Michigan St., Ohio St., Nebraska Still Top Big Ten Power Rankings Week 7
Saturday Blitz Big Ten Power Rankings Week 7
It would seem prudent to drop the Northwestern Wildcats further down this list after a loss, but they lost to a very good Big Ten team only by a touchdown. That doesn’t really represent a change in the way they have been playing over the past few weeks since conference play started. And the win over Wisconsin still looks legitimate, so despite being 3-3, we are going to keep this team in the Top 5 of our rankings.
Pat Fitzgerald’s team is certainly able to play defense, holding opponents to 17.5 points per game. Trevor Siemian has to be a game manager who doesn’t make mistakes at quarterback, and the rushing attack has to keep the offense on the field with Justin Jackson. Jackson looks like a star right now, and if he can keep playing that way while the defense does its thing, all Siemian has to do is come through just enough to keep drives alive. That’ll keep the Wildcats in this position.
But Northwestern has to prove it the rest of the way with the schedule as well. Nebraska is up this weekend, and Notre Dame still awaits later in the season as well. Iowa, Michigan, Purdue, and Illinois are must-wins for us to keep this team in this spot. If one of the other games are upsets, that’ll move them up.
We have enough faith in this team right now, though to keep them at No. 5.