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Big Ten football: 2023 Week 2 power rankings

By Chris Peterson

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - AUGUST 31: Head coach Matt Rhule of the Nebraska Cornhuskers looks on against the Minnesota Golden Gophers in the first half at Huntington Bank Stadium on August 31, 2023 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Golden Gophers defeated the Cornhuskers 13-10. (Photo by David Berding/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - AUGUST 31: Head coach Matt Rhule of the Nebraska Cornhuskers looks on against the Minnesota Golden Gophers in the first half at Huntington Bank Stadium on August 31, 2023 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Golden Gophers defeated the Cornhuskers 13-10. (Photo by David Berding/Getty Images) /
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We update the Big Ten football power rankings after Week 2 of the 2023 season and teams like Wisconsin and Nebraska fall after rough outings. 

For the most part, it was a non-eventful weekend for Big Ten football teams. Wisconsin had one of the few big non-conference matchups and laid an egg on the West Coast, dropping a 31-22 game to Washington State.

That was the second straight loss by Wisconsin to Washington State. However, there were some good wins in other Power-5 matchups such as Iowa beating Iowa State and Purdue knocking off Virginia Tech.

The marquee game featured 0-1 Nebraska against Colorado and despite a solid half from the Huskers, things got ugly in a 36-14 loss. Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn State all won with ease, and with all that in mind, here are the updated Big Ten football power rankings after Week 2.

14. Nebraska (0-2)

If you put Nebraska and Northwestern on a field right now, I think that the Huskers would win, but it’s been ugly through two weeks, albeit the schedule hasn’t been easy.

That being said, Nebraska football didn’t look good last week in a 36-14 loss to Colorado. Quarterback Jeff Sims struggled with turnovers and outside of a long touchdown run by Sims, and a garbage time touchdown, the Huskers couldn’t do much of anything on offense.

The schedule has been tough but Nebraska is the only 0-2 Big Ten football team.

13. Northwestern (1-1)

I still think Northwestern is the worst Big Ten football team this season, but the Wildcats got on the board with a win thanks to a 38-7 rout of UTEP. Ben Bryant passed for 116 yards and a touchdown, but Duke is on tap this week and that’s not promising for the Wildcats.

12. Illinois (1-1)

The Fighting Illini survived an overtime game against Toledo in Week 1 but didn’t acquit itself well last Friday in a matchup with Kansas as the Jayhawks totaled 539 yards of total offense. Illinois turned the ball over twice and quarterback Luke Altmyer was sacked six times. Penn State is up next and it’s hard to have confidence in Illinois going into that matchup, although as we learned a couple of years ago, you never know.

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