See if Ohio St., Michigan St. are Back on Top in Week 5 Big Ten Power Rankings

Saturday Blitz Big Ten Power Rankings Week 5

1. Nebraska Cornhuskers, 5-0 (1-0), Defeated Illinois Fighting Illini 45-14 Last Saturday

Forget another Top 25 finish. Forget finally improving on just another 9 or 10-win season. Nebraska Cornhuskers fans should be thinking about the Big Ten Championship and College Football Playoff right now, because Bo Pelini has them back on college football’s main stage.

Nebraska is back to playing old-school Cornhusker football with a new-age twist, using Tommy Armstrong, Jr. at quarterback to manage mostly a rush-heavy offense but make efficient throws when needed. Meanwhile, Ameer Abdullah looks like an easy early choice for Heisman with three 200-yard games. He is dominating the early college football season and has the Cornhuskers rushing attack ranked No. 3 in the nation. Combine that with a defense only giving up 19 points a game, and this could be a Tom Osborne-coached team.

Despite struggling with McNeese State, Nebraska has proven itself against teams like Miami and Illinois, but now the real tests begin. A visit to Michigan State this weekend is going to give the Cornhuskers a chance to cement themselves as the top team in the conference or to fall back into the middle of the pack. Pelini has this group riding high right now, but if he can pull off this win Saturday, it will begin to think much bigger.