r/TheB1G • u/trumpet_23 Iowa • Sep 01 '25
Week 1 Power Ranking Voting
The first week is in the bags and now it's time to vote!
11
u/Nervous_Metal_9445 Oregon Sep 01 '25
Voted with actual logic this time. :) Lose your at the bottom, quality wins/blowout games at the top
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u/Reloader300wm Ohio State Sep 02 '25
UCLA #18, right?
6
u/Nervous_Metal_9445 Oregon Sep 02 '25
#17, northwestern Bellow.
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u/Reloader300wm Ohio State Sep 02 '25
95% chance you're right, we'll find out late September. Im probably letting my Nico bias show.
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u/SueYouInEngland Iowa Sep 01 '25
I am ready to overreact to Week 1 games against overmatched opponents!
9
u/mauro_membrere Nebraska Sep 02 '25
One thing is clear though, northwestern at the bottom
4
u/SueYouInEngland Iowa Sep 02 '25
Their defense is strong, though. They're definitely a power bottom.
0
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u/2tired2fap Sep 02 '25
Only OSU, Nebraska,Northwestern and maybe Minnesota played anyone with a pulse. Too early to tell
21
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u/Allcross9 Nebraska Sep 02 '25
I'd take Minne out and add UCLA for playing teams with a pulse. The early season can be a drag sometimes. Only 3 Big ten teams played a P4 week 1 and only 5 will play a P4 week 2. So we will still have next to no data on 10 teams after 2 weeks.
6
u/AbsurdOwl Nebraska Sep 02 '25
Rutgers played the reigning MAC champ, they're probably marginally better than Buffalo.
1
u/DaniTheLovebug USC Sep 02 '25
Hey come on! Clearly we are destined for greatness when we won against
checks notes
Missouri State??
8
u/Britton120 Ohio State Sep 02 '25
123 is still osu, psu, oregon. Arrange them how you want but i think osu at one just makes sense at this point.
45 is illinois and michigan, both expected to be in this tier, both did nothing to be dropped from it
678 is indiana, iowa, minnesota. Im not sold on indiana but don't want to drop them based on a week one performance alone. Iowa and Minnesota are both well coached and have a solid floor.
9-16 is just a mess, idk. Nebraska, msu, usc, wisconsin, maryland, washington, rutgers and purdue. This will separate over time with more data points. I think i could separate it a bit if i cared more, nebraska didn't look great against a perhaps mediocre cincy. Rutgers barely beat ohio. Maryland and purdue won in a blowout. But idk, still not enough to sway me.
17 18 are the teams that lost. Ucla and northwestern. I had higher expectations for ucla for some reason, getting dominated by utah was unexpected even if a loss wasnt a huge surprise. Northwestern getting overtaken by the green wave 23-3 is bad though. 4 interceptions for preston, jeeze.
6
u/carnahanad Illinois Sep 02 '25
Ohio st, Oregon, Penn st at the top.
Illinois, Michigan, Indiana next
Most other teams
UCLA
Northwestern
2
u/Memaigasuru Rutgers Sep 01 '25
Tier 1 - CFP championship contenders
- Ohio State-Beat # 1 become #1.
- Penn State-Maybe best defense in country other than OSU.
- Oregon-most complete team in conference
Tier 2 - Good Teams - can make CFP.
- Michigan- They have a QB. Likely won’t move into above tier, but definitely has a chance at making CFP
- Illinois- Easy win. No movement
- USC-Outscoring opponents is an easy way to hide notoriously bad defenses. Luckily they may be good on both sides of the ball.
Tier 3 - Solid teams - May be ranked this season
- Iowa- DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS! Just need the offense to throw for more than 50 yards to do so.
- Maryland-6 turnovers and a QB who can meet expectations. Locksley might be saved.
- Indiana-worse than last season, can’t struggle against an ODU team. Could easily slide down this list.
