Big Ten Football Power Rankings 2017: Week 9 edition

Indiana had another opportunity against a top 25 opponent and failed, this time against Michigan State. They are winless in the Big Ten so far.

It was a battle of field goals against the Spartans, with the Hoosiers leading 9-3 early in the fourth quarter. The Spartans scored two late touchdowns to win their fourth straight. Indiana always seems close to beating some of the big boys of the conference but they always fall short.

Despite the loss, Indiana keeps the spot in the power rankings this week. I could have dropped them, but looking at the teams behind them, it was hard justifying putting any other team ahead of them. The Hoosiers four losses have been to Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan and Michigan State. They’ll look to finally win Big Ten game at Maryland this upcoming Saturday.

Iowa lost an old-fashioned, Big Ten slugfust to Northwestern 17-10. Thought this Iowa team was pretty good after their near upset of Penn State, but they are now 1-3 in the conference.

Despite both linebacker Josey Jewell and safety Brandon Snyder sitting out due to injuries, the Hawkeyes were still pretty good on defense. Clearly defense is not the problem in Iowa City. The offense could not sustain drives, converting only 5-of-17 on third downs and going one of three on fourth down tries. Running back Akrum Wadley had 90 yards, but at only 3.5 yards per rush, he did not have much pop in his game. He was also held out of the end zone.

Iowa desperately needs some help on what is a very stale offense. It it appears to be a ho-hum kind of year for the Hawkeyes, who should still go bowling but looked to be one of the better Big Ten teams after a 3-0 start. Iowa will try to get back in the win column hosting Minnesota next Saturday.

Is Northwestern really the sixth team in the power rankings? Kind of by default, they are this week with their overtime victory over Iowa. The teams ranked sixth through 10 are all unimpressive so who knows what team will be in this spot next week.

Like their opponent, Northwestern was bad at offense. Their defense held up just fine, but nobody is mistaking either of the two teams for the “Greatest Show on Turf”. Converting just 4 of 16 third down conversions, the Wildcats did just enough to get it to overtime and then win in the extra time.

This is a weird team. I don’t know how Northwestern is above .500 at this point in the season, especially with their inconsistent play on offense. But hey, sometimes sports are weird. They host Michigan State next, but looking at their remaining schedule, an eight win season is quite possible. If they upset the Spartans, my goodness. This team could be sitting at nine wins at the end of the season.