Big Ten Power Rankings: Iowa, Michigan State battle for league supremacy

Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports

The Big Ten Power Rankings after the regular season ends with Michigan State and Iowa winning their respective divisions and playing in the title game.

Rivalry week came and went without much suspense. The Ohio State Buckeyes needed to beat the Michigan Wolverines in The Game and then needed the Penn State Nittany Lions to upset the Michigan State Spartans to win the East division and play the Iowa Hawkeyes in the Big Ten Championship Game.

Ohio State won, but so did Michigan State so we have Iowa and Michigan State playing for the Big Ten title and a spot in the four-team College Football Playoff that will be determined on Sunday morning.

Jim Harbaugh made a big splash in Ann Arbor, but the waves didn’t reach Indianapolis. Ohio State’s five-star talent will be home watching. Iowa and Michigan State are the sole survivors in a more balanced and prestigious Big Ten than we’ve seen in years.

As we count down to the conference title game, let’s count the wins and the losses, review the resumes, evaluate the performance. 56 Big Ten games and 84 overall are in the books. Let’s take a look at the Power Rankings with one perfect team out of 14 and three bigger brands with more impressive wins to their credit.

Will it be the Iowa Hawkeyes or the Michigan State Spartans who occupy the No. 1 spot in advance of the Big Ten Championship Game from Indianapolis on Saturday? Without further delay, here is the Big Ten Power Rankings entering Championship Weekend.

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