I saw the Lindy’s college basketball annual when I was in South Bend today. They have solid Big Ten representation in their top 25. Michigan State is #1 Ohio State is #6, Michigan #10, Indiana #20, Wisconsin #28. And you saw how the Big Ten football has performed so far. So the morale of the story is…the Big Ten is still very much a hoops conference.
And by a very wide margin too.
1. Ohio State Buckeyes 4-0
PLAY SOMEBODY ALREADY. PLAY SOMEONE WHO’S RELEVANT. Oh, wait they are. Wisconsin is coming this Saturday. Okay. now we’ll see what they’re about. Now we’ll learn.
2. Northwestern Wildcats 4-0
Kind of alarming that a FCS opponent out-gained them in total yardage, but Oct 4th will be a big showdown that Evanston has earned the right to be the featured college football game of the day.
They’ve become exactly like the Chicago Bears who are just a 30 minute drive down the lakefront- living on the pick-sixes. NU leads the FBS in interceptions, and they’ve returned four for scores already. It’s like a team of Charles Peanut Tillmans or Mike Brown in 2001. And now that the scrub games are over WE CAN TALK ABOUT THE SHOWDOWN WITH OSU FINALLY
3. Wisconsin Badgers 3-1 (1-0)
For this week’s power rankings, I’m going to sometimes 1.) TYPE IN ALL CAPS SO YOU KNOW I’M YELLING and 2.) insert tweets from those who cover or tweet about the respective teams. From Fox 6 Milwaukee’s Courtney King
Andersen on last weeks loss “I didn’t want them to forget it…. I wanted them to play mad….I was” #Badgers
— Courtney King (@CourtSportKing) September 21, 2013
4. Michigan State Spartans 3-1
Seriously, Michigan St. wide receivers were actually CATCHING THE BALL IN SOUTH BEND. Well, not always. Sparty got shafted on some phantom P.I. calls.
Dantonio doesn’t seem to have a good feel for this team. Too much tinkering and odd decisions. Has happened to Izzo too. Hope the bye helps.
— Larry Von Kurtze (@LarryVonKurtze) September 21, 2013
Andre Rison. Plaxico Burress. Courtney Hawkins. That guy the #Lions drafted top 5 who flamed out in the #NFL ….#MSU has tradition at WR — Paul M. Banks (@PaulMBanks) September 21, 2013
If you’re a college wide receiver looking to transfer to get more playing time. MAY I SUGGEST MICHIGAN STATE??? #NDvsMSU #B1G #MSU — Paul M. Banks (@PaulMBanks) September 21, 2013
4. Michigan Wolverines 4-0
Michigan is undefeated because sometimes words don’t mean anything at all. — sir broosk (@celebrityhottub) September 22, 2013
6. Nebraska Cornhuskers 3-1
IF YOU LEAVE EARLY I WILL SAY THE F WORD AT YOU DON’T DO IT
— Fake Bo Pelini (@FauxPelini) September 21, 2013
Why is the captain from the Titanic movie coaching SDSU
— Fake Bo Pelini (@FauxPelini) September 21, 2013
7. Illinois Fighting Illini 2-1
The 2013 team is light years better than 2012.
8. Minnesota Golden Gophers 4-0
Play somebody. This was an awful week of scheduling for college football. Not just the Big Ten, all of FBS.
9. Penn St. Nittany Lions 3-1
Again, this week was essentially college football’s version of the NFL preseason. What you’re watching sort of, kind of resembles football, but isn’t really.
10. Iowa Hawkeyes 3-1
Now that’s you handle Western Michigan! That’s what you should do to a Western Michigan.
11. Purdue Boilermakers 1-3 (0-1)
At this point Purdue is just regusing to tackle. The only excuse for it being this bad is that they don’t want to tackle.
— Travis Miller (@HammerAndRails) September 21, 2013
Admit it, given the recent history with Wisconsin, being down only 24-10 at halftime is practically a win.
— Travis Miller (@HammerAndRails) September 21, 2013
12. Indiana Hoosiers 2-2
Go ahead and get all of your pregame Missouri meth jokes in now. #iufb #beatmizzou
— @FakeCoachWilson (@FakeCoachWilson) September 21, 2013
Listen to me every Tuesday at 10:30 AM CDT talking Illini and Northwestern on 1620 The Zone
Paul M. Banks is the owner of The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports. An analyst for 95.7 The Fan and 1620 The Zone, he also writes for Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter (@paulmbanks) and Facebook