As a Columbus native and a Northwestern alum, I like me some Big Ten football. So I’m going to dive a little deeper into my rankings and break down the conference. I may do this with other conferences over time.

  1. Iowa (#2 overall)
    Seven and oh. They’re getting the job done.
    Best win: #22 Arizona

  1. Ohio St. (#16 overall)
    Pryor and Tressel effigies are probably being burned en masse in Columbus right now, but the Buckeyes are still a good team. I honestly don’t understand all the lack-of-offense hate I’m seeing. Hasn’t winning games with defense and special teams been OSU’s M.O. this entire decade?
    Best win: #38 Wisconsin

  1. Michigan (#34 overall)
    Michigan is indirectly the beneficiary of what I’ve been calling the Washington effect. You see, the Washington Huskies have a losing record, but happen to be ranked #15 in my poll. Why? Their 4 losses don’t count against them (other than the fact that they’re not wins, and wins give you more points). But their 3 wins are doing a lot for them – they beat #32 Idaho, #7 USC, and #22 Arizona. As these three teams continue to win, Washington’s “win total” continues to increase, and they hang around in the rankings despite not winning so much themselves.
    Anyways, back to Michigan. They beat Notre Dame, who beat Washington. All those points that Washington racked up help bolster the Wolverines’ score.
    Best win: #17 Notre Dame

  1. Wisconsin (#38 overall)
    I must say I was disappointed that googling bret bielema is a douchebag only returns 315 hits. After last year’s crashing and burning from a preseason Top 5 ranking to needing to go to overtime against Cal Poly to guarantee a bowl bid, I was hoping the Badgers would continue their decline. (I’m still bitter that Wisconsin informed me of my rejection from their graduate math program via an e-mail which ended up in my junk folder rather than paying for a stamp, if you couldn’t tell.) However, they’re looking pretty solid.
    Best win: #43 Minnesota

  1. Penn St. (#39 overall)
    Really? JoePa’s team is all the way back here? Makes sense when you look at who’ve they’ve beaten: #110 Akron, #91 Syracuse, #76 Temple, #110 Illinois, FCS Eastern Illinois, and #43 Minny. They’ll move up if they can beat some decent teams.
    Best win: #43 Minnesota

  1. Minnesota (#43 overall)
    I love Goldy, the Gophers’ mascot. Last year, he dressed like a pirate for Talk Like a Pirate Day and as the Joker for Halloween. Yes, this a dude in a costume in another costume! When I was little and my dad took me to Buckeye football and basketball games, I spent probably 40% of the time watching Brutus. (Another 50% was watching the animations on the scoreboard and the final 10% actually watching the game.) Seeing mascots doing cool stuff brings out the little kid in me.
    Oh, and Minny’s playing halfway decent football, too.
    Best win: #45 Purdue

  1. Purdue (#45 overall)
    Purdue has exactly two wins. One of those happens to be over Ohio State. They have a little Washington effect of their own going on, just not to the extent of the Huskies.
    Best win: #16 Ohio State, duh

  1. Michigan St. (#56 overall)
    Sparty has basically been meh. The Michigan win was solid, and the NU win okay, but that’s basically all they’ve done.
    Best win: #34 Michigan

  1. Northwestern (#66 overall)
    As much as it pains me, the Wildcats just haven’t been able to get the job done this year. They’ve held the lead at some point in each of their three losses (and two of them in the fourth quarter), but aren’t able to finish. Their competition has been mostly atrocious (Eastern Michigan and Miami U. are both winless and thus contribute nothing to their “win total”), but the win against Purdue saves them from an even lower ranking.
    Best win: #45 Purdue

  1. Indiana (#83 overall)
    Indiana has looked halfway decent this year, swine-flu-induced loss to UVA aside. They’ll have a chance to make a statement in the coming weeks as the meat of their schedule comes up.
    Best win: #77 Western Michigan

  1. Illinois (#110 overall)
    There are currently 11 teams in the country ranked #110. These 11 teams consist of those who are either winless or who have only been victorious when playing an FCS opponent. I guess the Zookster can recruit, but that’s about it.
    Best win: FCS Illinois St.