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Big Ten Power Rankings Heading Into Week 5

By Oliver Vandervoort

Sep 3, 2016; Champaign, IL, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini wide receiver Samuel Harlib (82) and Illinois Fighting Illini offensive lineman Joe Spencer (71) celebrate with head coach Lovie Smith after the game against the Murray State Racers at Memorial Stadium. Illinois defeated Murray State 52 to 3. Mandatory Credit: Mike Granse-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 3, 2016; Champaign, IL, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini wide receiver Samuel Harlib (82) and Illinois Fighting Illini offensive lineman Joe Spencer (71) celebrate with head coach Lovie Smith after the game against the Murray State Racers at Memorial Stadium. Illinois defeated Murray State 52 to 3. Mandatory Credit: Mike Granse-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Big Ten power rankings see a bit of a shakeup just in the way the conference’s title chances got shook up a bit.

There were some upsets (one that I pointed to) and some teams taking care of business and barely avoiding the upset. There were some teams that looked as strong as I thought a week ago and some that looked quite a bit weaker.

Other teams didn’t play last week and for the most part, took a bit of a hit because they didn’t play. The good news for those teams is they will be able to make up some ground, or lose even more.

There is at least one team that dropped, despite the fact that they won their game, and won it more convincingly than the final score appeared. This happens when a top 10 Big Ten team beats another Top 10 Big Ten team rather soundly.

There was a bit of leapfrogging going on. All in all, it was a better weekend for the conference, after the previous weekend saw far too many conference teams either losing, or getting taken to the limit by teams that simply aren’t that impressive.

Most interesting of all is that the Big Ten West already has its three front runners and they’re exactly who you might expect. The Big Ten East might have already eliminated one of the teams that was hoping for a bid in the Big Ten Championship game. A dark-horse for the division was also likely proven to be too big a long shot.

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