Big Ten in the polls
October 5, 2008
Posted by ESPN.com’s Adam Rittenberg
Not much movement at the top this week as Penn State remained No. 6 in both polls after a hard-fought 20-6 win at Purdue. The Lions will move into the top five with a win next week because either Texas or Oklahoma will drop.
Ohio State fans undoubtedly won’t be happy about moving up only two spots in the AP Poll after snapping Wisconsin’s 16-game home win streak Saturday night, but not many teams ranked ahead of the Buckeyes lost Saturday. The Buckeyes are one spot ahead of Florida in the Coaches’ Poll and one spot behind the Gators in the AP Poll. There isn’t a lot of love for the Buckeyes in the national media, but if they keep winning, the voters will have no choice but to move them up.
Wisconsin’s drop from No. 18 to all the way out of the AP Poll was somewhat surprising and could have more to do with Michigan’s blowout home loss to Illinois than the Badgers’ narrow loss to Ohio State. The collapse in Ann Arbor really hurts Wisconsin.
Michigan State has cracked both polls after its fifth consecutive victory, and Northwestern is No. 22 in the Coaches’ Poll, its first national ranking since 2005. Illinois and Northwestern are just outside the AP Top 25.
The coaches clearly have more respect for the Big Ten, including five teams in the rankings as opposed to three in the AP Poll. Ohio State’s loss to USC still sours a lot of media members, and it’s hard to know exactly what to make of Michigan State and Northwestern. I’m between the two polls in my power rankings, which include four Big Ten teams.
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