Big Ten football power rankings: Week 8

Penn State picks up shocking win over Ohio State

It was only a matter of time before one of the Big Ten's top teams toppled from the ranks of the unbeaten. Michigan, Ohio State and Nebraska were three of the final 10 undefeated teams in the country Saturday evening, but a huge upset in Happy Valley shook up the East Division.

There's also a major shakeup in this week's Big Ten power rankings.

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1. Michigan

Last week: 1
Week 8 result: Michigan 41, Illinois 8

Michigan wasn't overly impressive this weekend, but the defense was dominant once again and the Wolverines stayed undefeated to kick off the second half of the season. Wilton Speight had the best game of his college career, completing 16 of 23 passes for 253 yards and two touchdowns. He was extremely accurate downfield for the first time this season and could have put up much bigger numbers if Jim Harbaugh hadn't taken his foot off the gas. Karan Higdon has emerged as Michigan's best running back after gaining 106 yards on eight carries against the Illini. Higdon has quietly crept up the depth chart with 359 rushing yards and six touchdowns on just 43 carries. Next up: A revenge game against a reeling Michigan State team.

READ: Michigan jumps to No. 2 in rankings

2. Wisconsin

Last week: 4 (Up 2)
Week 8 result: Wisconsin 17, Iowa 9

It wasn't pretty, but Wisconsin-Iowa games rarely are. The Badgers avenged last season's home loss to Iowa with a 17-9 win in Kinnick Stadium Saturday, essentially eliminating the Hawkeyes from Big Ten West Division contention. Wisconsin doesn't technically control its own destiny, but if Wisconsin beats Nebraska at home this week and Ohio State takes care of Nebraska in two weeks, the Badgers will become the heavy favorites. Saturday's win came at a steep price: Star linebacker and leading tackler Jack Cichy is out for the rest of the season with a torn pectoral muscle. Wisconsin edges Ohio State for the No. 2 spot only because I think the Badgers are clearly the best team in their side of the conference.

3. Ohio State

Last week: 2 (Down 1)
Week 8 result: Ohio State 21, Penn State 24

J.T. Barrett is one of the five best players in the country, but the rest of the Buckeye team around him hasn't been playing up to speed. Barrett was solid again Saturday, throwing for 245 yards and running the ball well (due to the college football rule that sacks count against quarterbacks' rushing yards, he officially only had 26 yards on 17 carries). Unfortunately for Ohio State, the offensive line forgot to show up. Penn State picked up six sacks and would have had more if not for Barrett's ability to avoid pressure in the backfield. The Buckeyes should be able to take care of business the next two weeks at home against winning teams from the West. Saturday's loss doesn't actually hurt Ohio State in the playoff race unless it drops another winnable game.

4. Penn State

Last week: 6 (Up 2)
Week 8 result: Penn State 24, Ohio State 21

"Coming out of the bye week, the Nittany Lions have a huge challenge at home against Ohio State. If they can compete in that game, it will show how far they've come since getting crushed in Ann Arbor three weeks ago." That's what I wrote in last week's power rankings, and I'm sticking to it. Penn State is one of the most improved teams in the country after getting absolutely destroyed at the Big House nearly a month ago. James Franklin finally picked up a signature win at Penn State, and now, the Nittany Lions have a chance to earn a three-way tie in the Big Ten East. Penn State wouldn't win the tiebreaker in that scenario, but it would still be an extremely impressive feat for a team that looked like it would struggle to reach a bowl game early in the year. Penn State should be favored in each of its final five games, but Iowa and Indiana won't be pushovers.

5. Nebraska

Last week: 3 (Down 2)
Week 8 result: Nebraska 27, Purdue 14

Mike Riley's Nebraska team is one of just nine undefeated teams in the entire country, so why is it ranked behind not one but two two-loss teams in the Big Ten? Take Saturday for example. Nebraska hosted a Purdue team that has not only been undressed by both Cincinnati and Maryland this season, but also just fired its head coach. Obviously the undefeated Cornhuskers cruised past Purdue without a blink, right? Wrong. Nebraska trailed Purdue at halftime and didn't hold a two-possession lead until the fourth quarter. Tommy Armstrong Jr. was average for the second straight week and the Cornhuskers simply didn't look like a team with the talent to win the West. This isn't the first close call for Nebraska, which beat a now 2-5 Oregon team by three points, trailed a bad Illinois team at home in the fourth quarter and couldn't pull away from an Indiana team that hasn't won since Oct. 1. Nebraska is a good team, but through seven weeks, Nebraska has yet to look like a great team. After the next two road trips -- at Wisconsin and at Ohio State -- Nebraska can't afford to be 7-2.