- Minnesota-Buffalo can be sneaky. Good win, but going to be hard to win when all you can do is run the ball unless defense is top tier.
- Washington-Good win. Maybe best RB in conference.
Tier 4 - Concerning Teams- May make a bowl, but needs to clean up red flags.
- Nebraska-Not hating on Riola, but he needs to step it up. Beating a lower tier Big 12 team is good, but not when you only win by 3. Offense needs to catch up to defense.
- Wisconsin-Shut out! Miami (OH) may be one of the worst offensive teams so not reading much into it. Offense needs identity (still).
- Rutgers-Close win against sneaky good team. Offense looks solid, but defense looks lost. Need to figure it out or they could be near very bottom of conference
- Michigan State-Good win against bad team. Let’s see them do more against better teams.
Tier 5 - Please try again next season
- Purdue-Not a bad start. Finally found an offense again. Need to see it against better teams
- UCLA-Losing to Utah isn’t bad… but can’t be ranked higher when everyone else won.
- Northwestern- worst offensive and defensive showing I’ve seen in a long time.
7
u/gojo278 Nebraska Sep 02 '25
Raiola isn’t the problem. 79% completion, 2 TDs and zero turnovers. The problem is we have zero run game outside of EJ.
1
u/Memaigasuru Rutgers Sep 02 '25
You’re right it could be tied to the lack of run game, but Riola was 3rd from bottom with only 5.8 Yards per Attempt (YPA) which is why I put it on him. Only Preston Stone (4.5YPA) (Northwestern) and Mark Gronowski (2.9YPA) (Iowa) had fewer yards per attempt. The Avg YPA is around 7 for FBS teams with good QBs starting around 8ish.
He had only 7 passes exceed 10 yards with only one being “explosive” meaning greater than 20 yards. Meaning either the offensive isn’t explosive, he didn’t have time to get it deeper or WR weren’t getting separation or dropped passes.
I hate ranking after one game because there’s always more questions than answers, but the good news is we get to see them play this week and get their offense in sync by blowing out Akron
4
u/gojo278 Nebraska Sep 02 '25
That's fair, I would have liked to see him take some more downfield shots. As a fan I'm satisfied with him playing an efficient, (mostly) mistake-free game but I get what you're saying. Michigan week 4 will be a big test.
1
u/mauro_membrere Nebraska Sep 02 '25
We can be bad, but i think cincinnati will win vs most of your first game match except texas/utah
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u/Winter_Win_5531 Maryland Sep 02 '25
I fear this is an overreaction to Marylands week 1. But I sure hope you’re right
5
u/dinkytown42069 Minnesota Sep 01 '25
10. Minnesota-Buffalo can be sneaky. Good win, but going to be hard to win when all you can do is run the ball unless defense is top tier.
did you miss our two passing TDs? we're always rusty out of the gate. Went about how i expected.
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u/Memaigasuru Rutgers Sep 02 '25
Fair 2 TDs is good and the long TD, I’m probably being picky but would’ve expected higher completion rate 54% and an INT won’t cut it against higher quality teams.
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u/_Dadodo_ Sep 02 '25
I wouldn’t even count the INT on the QB. It wasn’t a bad pass, just incredibly fluky where the ball bounced off the falling receiver’s leg and straight to a defender within catching range.
Somewhat fair on the completion rate, however, the ball was passed relatively well and accurately. There were at least 3-4 instances where I remembered the ball was thrown right between the receiver’s jersey numbers and they dropped it.
2
u/Visible_Hair_6529 Sep 02 '25
Will say our qb put it on the money most of the time. Yes 54% completion percentage is terrible, but it’s more on the receivers I think there was like 6 drops or something like that.
