Big Ten Power Rankings Week 8: Purdue and Maryland Rise, Northwestern Falls

Saturday Blitz Big Ten Power Rankings Week 8

Congratulations Ohio State. We decided to put you guys back at the top of the list. The Buckeyes won us back over with a blowout win against Rutgers, a much better team than whom Michigan State blew out, and that blowout win they had at Maryland two weeks before also looks a lot better now. Those are two factors good enough for us to put them at No. 1 in the conference at the present time.

J.T. Barrett is starting to look a lot better and now has 20 touchdowns on the season to only 5 interceptions, and after 261 passing yards, 107 rushing yards, and 5 total touchdowns against Rutgers, he could be turning into the next Dak Prescott. The Ohio State defense is also improving dramatically, especially in the secondary, where it held Rutgers to under 200 yards passing. That’s a great sign.

Going forward, Penn State and Illinois are up next and should both be wins, so we should be expecting the Ohio State-Michigan State showdown to be what it was hyped up to be. But the Buckeyes schedule also includes a road trip to Minnesota after that. So don’t consider this team’s season down to one game and exterior help. It has to consistently keep winning, which we believe it can do.

That’s why these Buckeyes topped our Week 8 Big Ten Power Rankings.