6. Northwestern

Last week: 7 (Up 1)
Week 8 result: Northwestern 24, Indiana 14

Another week, another impressive showing from the Wildcats. Northwestern hosted a pesky Indiana team this weekend and the outcome was never in doubt. Clayton Thorson threw three touchdown passes in the first 15 minutes and 10 seconds of the game and Northwestern led 24-3 at halftime. The Wildcat defense held Indiana's normally high-powered offense to one touchdown, while Austin Carr exploded again, catching seven passes for 125 yards and a touchdown. Northwestern is starting to look like a team that could make a run at the West Division title, thanks to the offensive trio of Thorson, Carr and Justin Jackson and a defense that has only allowed more than 24 points twice this season. Unfortunately for Pat Fitzgerald's team, it has to travel to Columbus to face an extremely angry Ohio State team desperate to bounce back. If Northwestern can pull it out, Fitzgerald deserves a Kirk Ferentz-type extension. Is this a good time to remind everybody that the Wildcats won 10 games last season?

7. Maryland

Last week: 10 (Up 3)
Week 8 result: Maryland 28, Michigan State 17

I've been on this train since late September, but now I'm going all in: Perry Hills is the most improved player in the Big Ten. Last season, Hills might have been the main reason the Terrapins finished with a miserable 3-9 record. He threw 13 interceptions in comparison to just eight touchdowns and completed only 50 percent of his passes. He battled with Caleb Rowe -- who was equally bad -- for the starting job and neither deserved to win it. Well, look at Perry Hills now. The senior quarterback has done a complete 180. He's completing over 66 percent of his passes and has eight touchdowns to just two interceptions. Maryland is 5-0 in games that Hills starts and finishes, and 0-2 in games in which he missed time. This weekend, Hills completed 21 of 27 passes for 200 yards and two touchdowns to lead Maryland over Michigan State. His remarkable turnaround has the Terps within one game of postseason eligibility, with a home game against Rutgers still on the docket. Translation: Maryland is going bowling.

8. Iowa

Last week: 5 (Down 3)
Week 8 result: Iowa 9, Wisconsin 17

Nothing can take away from what last season's Iowa team accomplished. It went 12-0 in the regular season, and it took an historic drive from Michigan State to keep the Hawkeyes from winning a Big Ten title and playing in the College Football Playoff. But this season, the magic is gone and Iowa just isn't a very good team. It lost its third home game before the end of October and hasn't looked particularly dominant since Week 2 against Iowa State. Iowa could realistically be a 6-6 team.

9. Minnesota

Last week: 8 (Down 1)
Week 8 result: Minnesota 34, Rutgers 32

In two games against Ohio State and Michigan, Rutgers was outscored 136-0. Last week, Rutgers lost by 17 points to Illinois. On Saturday, Minnesota served up 32 points to the Scarlett Knights and needed a last-minute field goal to win at home. What a disaster this could have been. Instead, Minnesota is 5-2 with a chance to get to 7-2 with wins over Illinois and Purdue. It's not often a team gets to play the worst three teams in its conference in back-to-back-to-back weeks. Minnesota needs to take advantage.

10. Indiana

Last week: 9 (Down 1)
Week 8 result: Indiana 14, Northwestern 24

We said it on the Big Ten Football Podcast this weekend: As Richard Lagow goes, so go the Hoosiers. This weekend, the defense did another solid job, holding a Northwestern team that dropped 54 points on Michigan State to just 24 points. But Lagow threw two more interceptions, bringing his season total up to 11, and Indiana couldn't recover. The Hoosiers were essentially even with Northwestern in total yards, time of possession and first downs, but they lost the turnover battle. Lagow has thrown 10 interceptions in Indiana's four losses, and just one interception in Indiana's three wins. The formula for winning college football games isn't always complicated.

11. Michigan state

Last week: 11
Week 8 result: Michigan State 17, Maryland 28

Michigan State has lost five games in a row. Michigan State beat Michigan on a fluky dropped punt snap touchdown last season. Jim Harbaugh enjoys blowing out lesser opponents. Michigan has an undefeated record on the line. These are all reasons to question the Spartans' chances of keeping the home fans in the stadium beyond halftime next weekend.

12. Purdue

Last week: 13 (Up 1)
Week 6 result: Purdue 14, Nebraska 27

Purdue is trying really hard to earn the title "pesky team." That 43-point loss to Maryland did a lot of damage to those aspirations.

13. Illinois

Last week: 12 (down 1)
Week 6 result: Illinois 8, Michigan 41

They lost by 33 points, but the Fighting Illini actually played better than expected Saturday. When it was announced that third-string quarterback Jeff George Jr. would start, this game sounded like a shutout waiting to happen, but George managed to put up eight points against the Big Ten's best defense. Michigan put up 561 total yards of offense, but it's actually remarkable that Illinois held Michigan to 41 points when the Wolverines held the ball for over 41 minutes. But other than small moral victories, Illinois doesn't have much going on.

14. Rutgers

Last week: 14
Week 6 result: Rutgers 32, Minnesota 34

Rutgers' fifth straight loss was definitely its most valiant. The Scarlett Knights didn't technically move up in the power rankings, but they did rise from a hopelessly distant No. 14 to a slightly less score-deprived No. 14.


About the Author:

Derick is the Lead Digital Editor for ClickOnDetroit and has been with Local 4 News since April 2013. Derick specializes in breaking news, crime and local sports.