Big 10 Week 5 Power Rankings

Alright all you college football addicts it is the last of the power 5 college football rankings for week 5. You already have the SEC, ACC, Big12 and PAC 12, here comes the boys from the midwest, well mostly. I am the power 5 ranking guy, I need a catchy theme song. I like the Pokemon rhythm but the words go “Gotta Rank Em All, Gotta Rank Em All.

Look I am not going to lie to you, this will be my least favorite of the conferences to rank for y’all. There is only one team maybe 2 that is worth a damn. To be honest ranking 16 teams, finding good google images and talking about how inept more than half of them are on a blog is not fun. But as you know I am a man of the people, and the people like college football rankings, so here we go!

 The Only Real Team

1. Ohio State: Do I really have to tell you why they are here? They have 3 potential Heisman candidates on the team in Stroud, Smith-Njigba and Henderson. The scary thing is with Jim Knowles going on his 5th game with the Buckeyes, their defense will only get stronger. That will spell huge problems for teams looking for the upset of Ohio State. Even if their offense gets slowed down, which in the past it has, it now has a defense to lean on. When this team is firing on all four cylinders, it is very scary and will be a playoff team.
   

   Teams That Are Legit

2.  Penn State: I can’t believe that I have this Penn State team ranked this high. I have never been a big fan of Sean Clifford, he just always seems to make the big mistake. This year however he has been a solid leader for the Nittany Lions. The defense, lead by shut down corner back Joey Porter Jr has been fierce in almost every game. This team will need an excellent performance on offense to beat the Buckeyes though. Can they do it?

   

3. Minnesota: P.J. Fleck has done a hell of a job at building this Minnesota Gopher football program. It sure as hell helps when you have one of the best running backs in the country with Mo Ibrahim. Mo is just shy of 600 yards with 8 touchdowns in just 4 games. Not to mention they have a veteran QB in Tanner Morgan to help Ibrahim by stretching the defense. This is the only team in the west division worth talking seriously about.

   
4. Michigan: Where do I start with this team? They lost a ton of great defensive players from last year’s great run. They do have two QB’s in which one plays then the other. I do not know how good this team really is yet. The Wolverines played cupcakes the first three games and in their first test, which was at home they looked pretty average. I am not sold on JJ McCarthy being a full time starter, but I also don’t like McNamara. The one sure thing on the Michigan offense is Blake Corum, I just don’t think that is enough to keep up with the Buckeyes or Penn State in the east division.

   

   These Teams That Are Frisky

5. Maryland: Taulia Tagovailoa is the tone setter for this entire team and has been since last year. The Terrapin’s will go as far as he takes them. If he just makes plays and doesn’t turn the ball over, like against Michigan, they can beat almost anyone in this conference. Good Taulia is very good, but bad Taulia derails the whole team.

   
6. Purdue: What a fun team to watch play football in West Lafayette Indiana. Aiden O’Connell and Charlie Jones, his favorite wide receiver, make it look fun. They have been friends their entire lives, O’Connell even telling the coaching staff to go out and get Jones. Wow has that paid off with Jones having over 500 yard receiving and 7 touchdowns in 4 games. Now with all these electric plays comes a negative. The defense knows that is where the ball is going and the running game is not great yet at Purdue. This team has dream breaker written all over them, they will ruin someone’s year, but whose?

   

7. Indiana: Connor Bazelak coming over from Missouri has played solid at QB this year for the Hoosiers. I have to be honest though, I really don’t like this team. They are ranked here because others have looked worse and you are what your record says. I don’t know maybe I am wrong and the Hoosier’s surprise me. If not hey they are a basketball school, aren’t they?

   

8. Illinois: One of the teams I was higher than most people coming into the year. That freaking Indiana game was robbed from them by the referees and I should have them ahead of them in these power rankings. If I did that though you bunch of bitches would cry, so they are here right now. I think this team has the potential, with all of the west minus Minnesota and maybe Purdue being crappy, to be the second best team in the west. Chase Brown is an out right stud running the ball in this Bret Bielema offense.  This team will be hight on these rankings at the end of the year bet on that.

   

   The Triplets

9. Iowa, Michigan Sate & Wisconsin: All of these teams are in this college football rankings together because honestly they are all the same. There is nothing special or different about them. (No this is not lazy way to save three paragraphs cough* yes it is), All of these offenses are well offensive. These three teams have a proud history of being good enough to lose to Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State in big games. They are not even good enough to do that this year. They are just bad, but they will be back to believing they can beat the top tier and be crushed again soon.

   

   

   

   12. Rutgers: Greg Schiano will have this team in the middle tier of the conference in 2 more years  Right now he is in the building phase of turning Rutgers into a respectable program like he did in the mid 2000’s. I truly believe they can be a 8 win team in the Big 10 if they stick to Greg’s plan and keep all the New Jersey and Philadelphia talent at home.

   

College Football Rankings Deserve Better Teams

13. Northwestern: Pat Fitzgerald’s job is not on the line, maybe the only coach ranked this low in a college football rankings that isn’t. Pat always has a down year and bounces back. This might just be a down two years and then bounce back. Everyone is a fool for believing in the good performance vs. Nebraska week 0 in Ireland.  We all see how that turned out for the Huskers. Maybe the Wildcats pull an upset of a mid level Big 10 team, maybe?

14. Nebraska: It is all Scott Frost’s Fault

You are welcome people, that was painful. I think I like 5 teams in this conference. It is clearly a one horse race on top. If you don’t agree then you are bias and should not have an opinion on college football rankings. There are a few spunky teams that I personally like to watch, other than that hard pass. Much rather watch the other Power 5 Conferences or the Sun Belt.  You think I’m wrong my Twitter is always on and I just love playing in the mud.

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