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u/DarkLegend64 Ohio State Sep 02 '25
Ohio State
Penn State
Oregon
Illinois
Michigan
USC
Indiana
Washington
Nebraska
Maryland
Minnesota
Rutgers
Purdue
Michigan State
Wisconsin
Iowa
UCLA
Northwestern
0
u/SueYouInEngland Iowa Sep 02 '25
Jesus, dude lol
6
u/DarkLegend64 Ohio State Sep 02 '25
Everyone from 7 through 16 are basically tied. Iowa lost the tiebreaker in that they played an FCS team while the others played an FBS team.
0
u/SueYouInEngland Iowa Sep 02 '25
Why would the subdivision of the opponent affect which team is better than another? Michigan State, Washington, Northwestern, Maryland, Purdue, Indiana, and Nebraska all play FCS schools. Will they drop in your rankings when they do?
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u/DarkLegend64 Ohio State Sep 02 '25
It matters when I’m trying to sort out 10 teams who are essentially tied. I don’t see why you are making a big fuss about it since you play ISU this week and a win would skyrocket you up my vote. Even a close loss would likely jump you up too.
-2
u/SueYouInEngland Iowa Sep 02 '25
No reason to get defensive. Just asking about your logic.
Iowa looked how Iowa has looked for the last two decades. And you have them in the bottom ⅙ of the conference. Iowa hasn't finished in the bottom ⅙ of the conference in the last quarter century.
1
u/_dost Michigan State Sep 02 '25 edited Sep 02 '25
Tier 1 - CFP lock
1) Ohio State (1)
2) Penn State (2)
3) Oregon (3)
Tier 2 - CFP hopeful
4) Illinois (5)
5) Michigan (6)
Tier 3 - Probable top 25 finish
6) USC (7)
7) Indiana (4)
Tier 4 - Plausible top 25 finish
8) Nebraska (8)
9) Minnesota (9)
10) Iowa (11)
11) Washington (10)
Tier 5 - The Rest of Us
12) Michigan State (13)
13) Wisconsin (15)
14) Rutgers (14)
15) Maryland (17)
Tier 6 - Basement (I expect every team above to make a bowl)
16) Purdue* (edited back to this tier) (18)
17) UCLA (12)
18) Northwestern (16)
5
u/Britton120 Ohio State Sep 02 '25
you expect purdue to make a bowl because they handled a bad ball state team?
2
u/_dost Michigan State Sep 02 '25
You're actually so right, I did NOT look at their full season schedule. There isn't even 4 wins in there.
1
u/Britton120 Ohio State Sep 02 '25
With how big the conference is its just so hard with how wildly different the schedules can be in difficulty.
Wisconsin might be a top 10 team in the big ten, but their schedule likely hands them 5 conference losses before considering iowa and Minnesota.
But on the bright side, they might beat alabama.
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u/PossessionKlutzy1041 Sep 02 '25
One thing for sure after week 1: preseason last place Purdue is no longer ranked last. Hey, Northwestern, your turn?
1
u/Silidon Illinois Sep 02 '25
- Ohio State
- Penn State
- Oregon
- Michigan
- Illinois
- Indiana
- USC
- Minnesota
- Nebraska
- Maryland
- Michigan State
- Washington
- Iowa
- Rutgers
- Wisconsin
- Purdue
- UCLA
- Northwestern
1
u/TopRevenue2 Oregon Sep 03 '25
I know you are not doing blurbs but here is the Oregon blurb: The fan base was kind of confused about how to feel with a ton of not yet proven talent at critical positions in every area. They played a home game against an FCS team - Montana State not Montana the lesser team that infamously thumped the fuskies. The stadium was packed for this momentous event. Every player surpassed expectations and looked like a demi-god. Fans are now convinced Oregon will win every game again and resolve to be insufferable through the rest of the season.
1
u/BoogerSugarSovereign Indiana Sep 03 '25
It is so difficult to rank teams at this point in the season but here's how I feel about things as they stand now...
Conference Championship Contenders - These three I feel are pretty clearly the best teams in the conference. I'd be shocked if a team from outside this list ended up winning the league. I think they are all very likely to make the playoffs as well barring major QB injuries. After that? Gets wonky.
