against a conference opponent. Kirk Ferentz and the Hawkeye’s loved ruining the lives of Penn State fans across the world as they beat down on Coach Joe Paterno and his band of players exponentially younger than him. Iowa and the Adrian Clayborn defense is too good to be true at this point as they have (aside from Arizona) have allowed 4.25 points per game. Even Ricky Stanzi can’t ruin that statistic.
3. Michigan State- The Dantonio-less Spartans beat a Wisconsin team to improve to 5-0. Despite having no “big name” players on their offense, Kirk Cousins continues to get it done for the East Lansigan’s. The defense it’s pretty damn stout, but that’s not the real reason why this team is 5-0 right now. They just know how to win.
4. Michigan- Denard Robinson. Without Nard-Dog, Michigan would be 3-2 right now. Robinson is the Heisman favorite at this point and deservedly so. The defense of Michigan is as leaky as my faucet (it’s pretty damn leaky) and their secondary isn’t actually a secondary. Many called it before the season; Michigan would have to win shootouts to win at all. No more pounding on the Verines though, they are 5-0 and deserve the high ranking at this point. The Big House better get rowdy for that BIG ONE against little bro.
5. Wisconsin- Scott Tolzien under whelms, but that’s expected from Wisconsin. I never believed they had a chance to win against Sparty once the second half came around. The Badger defense has a few problems but nothing a tune up game against Minnesota can’t fix. John Clay’s Heisman hopes aren’t where they were at the beginning of the season and nor should they be. Minnesota, Ohio State, and at Iowa. Godspeed, Wisconsin.
6. Penn State- Joe Pa and his rowdy (or lack thereof) bunch could only muster three points against a very good Iowa defense. The defense seems fine by me, but Evan Royster a Stephfon Green needs to prove their worth come this Saturday against Illinois.
7. Northwestern- I like Pat Fitzgerald, I really do, but he was lucky with that win against Minnesota. Dan Persa is becoming a very good replacement to an extremely good Mike Kafka this year. Northwestern is a very young team and learning how to win these tight games will only help them in the long run. 5-0 is very good, but I would like to see some more fight out of these Catz...
8. Indiana- the Hoosiers have a very good offensive attack. I learned this while watching the Michigan game. The defense is obviously an issue but Chappell and his gang could win a few games for IU. Getting three other wins looks like a tough road but I believe Lynch and his gang can get there.
9. Illinois- Zook and his bros. actually gave the Fighting faithful some hope against Ohio State, but there are still more steps to be taken. A bowl season may seem like a bit of a stretch with the schedule they have right now but stay Zook’d, Champaign.
10. Purdue- Robert Marve is out for the year, which really sucks. The defense is making some inroads to improvement but I don’t really like a Marve-less offense at this point. Hopefully the open week did them some good schematically because Northwestern is looking to avenge a near embarrassment.
11. Minnesota- Tim Brewster is long gone. He’s a lame duck coach at this point after the Gophers have lost to the likes of South Dakota and Northern Illinois. On top of that, Minnesota arguably has the toughest schedule in the Big Ten this year. The atrocious defense improving may be their only salvation.

Best Games from Each Conference

Courtesy of lonelytailgater.com and Les Miles

SEC: LSU @ Florida--- I was going to go with Alabama/USC but I like this matchup better. We see a very talented, yet questionably coached LSU team versus a young but talented Florida. Can LSU overcome its coaching or lackthereof and beat the Gators in the Swamp? I doubt it, but an SEC game is always purely awesome. Look for Patrick Patterson to go Rick Ross Boss on Florida. If he can do that, Jarrett Lee can control the game without being forced to do too much.

Big Ten: Michigan State @ Michigan--- This should be an amazing game. I am a big MSU fan and love the way they get things done each and every week. Who can't love Nardy too. Michigan will face the first ranked team since Notre Dame this year. The biggest problem I have with Michigan is their defense. They gave up 37 to UMASS and 35 to a good Indiana offense, but MSU has a very balanced attack that can score at any point in time. I predict that if Michigan can hold Sparty under 28 points they will be able to win the game. MSU still has some defensive troubles themselves against real teams. The game is in the Big House. I'm likin' Michigan U at the moment.

Big 12: Nebraska @ Kansas State--- If Nebraska plays the way they did against South Dakota State, they will lose. Obvious statement but it needed to be said. T-Magic can bring his bag of goodies to Bill Snyder and the Wildcats. The cats are still undefeated and have beaten quality teams like UCLA and Iowa State (fight me) while Nebraska is coming off a bye week. Thursday night game where Manhattan will be POPPIN'. Very tough game to call, but I can't go against the Pelini bros. Cornhuskers roll.

ACC: Miami @ Florida State--- Jacory Harris still has DOH moments but still has the touch to keep you moderately impressed. Christian Ponder has his heisman campaign in ICU, but things are looking somewhat stable. Beating arguably the best team in the conference in the Corals would be a great way to stay undefeated in the ACC. Greg Reid is another boss and deserves praise. I still don't like how Miami is winning while a young FSU team is learning how to win week by week. Sidenote: your white out does not work when half the stadium isn't filled. I like FSU in a tough road victory.

Edit: If Kyle Parker didn't play like a fish out of water, Miami would have lost.

Pac-10: USC @ Stanford--- Which team can rebound from a heartbreaking defeat faster? USC is out of the Top 25 while Stanford was beaten by the fastest ducks in the pond. USC's defense is still looking very shaky while the offense is being put together very well. Stanford is still a quality team but they need to prove their quality against a team like USC. The physicality of Stanford will follow suit and beat USC.

Big East: Connecticut @ Rutgers--- uhhh.. neither team is quality. Connecticut looked very good against a weak Vandy team. UCONN wins. BIG EAST RULES!!!

Mountain West: San Diego State @ BYU--- Guys, check this game out because I think BYU is on their way to losing.. again. Damn, 1-5 and the injury bug crawling around would be tough to swallow for a BYU team whose starts just did not want to align this year. Hey, this is College Football. A 11-2 team can go 1-5 too quickly.