Big Ten football power rankings after Week 6: Penn State in the clear top-tier

Week 6 of college football brought plenty of chaos and while much of the mayhem was in the SEC with No. 1 Alabama, No. 4 Tennessee, and No. 9 Missouri all losing, the Big Ten wasn’t immune. No. 10 Michigan fell on the road to Washington and No. 11 USC dropped its second conference game in the Midwest with a loss to Minnesota. 

Michigan still hasn’t figured out its quarterback situation and after starting with Alex Orji for the national championship rematch in Seattle, Sherrone Moore quickly turned to Jack Tuttle, his third QB this season. Despite a stellar No. 10 ranking, the Wolverines were underdogs in the betting market to the Huskies on Saturday. Moore’s team was lucky to get off to a 4-1 start and fortunate to escape a home game against USC with a victory, but their putrid passing game finally caught up them. Tuttle finished 10/18 for 98 yards with a touchdown and a game-sealing interception. 

Washington isn’t near the same caliber of team that Kalen DeBoer had in Seattle a year ago, but Jedd Fisch has veteran quarterback Will Rogers playing very well and seems to have solved the red zone issues that ailed the Huskies in a loss to Rutgers. Washington is a significant riser in this week’s power rankings. 

USC, which lost to Michigan and just dropped another to Minnesota, is still No. 8 in my rankings. It’s not perfect, but there is still a lot to like about Lincoln Riley’s roster. The biggest problem might be the travel.

If the lone road trips are actually to blame, then let’s not overrate USC’s two early-season road losses because plenty of other teams could have their bubble burst with additional travel coming up. 

Two of those teams that could fall victim in Week 7 are Ohio State and Penn State, checking in at No. 2 and No. 4 in this week’s AP Poll, sandwiched around No. 3 Oregon. Ryan Day’s Buckeyes are heading to Eugene to play some well-rested Ducks who dispatched Michigan State and former Oregon State nemesis Jonathan Smith on Friday night. Ohio State/Oregon is the game of the year in the Big Ten and will start to crystalize the conference hierarchy between the three top-tier teams. 

Penn State, like Ohio State, will be making its first trip to the West Coast in the new-look Big Ten, facing USC in LA. The Trojans didn’t do the Nittany Lions any favors with their loss to Minnesota, and now an unranked loss would hurt James Franklin’s chances of making his first College Football Playoff appearance. It would also open the door for Curt Cignetti’s Indiana Hoosiers to crash the party at the top of the Big Ten. 

Here’s a look at the conference power rankings after Week 6.