Big Ten Power Rankings - Week 6 Thread


These ranking are all fine with me. Keep disrespecting us. I hope we are treated like Rodney Dangerfield of BIG football all year long. Just win baby!
 

Have you watched Maryland's offense when it's clicking this year?
Yeah, their defense sucks and their offense is boom-or-bust, but when they are on, they are a damn good team.

It clicked against Howard, Syracuse and Rutgers. What happened against Temple?
 


It's aggressive to be ranking Minnesota ahead of teams like Iowa and Michigan State. I don't agree with that at all. We're still pretty solidly a bottom half team in the B1G.

Based on what?

I'll answer this. Sure they've got five wins, but the best team the Gophers have beaten so far this year are probably Fresno State and Purdue - a 2-2 Mountain West team and one of the three worst teams in the Big Ten. And they came this close || to losing to SDSU and GSU. You have to earn your way to the top, and the Gophers haven't done that yet.

I think they can, but they haven't yet.
 


I'll answer this. Sure they've got five wins, but the best team the Gophers have beaten so far this year are probably Fresno State and Purdue - a 2-2 Mountain West team and one of the three worst teams in the Big Ten. And they came this close || to losing to SDSU and GSU. You have to earn your way to the top, and the Gophers haven't done that yet.

I think they can, but they haven't yet.

This is fair, but to be a "solidly bottom-half team" they are ranked 8-9 or lower. So please tell me, who have Maryland, Indiana or Nebraska beaten this year?

Nebraska - South Alabama, Northern Illinois, Illinois and (conference winless) Northwestern
Indiana - Ball State, Eastern Illinois and UConn
Maryland - Howard, Rutgers (maybe worst P5 team) and (badly overrated at the time) Syracuse

So yes, given that most of the above wins (minus Rutgers and Illinois) took place at home and we have beaten Fresno and Purdue on the road already, I would 1000% CLEARLY put us ahead of all 3 of those teams. Not to mention, Indiana and Maryland have FCS wins and the FCS team we played is clearly one of the best in the nation.
 

This is fair, but to be a "solidly bottom-half team" they are ranked 8-9 or lower. So please tell me, who have Maryland, Indiana or Nebraska beaten this year?

Nebraska - South Alabama, Northern Illinois, Illinois and (conference winless) Northwestern
Indiana - Ball State, Eastern Illinois and UConn
Maryland - Howard, Rutgers (maybe worst P5 team) and (badly overrated at the time) Syracuse

So yes, given that most of the above wins (minus Rutgers and Illinois) took place at home and we have beaten Fresno and Purdue on the road already, I would 1000% CLEARLY put us ahead of all 3 of those teams. Not to mention, Indiana and Maryland have FCS wins and the FCS team we played is clearly one of the best in the nation.

I agree with your assessment, and don't think we have any business being ranked lower than #7. You could argue for higher, but that's where it gets a bit dicey given how easy our schedule looks on paper at the moment.
 

I agree with your assessment, and don't think we have any business being ranked lower than #7. You could argue for higher, but that's where it gets a bit dicey given how easy our schedule looks on paper at the moment.

I don't see how we could be ranked higher than 7th. Maybe that's consensus!

For the record, I'm not the poster who said we are "solidly" bottom half.
 

Can the title of this thread be changed to "We're still pretty solidly a bottom half team in the B1G" ?
 



Can we just pull a Scott Frost and claim a National Championship because we are unbeaten?
 

Can we just pull a Scott Frost and claim a National Championship because we are unbeaten?

Nobody is implying that. At all. I think 5 is too high until after this week, but to say we should be 8-10 is ridic. That's all.
 

6 or 7 is about right.

We can't touch:
Ohio State
Wisconsin
Penn State

Maybe we can beat them on a good day:
Iowa
Michigan
Michigan State

Realistic ranking level around here, no lower, But only one or two spots higher.

We could survive some mistakes:
Nebraska
Maryland
Indiana
Purdue
Northwestern

Don't even bother making an arguement:
Illinois
Rutgers
 

Can the title of this thread be changed to "We're still pretty solidly a bottom half team in the B1G" ?

I'm standing by that statement. I don't see how anyone could possibly rank us ahead of Iowa right now, and I would definitely understand an argument to throw us behind Indiana or Maryland. Our upside is #7 and our downside is #9. That's pretty solidly bottom half. If we beat Nebraska then I'll probably change my opinion.
 



I'm standing by that statement. I don't see how anyone could possibly rank us ahead of Iowa right now, and I would definitely understand an argument to throw us behind Indiana or Maryland. Our upside is #7 and our downside is #9. That's pretty solidly bottom half. If we beat Nebraska then I'll probably change my opinion.

You're on something.

1. Between 7 and 9 is squarely in the middle and 9 and below would be "solidly bottom half".

2. Don't see how anyone could rank us above Iowa? Did you watch them against Iowa St or Michigan (the only two teams they have played)? They looked PUTRID offensively in both games. PUTRID. Michigan might have a great D but Iowa St is not even going to finish a Top 4 Big 12 team this year.

