Loyal readers no doubt noticed that I haven't made any effort to supply my own rankings so far this season, like most writers do. That doesn't mean I don't have opinions, but I just think that teams need about five games under their belt before we know a whole lot about them. I'll start with the standard top 25, and then move onto Big Ten rankings.
TOP 25:
Criteria: Win/loss record, level of competition, expectation for success, and most importantly, would they beat the teams in front of them on a neutral field.
AP rank in parentheses
#1 Alabama (1)
#2 Oregon (2)
#3 Georgia (5)
#4 Florida State (3)
#5 LSU (4)
#6 Kansas State (7)
#7 Florida (10)
#8 Texas (11)
#9 Notre Dame (9)
#10 South Carolina (6)
#11 West Virginia (8)
#12 USC (13)
#13 Oklahoma (17)
#14 TCU (15)
#15 Clemson (15)
#16 Ohio State (12)
#17 Nebraska (21)
#18 Stanford (18)
#19 Oregon State (14)
#20 Cincinnati (NR)
#21 Rutgers (22)
#22 Michigan State (NR)
#23 Lousiana Tech (NR)
#24 Louisville (19)
#25 Boise State (NR)
*I think numbers 3-6 are fairly interchangeable at this point, but Florida-LSU, Georgia-South Carolina, and West Virginia-Texas are going to resolve things quite a bit this weekend.
*Notre Dame has earned a higher ranking, but I just can't do it
*If West Virginia can't find a defense, they're never going to be in my top 10; top 10 teams don't allow 63 points to anyone
*I have Oklahoma ranked so high because Bob Stoops shouldn't lose another Big 12 game this year
*17 is maybe a little too high for Nebraska, but they have a chance to earn it this week
*I'm not sold on Oregon State yet, but that will change with more winning
*3 Big East teams is probably too many to rank, but they're all undefeated and they will sort it out among themselves as the season goes on. None will get into my top 15 unless they go undefeated.
*I want to rank Ohio, but they can't put bad teams away on the road, so I just can't do it
*With two BCS pelts on the wall (Illinois and Virginia) Louisiana Tech is probably the best unranked team out there, so I'm showing them some love
*I'm not going to penalize Michigan State too harshly for a loss to a ranked team on the road. I think they could beat most of the teams ranked ahead of them on any given Saturday
Big Ten
Legends:
1. Nebraska (4-1, 1-0)
2. Northwestern (5-0, 1-0)
3. Iowa (2-2, 1-0)
4. Michigan (2-2, 0-0)
5. Michigan State (3-2, 0-1)
6. Minnesota (4-1, 0-1)
Leaders:
1. Ohio State (5-0, 1-0)
2. Penn State (3-2, 1-0)
3. Purdue (4-1, 0-0)
4. Wisconsin (3-2, 0-1)
5. Illinois (2-3, 0-1)
6. Indiana (2-2, 0-1)
Power Rankings:
1. Ohio State: The highest ranked team gets the nod. The Buckeyes feel like their biggest test of the season is already over after beating Michigan State, but Bucky better not sleep on the Huskers this weekend.
2. Nebraska: The Huskers have a great opportunity to take the top spot and set themselves ahead in the Big 10 race with win over Ohio State on Saturday. With Ohio State's postseason ban, the Big Ten is Nebraska's to lose at this point.
3. Michigan State: The two losses aside, Michigan State as the best defense in the league and Sparty will go as far as his pathetic offense will take him.
4. Purdue: Purdue is a trendy pick to win the Leaders this year with Ohio State and Penn State unable to; if the Boilers win this week against Michigan, I'll believe it.
5. Michigan: The deflating beatdown against Alabama and the listless showing against Notre Dame have Wolverine fans feeling pretty uneasy as the Wolverines open Big 10 play with a trip to Purdue. Michigan is still talented enough to win the Legends, but they need better consistency on both sides of the ball.
6. Penn State: Bill O'Brien has the Nittany Lions rolling right now. His offense looked pretty good against Illinois, and he'll need them to perform as well against a Northwestern team that has as good a shot as anyone at cracking his tough defense.
7. Northwestern: The Wildcats are undefeated, but there's still an air of disbelief around this team. If they can take the next step and beat Big Ten monarch Penn State in Beaver Stadium, the Wildcats will shoot up 3 or 4 spots on this list.
8. Wisconsin: If the Badgers play like they did in the first half against Nebraska, they'll win the Leaders division, but if they play the way they did in the second half, they'll be tied for third.
9. Iowa: The Hawkeyes were dead in the water until their surprising rout of unbeaten Minnesota last weekend. Perhaps all is not lost, but there is still much to prove.
10. Minnesota: The Gophers' promising start unraveled in a sloppy first half in Iowa City. Minnesota still needs 3 wins to get to a bowl, Iowa was one of their easier opportunities and now the Gophers probably need an upset or two to get more than a win against Illinois.
11. Illinois: Tim Beckman's team paid for their active recruiting of former Penn State players with a 35-7 thrashing at the hands of the Nittany Lions. Sadly, that was one of the easier remaining games for the woebegone Illini.
12. Indiana: The bottom spot will likely belong to the Hoosiers until their Oct 27th tilt with Illinois, then Indiana has a chance to make a slight jump.
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