Five weeks in, and there is so much to talk about in the Big Ten. The calendar is about to flip from September to October, and we could not be any more excited. Not only is the Wisconsin Badgers' frustrating football season one week closer to coming to an end, but basketball season will be here before you know it. In the meantime, it is just eight conference games left on the slate for Wisconsin.
So what we are going to do today is take a look at the Big Ten heading into Week 6. With everyone having played at least four games so far, there is a sufficient enough of a sample size to come to some very interesting conclusions about these teams. While teams like Ohio State and Oregon are good, we all know that bad ones like UCLA and Wisconsin exist as well. What about the in-between?
So without further ado, here are the latest batch of Big Ten Power Rankings heading into Week 6.
18. UCLA Bruins: 0-4
The UCLA Bruins' best chance at winning a game this season has come and gone. Although the Northwestern Wildcats did everything in their power to give this one to the visiting Bruins, it was David Braun's team prevailing in the end. There may not be a worse team in the Power Four than UCLA. It has been season over since the Bruins fired DeShaun Foster after the New Mexico loss.
17. Northwestern Wildcats: 2-2
Moving down the list is a team that actually won on Saturday in the Northwestern Wildcats. In a game that deserved to be played in Azkaban, the dementors won, and everybody who watched the worst Big Ten game possible unfold were equally disappointed. David Braun may have staved off elimination for another week, but he is not long for this job. Northwestern is a MAC team playing in the Big Ten.
16. Wisconsin Badgers: 2-2
We have arrived at Wisconsin. Just because the Badgers were on their first bye week does not mean we can forgive Luke Fickell and his staff coaching this team into the ground. Because the Badgers do not draw Northwestern, Purdue, UCLA or even Rutgers on their Big Ten schedule, there is a chance Wisconsin has won its final game of the season. Wins will be so hard to come by the rest of the way.
15. Purdue Boilermakers: 2-2
Purdue edges out Wisconsin once again here on the premise of Barry Odom injecting some sort of life into this Boilermakers program. Whatever Jeff Brohm built in West Lafayette was completely destroyed by Ryan Walters over the course of two years. With Purdue already doubling its win total from a year ago, can Odom triple that, quadruple that or even quintuple that? Purdue is improving.
14. Rutgers Scarlet Knights: 3-2
The same issues keep popping up with Rutgers under Greg Schiano's watch. While they usually look the part in the non-conference, the Scarlet Knights are just not scoring enough points in Big Ten play to be anything more than a borderline bowl team, year in and year out. It is why this team is destined to finish with a record somewhere between 4-8 and 8-4 for yet another year under Schiano's watch.
13. Michigan State Spartans: 3-1
Michigan State is the last team to find itself in the bottom-third of the Big Ten. Right now, we seem to still be in wait-and-see mode with the Spartans. It may only be year two under Jonathan Smith with Aidan Chiles as his quarterback, but something has to give with this team. It may take until next year for the Spartans to finally pop under them, but there could be a chance were folks become impatient.
12. Minnesota Golden Gophers: 3-1
If not for a road loss at Cal, the Minnesota Golden Gophers would be higher on this list. Having to play across the country in Berkeley was never going to be easy, but give P.J. Fleck's program a ton of credit for scheduling the Golden Bears, regardless of the game's outcome. In a way, it would not be shocking to see the Gophers grow from this and find a way to win around six games in Big Ten play.
11. Iowa Hawkeyes: 3-2
At some point, we just need to rip the band-aid off. Death, taxes and the Iowa Hawkeyes never having a good offense with Kirk Ferentz in charge. He may be the longest-tenured head coach in the Power Four, but all good things must come to an end. This is a team that is not making the playoff. They are 3-2 on the tear after dropping a game they could have won over Indiana. This team missed the boat.
10. Nebraska Cornhuskers: 3-1
Nebraska once again finds itself in the awful middle of the Big Ten. They are not bad enough to fire everyone, but the Cornhuskers are just not good enough to be taken seriously in the upper echelon of this league. The Matt Rhule pop year is probably not going to happen. Frankly, this team needs to score more points with Dylan Raiola at quarterback and with Dana Holgorsen calling all the plays.
9. Washington Huskies: 3-1
For a moment there, it looked like the Washington Huskies were going to potentially stun the visiting Ohio State Buckeyes in Seattle. Unfortunately, Jedd Fisch's offense could not do much of anything going up against Matt Patricia's defense at home. Demond Williams will continue to grow and prosper under his guidance, but this was never going to be the year where the Huskies made a playoff push.
8. USC Trojans: 4-1
Everybody and their brother saw this coming, outside of Lincoln Riley. Rather than focusing on beating a very good Illinois team on the road in Champaign-Urbana, he complained about having to travel across the country to play a game at 9:00 a.m. ET. Riley continues to be the ultimate finesse king. It is why the Trojans are never going to make the playoff for as long as he remains their coach.
7. Maryland Terrapins: 4-0
Look at the Maryland Terrapins climb up the rankings! Admittedly, they are poised to fall back to earth here shortly. They were on a bye last week too, riding high on their impressive beatdown of Wisconsin in Madison. It is still very early in their season, but the Terrapins look like a different team with Malik Washington at quarterback. More importantly, Mike Locksley looks highly motivated on the sidelines.
6. Illinois Fighting Illini: 4-1
Way to bounce back after getting trounced by Indiana two weeks ago. Although the Illinois Fighting Illini do not feel like a team that is going to make the College Football Playoff, they do seem to be giving off the vibes of a program that should stick in and around the top 25 all season long. It is amazing what good head coaching can do. Wisconsin probably wishes Bielema was leading them.
5. Michigan Wolverines: 3-1
Right now, Michigan feels like the worst team in the Big Ten that could conceivably make the College Football Playoff. Much will be made about how the Wolverines look with Sherrone Moore coming back from his suspension on the sidelines. If he gets better as a head coach and Bryce Underwood progresses at quarterback, they might make it in. Frankly, Michigan has too much variance right now.
4. Penn State Nittany Lions: 3-1
If you want to sell your Penn State Nittany Lions stock, you sure can. To be totally honest, this team is exactly who we thought they would be. They can bully lesser competition, but when it comes to holding its own vs. high-quality opponents, they always come up short under James Franklin. This is a borderline playoff team, but they are not beating the three teams who are ranked ahead of them.
3. Indiana Hoosiers: 5-0
The Indiana Hoosiers might be the best team in the Big Ten. They are so well-coached under Curt Cignetti. Although Fernando Mendoza did not light it up at quarterback vs. Iowa last week, he still gives the Hoosiers their best chance at a national title to date. However, there may be a finite ceiling with IU this season. Can it win the Big Ten? Sure. Can it win the College Football Playoff? Probably not.
2. Ohio State Buckeyes: 4-0
Ohio State is the defending national champions, but we are starting to see the cracks in the foundation of their football team. The defense has not skipped a beat, mostly because the drop-off from Jim Knowles to Matt Patricia was grossly overstated. The big concern is Brian Hartline is not Chip Kelly. Furthermore, Julian Sayin is not Will Hoard. Frankly, he might just be Kyle McCord, 2.0...
1. Oregon Ducks: 5-0
Through the first five weeks of the season, the Oregon Ducks are arguably the best team in the country. Under Dan Lanning's leadership, the Ducks just mush people. Getting a hard-fought victory over Penn State in Happy Valley is proof that Oregon may not be soft as Charmin again this year. The Ducks recruit well enough to compete for national championships, so maybe they finally get one?
Oregon is still light years ahead of Wisconsin, but the Badgers will have a chance to play them later.