Big Ten Power Rankings: Week 11

The Big Ten football season is just a week away from coming to a close - believe it or not - and the teams that were supposed to be at the top have seemingly found their way.
Other surprises, however, are finally starting to settle in.

The Ohio State-Iowa game Saturday determined that the Buckeyes will go to the Rose Bowl and win the Big Ten for the fifth consecutive season, but there is plenty more going on in the conference.

As usual, the conference as a whole had its highs and lows in this last week and we take you through those before we think about next Saturday. BuckeyeGrove.com breaks down which teams are on pace for seasons to remember and what other squads may be in for a long year.

1. Ohio State: The Buckeyes have had its fair share of disappointments this season, but all of those shortcomings were pushed aside on Saturday when the Buckeyes knocked off Iowa for at least a share of the Big Ten title and a trip to the Rose Bowl. The Buckeyes still have a ton of work to do, but for the fifth consecutive season Ohio State is Big The champs. It hasn’t always been easy to watch Ohio State this season, but even in spite of those issues, the Buckeyes were good enough to win the conference. Now, it’s Michigan week.
Last week ranking: 1

2. Penn State: The Nittany Lions have lost to the two best teams in the Big Ten, but since the Buckeyes took care of Iowa this weekend, they aren’t the latest team to be in the spotlight stemming from a loss. Their victory over Indiana this weekend was anything but impressive, but their bid for a possible at-large berth to a BCS game is not dead just yet. Penn State has one more game to prove that it has more in the tank against Michigan State in East Lansing.
Last week ranking: 3

3. Iowa: The Hawkeyes were a team that were sorely taken lightly by everyone heading into the Ohio State game, but forcing the Buckeyes into overtime after trailing 24-10 in the fourth quarter was just the latest showing as to why Iowa had made it to 9-0. The Hawkeyes’ season has been turned in the wrong direction with two-straight losses in the Big Ten, but there could still be something exciting waiting at the end of the tunnel. With USC and Notre Dame both losing this weekend, it looks as if either Penn State or Iowa could be an at-large selection for a BCS game.
Last week ranking: 2

4. Wisconsin: The Badgers have been a team that have quietly been climbing up the rankings over the course of the past two weeks, but the thing separating them from other powerhouses in the top 15 is the fact that they lost their two toughest games on their schedule. While Wisconsin may finish the season with only two losses, the Badgers weren’t able to come up with the big wins against the top-tier opponents.
Last week ranking: 4

5. Northwestern: Everyone has been high on what Pat Fitzgerald has been able to accomplish in Evanston, and this week was yet another reason to jump on the bandwagon. With the victory over Illinois on Saturday, it looks like Northwestern will be heading to a bowl game for a second consecutive season, which is the first time a Wildcats team has done that since the mid-1990s. Not exactly sure what Fitzgerald is doing up there, but this Northwestern team isn’t a joke.
Last week ranking: 5

6. Michigan State: Michigan State has been one of the teams that hasn’t been able to string together a long sequence of success together, but the Spartans won their second-consecutive game on Saturday with a win over Purdue. However, Michigan State was one of the “sexier” picks to have a shot in the Big Ten at the beginning of the year, but they have been a pretty big disappointment. A lot of more disappointing teams sit below the Spartans, but they probably didn’t have the season people in East Lansing had hoped for.
Last week ranking: 6

7. Minnesota: Tim Brewster has been doing everything he can to turn the Gopher football program around, and though Minnesota got the win on Saturday, it almost seemed like a step back. Minnesota needed a late field goal to knock off lower-division South Dakota State on Saturday. The Gophers do have six wins, but finish the season off against Iowa. A win over the Hawkeyes could put a lot of smiles on people’s faces in Minneapolis.
Last week ranking: 8

8. Purdue: You have to hand it to Purdue. They seemed prior to the season to be on track for the cellar of the conference, but instead they beat Ohio State and Michigan for the first time since 2000, but fell just short from bowl eligibility against Michigan State on Saturday. The Boilermakers have one more chance Saturday against Indiana, but Purdue has already surpassed expectations in the first year under head coach Danny Hope.
Last week ranking: 7

9. Indiana: Indiana’s season was par for the course when it comes to expectations for football in Bloomington, Ind., but the fact of the matter is that the Hoosiers weren’t half bad this season. However, they were awful when it came to closing games. There were three or even four games on the schedule that are losses that Indiana probably should have won, but because they are losses, the Hoosiers are back in the dumps. Maybe it is a step in the right direction? Who knows, but the results were unfortunately the same for Indiana this season.
Last week ranking: 10

10. Illinois: Believe it or not, the Illini seemed to be gaining some momentum and it was keeping some slim bowl hopes alive. This weekend, however, Illinois was brought back down to reality with a loss to Northwestern. With as much talent that Illinois had coming into the season, it is till kind of a shock how bad they turned out to be. Right now it looks as if Ron Zook will be keeping his job, but squandering this team may have been enough to get someone fired elsewhere.
Last week ranking: 9

11. Michigan: It is hard to comprehend that Michigan started off the season 4-0 and are just one more loss away from not evening qualifying for a bowl game. Since that fast start, Michigan only has one win against Delaware State and the Wolverines only have one victory in Big Ten play and it was a game they probably should have lost to Indiana. Rich Rodriguez is feeling the heat and with Ohio State coming to town, Michigan’s season could end with an ever worse taste in their mouths. In what looked like a bounce-back season, the Wolverines didn’t look much better in 2009.
Last week ranking: 11

Ari Wasserman is a staff writer for BuckeyeGrove.com. He can be reached at Ari@BuckeyeGrove.com.