3. There is no argument about Indiana or Maryland. Thes below wins are not sh*t. You do not lose 59-0 at home in the biggest game on your campus in decades if you're a good team. Do you really think the Gophers are going to lose 59-0 to Penn St?? Please say yes so I can understand the intelligence level I'm dealing with here.

Indiana - Ball State, Eastern Illinois and UConn
Maryland - Howard, Rutgers (maybe worst P5 team) and (badly overrated at the time) Syracuse
 

You're on something.

1. Between 7 and 9 is squarely in the middle and 9 and below would be "solidly bottom half".

2. Don't see how anyone could rank us above Iowa? Did you watch them against Iowa St or Michigan (the only two teams they have played)? They looked PUTRID offensively in both games. PUTRID. Michigan might have a great D but Iowa St is not even going to finish a Top 4 Big 12 team this year.

3. There is no argument about Indiana or Maryland. Thes below wins are not sh*t. You do not lose 59-0 at home in the biggest game on your campus in decades if you're a good team. Do you really think the Gophers are going to lose 59-0 to Penn St?? Please say yes so I can understand the intelligence level I'm dealing with here.

Indiana - Ball State, Eastern Illinois and UConn
Maryland - Howard, Rutgers (maybe worst P5 team) and (badly overrated at the time) Syracuse

Iowa opponents average under 9 points per game. Iowa averages 27 points per game.
 

6 or 7 is about right.

We can't touch:
Ohio State
Wisconsin
Penn State

Maybe we can beat them on a good day:
Iowa
Michigan
Michigan State

Realistic ranking level around here, no lower, But only one or two spots higher.

We could survive some mistakes:
Nebraska
Maryland
Indiana
Purdue
Northwestern

Don't even bother making an arguement:
Illinois
Rutgers

OSU is the only team we’d literally have no shot of beating right now, so I don’t agree with the “can’t touch” comment, especially considering what we did to Wisconsin on their home turf (and we haven’t lost a game since).

I would move Purdue into the category with Illinois and Rutgers, tbh. I think I’d take Illinois over Purdue if they played on a neutral field right now.


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Iowa opponents average under 9 points per game. Iowa averages 27 points per game.

Haha. Which opponents? They averaged 10.5 points a game against their only 2 legit opponents. Ill guarantee you they will not break 14 this week against Penn St with a real chance of not cracking 10.
 

On Saturday, November 24, 2018 — approximately 10 months ago — the Gophers went to Madison and destroyed the Badgers. The Gophers beat them like a government mule.

Now, a mere 10 months later, the Gophers "can't touch" Wisconsin? Really?

I'd be interested in hearing the reasoning behind that assertion, in detail.

Oh, and by the way: 6 weeks before that victory in Madison, the Gophers travelled to Columbus to face Ohio State. If I recall correctly, we gave them all they could handle and then some.
 

Iowa opponents average under 9 points per game. Iowa averages 27 points per game.

OSU is the only team we’d literally have no shot of beating right now, so I don’t agree with the “can’t touch” comment, especially considering what we did to Wisconsin on their home turf (and we haven’t lost a game since).

I would move Purdue into the category with Illinois and Rutgers, tbh. I think I’d take Illinois over Purdue if they played on a neutral field right now.


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I also love how PSU is in "can't touch" territory. Please expound on that.

Who has PSU beat? They escaped an average Pitt team at home by 7. They beat an injured Purdue team at home. And they thumped an inconsistent and flawed Maryland team - their most impressive win. But that does not equate to "cant touch" or close to it. If they beat Iowa by 40 on the road, then we can talk.

It's clear by a list like this and some of the proclamations on this thread that a lot of people have not looked at these teams' schedules and results and are just awarding status based on brands. Honestly, Ohio State is the only team with true separation in the conference at this point. Wiscy's domination of Michigan was balanced by how bad they looked against Northwestern (winless in conference) the following week. Their offense is not gangbusters. This will be proven against better teams.
 

Haha. Which opponents? They averaged 10.5 points a game against their only 2 legit opponents. Ill guarantee you they will not break 14 this week against Penn St with a real chance of not cracking 10.

Penn State scoring defense is ranked 2nd, right ahead of Iowa and behind Wisconsin, ranked 5th in scoring offense.
 

Penn State scoring defense is ranked 2nd, right ahead of Iowa and behind Wisconsin, ranked 5th in scoring offense.

My point is that as they get into the meat of their schedule, Iowa's offense is going to be trending much closer to that 10.5 number than the 27.5. We can watch it happen and talk about it here later. Deal?
 

My point is that as they get into the meat of their schedule, Iowa's offense is going to be trending much closer to that 10.5 number than the 27.5. We can watch it happen and talk about it here later. Deal?

My point is it all is relative. All B1G teams pretty much have the hard part of their seasons from here on out.
 

I'd love to hear more from hello-world about Maryland and MSU, please.

Also love to hear a bit more about Iowa's powerhouse offense.

Please commence....
 




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