Big Ten football power rankings after Week 11: Penn State bounces back

There may not be a fifth-best team in the Big Ten. Ohio State, Oregon, and Penn State all handled business in Week 11, pounding Purdue, Maryland, and Washington respectively, and Indiana escaped a close one against Michigan before a much-needed bye week. But beyond that group, there is absolutely no certainty in this conference. 

Iowa appeared to be No. 5 and that’s where they slotted in last week, and have to stay despite a 20-17 loss to UCLA because I’m just not sure who to put there. It’s been Nebraska, it’s been Illinois, it’s been Iowa, and now UCLA has a compelling case as the fifth-best team in the conference. 

The Bruins are 4-5 and 3-4 in Big Ten play, but those records are incredibly misleading. DeShaun Foster’s team lost five straight after a Week 1 win, but all five were relatively quality losses: Indiana, LSU, Oregon, Penn State, and Minnesota. Then, they’ve simply bounced back with three consecutive wins at Rutgers, at Nebraska, and home to Iowa on Friday night. With Washington and USC on deck, two winnable games, there’s a chance UCLA isn’t just bowl-eligible in the first season after Chip Kelly fled to take the offensive coordinator job at Ohio State, but that the Bruins are convincingly the fifth-best team in the Big Ten behind an elite upper-tier. 

As for Indiana and Penn State at No. 3 and No. 4, I’ll give the Hoosiers some grace for a five-point win over Michigan. First, Sherrone Moore’s Wolverines are better on offense now than they’ve been, though still atrocious, and second, IU has literally never been here before. It’s understandable that a program without a single 10-win season could struggle to close out a 10-0 start heading into a bye week before the biggest game of its season. 

Penn State needed a win like it scored in Week 11. The most important part of the victory was the red zone success. When the Nittany Lions got around the goalline, OC Andy Kotelnicki made sure that Tyler Warren touched the ball after failing to get it into his hands in the team’s Week 10 loss to the Buckeyes. 

Without a clear challenger to the top group, Ohio State, Oregon, Indiana, and Penn State should not just remain the top teams in the Big Ten, but should all punch a spot into the 12-team College Football Playoff come season’s end.