We kind of dropped the ball last week and only ChrisRU posted so figured I'd start this week.

Changes all represent from two weeks ago as I didn't rank last week.

1. (1) Ohio State: Still looking like they are missing something, but feeling more confident vs. Michigan State.
2. (3) Iowa: Continuing to take care of business.
3. (2) Michigan State: Close loss to Nebraska two weeks ago, but they have been playing with fire.
4. (4) Michigan: Two close games in a row. I'd still take over Michigan State in a rematch.
5. (6) Wisconsin: I cannot emphasize enough how sad it was that the Heartland Trophy was decided in their first Big Ten game of the year.
6. (5) Northwestern: Beating Penn State was an important win vs. their east competitors. Moved below Wisconsin as their out of conference wins look a tad less impressive which was the big reason I had them above.
7. (7) Penn State: They are actually still in contention for the east. While that will probably end this week (either with a loss or an Ohio State win), this season has been a lot better than it looked like it would be earlier.
8. (10) Nebraska: With the Michigan State victory moved them up a bit. They almost had to be 10 (below Illinois) or 8 (above Minnesota). They are better than their record shows.
9. (8) Minnesota: They've been in most games, just not coming up with the victories.
10. (9) Illinois: Not a bad job this year considering what was going on coming in.
11. (11). Purdue: Improvement over last year for sure, but barely showing in standings.
12. (12) Maryland: Have improved, but still only 2 wins. Big game vs. Indiana this week.
13. (13) Rutgers: I think there will be a new coach soon.
14 (14). Indiana: If they win one conference game (any conference game), I'll move them up 3 spots. They have been pretty good in a ton of close losses with only the Penn State game looking bad. They lost at home to Rutgers though and given me no justification for moving up.

Predicted final record in parenthesis.

1) OSU (12-0) - Assuming they beat MSU, this is sizing up to maybe be the biggest rivalry game vs. Michigan since 2006?
2) Michigan (9-3) - see above.
3) Iowa (12-0) - was tempted to drop them behind Wisconsin after the close one vs. Minnesota
4) Wisconsin (10-2) - their chances of making it to the B1G championship game are very bleak.
5) MSU (10-2) - Still a chance for them to take the east if they can get by OSU on Saturday.
6) Northwestern (9-3) - 2 wins away from a 10 win season.
7) Nebraska (5-7) - a long shot for a bowl.
8) PSU (7-5) - Trying not to end their season on a down note. Tough games ahead.
9) Illinois (5-7) - Two toss up games to close their season will determine their bowl eligibility.
10) Minnesota (5-7) - Need to win out to get to a bowl.
11) Maryland (4-8) - should win their final two games.
12) Indiana (5-7) - Desperately need to win out to get bowl eligible. They haven't won in almost two months.
13) Purdue (2-10) - A lone bright spot in their game vs. Nebraska. Hazell's seat will be red hot all of next year.
14) Rutgers (4-8)- It will be a huge offseason in Piscataway to get this program turned around. I'm concerned the football team is dangerously close to falling into the abyss for a few years.

(11-19-2015 11:54 AM)chrisRU Wrote:  1) OSU (12-0) - Assuming they beat MSU, this is sizing up to maybe be the biggest rivalry game vs. Michigan since 2006?

Probably since 2007 I think. That was Lloyd Carr's last year. The game was for an outright championship that year as well. Ohio State won and was conference champs and ended up in the BCS championship that year thanks to a string of upsets (needed 6 of 7 possible things to happen after loosing to Illinois the week before and all 7 happened). Michigan after loosing to Appalachian State to start the year (and then Oregon, which looked a lot worse than it was as that was the year Oregon really started to rise), finished by beating Urban Meyer in the Citrus Bowl.