[2023] Big Ten Quarter-Season Update

[tsweezy]

After 3.5 weeks of play, most schools have wrapped up their OOC games and now we can take a little quick peek and see how they are performing vis-a-vis my initial preseason power rankings for each conference. The B1G:

 

Team	Conf	Overall	Preseason Power Rank	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	New Rank	Notes
Nebraska	1-0	3-0	8	W at KANS 30-24	W at MINN 16-13	W at CAL 28-10	1	Somehow the Number one team in the fconference right now? They have a good win against Kansas and a shocking domination AT Cal (albeit with an injured QB)
Northwestern	1-0	2-1	7	W at CMU 33-24	L at SCAR 36-48	W vs RUTG 27-14	2	Sliding at Number 2, the rutgers and CMU wins are great! And the SCAR loss isn't that bad all things considered. A real threat in the West
Indiana	1-0	2-1	9	W vs SMU 28-10	W vs OSU 24-10	L at TLNE 0-13	3	A hot start for Indiana but laid a goose egg against Tulane. Still, that win vs OSU looks nice and probably makes them a legit threat / favorite for the East
Penn State	1-0	2-1	3	L at WAST 7-14	W vs Rice 24-7	W at ILLI 20-10	4	Opening admin bowl notwithstanding, Illinois was a good win, and frankly Indiana and OSU are the only things standing in the way of an East crown
Ohio State	0-1	2-1	2	W vs WASH 14-7	L at IND 10-24	W vs GASO 30-20	5	One of the pre-season East favorites they had a hard fought win against Wash and then completely fell apart with the loss at Indiana and now might need some help
Purdue	0-0	3-0	10	W at UCONN 44-41	W vs FCS 17-16	W vs OHIO 28-10	6	Yeah yeah they're 3-0, but they were also 1 point away from living with the ignomy of being the only FBS school to lose to an FCS. I'll believe they're legit if they win 3 more
Minnesota	0-1	2-1	14	W vs FCS 51-3	L vs NEB 13-16	W at Ole Miss 24-17	7	Much improvement! A signature win at Ole Miss and 3 points away from a 3-0 start. Things looking up!
Rutgers	0-1	2-1	5	W vs CUSE 14-12	L at NW 14-27	W vs FCS 55-13	8	The NW loss was disappointing, but NW is pretty good. They had a close win and an FCS win and it's tough to say if they ahd an off-day or just beat up on bad teams
Illinois	0-1	2-1	6	W vs ECU 20-6	W at MIZZ 23-17	L vs PNST 10-20	9	Two relatively good wins and then a loss to a solid Penn state team. I think this is the epitome of an average B1G squad
Maryland	0-0	1-2	12	L at TENN 7-45	L vs BOIS 35-42	W vs USA 38-3	10	Got smoked game 1, but made some solid adjustments and has been rolling on offense since. Could jump up a lot further with another win or 2
Iowa	0-0	1-1	13	L vs IAST 17-27	W vs FCS 44-7		11	Hard to say, lost their rivalry and beat an FCS. They get the "mid" stamp for now
Michigan	0-0	0-2	11	L vs UGA 14-42	L at UCLA 21-30		12	Played some heavy hitters, but you're not gonna get ranked high till you show you can win some games
Michigan State	0-0	0-2	1	L vs CMU 14-45	L at AUB 3-28		13	Ouch. An ambitious OOC for sure, but maybe they should've scheduled a little easier. They do not have a heisman contender this season that's for sure
Wisconsin	0-0	0-2	4	L vs LT 0-41	L at SMU 3-27		14	uh. Yikes. That was a tough way to open the season. Hoping the badgers turn it around fast because they do have talent

 

Overall OOC record: 18-12 (.600)

Biggest surprise (good): Nebraska

Biggest surprise (bad): Michigan State

They are who we thought they were: Penn State

Number of (currently assumed) nationally relevant teams: 2.5

 

[alexfall862]

Expectations? Oh no.