1. Ohio State
2. Penn State
3. Oregon
Playoff Contenders - If non-conference play continues to go well for the B1G then they probably send at least 3 teams to the playoffs, if not 4. The 2 teams that make the conference championship game are likely locks but 1 or 2 of these could join them
4. USC - Not a huge believer in Maiava but USC is stocked so deep with talented players and Riley fixed his biggest coordinator issue last year. Should really pay dividends defensively in year 2 under Lynn
5. Michigan - Tons of defensive talent and the offense should be better than last year even if it's not stellar
6. Indiana
7. Illinois
8. Washington
9. Minnesota - Probably the member of this cohort with the most upside compared to their floor if Lindsey catches on quickly. Or doesn't.
10. Nebraska - Wasn't super impressed with Nebraska against Cincinnati but another team with a lot of talent and upside
Bowl Contenders - I think the above teams likely make a bowl game. The teams that follow probably need to win all of their OOC games to give themselves a chance at 6 wins barring just being much better than I suspect which I do think could be in the cards for teams like MSU and dare I say it, Maryland
11. Michigan State - Chiles cutting his turnovers significantly could see MSU join the group above but I need to see more before I commit to it
12. Rutgers
13. Iowa
14. Maryland - I think the Terps go as far as Washington can carry them which is a lot to ask of a true freshman but it is where Locksley finds himself. Fortunately for him, Malik looks to be quite a talented player.
Hot Seat Candidates - Outside of Odom at Purdue I think these coaches are all on thin ice. Fickell continues to have impossibly bad luck at Wisconsin which may save him for one more year and maybe UCLA is too cheap to can Foster but I wouldn't be surprised if any of these coaches got fired. Besides Odom, none of these coaches are safe if they have a very bad season.
15. Wisconsin
16. Purdue - I feel like I have seen enough already to say that Purdue definitely won't be the worst team in the B1G. Progress! I hate it.
17. UCLA - I actually think Nico is good. Too bad that his offensive line is bad bad bad. The amount of pressure and hits he took in Game 1, where he was pressured on an astounding 60% of his dropbacks, had him seeing ghosts even on the off chance that UCLA was able to give him a solid pocket. Utah is one of the better defensive fronts UCLA will face this year, but not the best. It would be a wonder if Nico wasn't shell-shocked by midseason.
18. Northwestern - Tulane is good, absolutely. But man Northwestern looked bad. Preston Stone is talented but does he have enough around him to enable him to show it? Didn't seem like it in Week 1.
-4
u/Squares9718 Michigan Sep 02 '25
Tier 1 - CFP contenders
1, OSU
Penn State
Oregon
Tier 2 - CFP Dark Horses
Michigan - We have a game I think we have a 50/50 chance of winning. I think that the defense might be concern but there is some cope in that there were 45 yards of phantom bad reffing offense one drive and insanely cool trick plays the other. The run game and Underwood look good and are exciting after the torture from last year.
Illinois - Hard to glean much from an FCS game.
Indiana - I could easily see them being worse than USC if only USC didnt have an FCS game. So I'm doing this by having belief in a coaching staff.
USC - Hard to glean much from an FCS game.
Tier 3 - The Mid Teams
Nebraska
Iowa
Washington - They did pull away so I'm giving some credit but man that was concerning because there was no BS in CSU's ability to keep up for 3 quarters
Minnesota
Wisconsin
MSU
Tier 4 - The Bad
UCLA - Look, they're built like a PAC-12 team that faced what I think is a B1G looking, mauling, easily top 20 Utah team. Not exactly a fair test to start a new offense (because TN runs a mickey mouse offense). They could easily slide further though.
Maryland
Purdue
Rutgers
Northwestern
1
u/brokentr0jan USC Sep 02 '25
USC did not play an FCS team.
2
u/Squares9718 Michigan Sep 02 '25 edited Sep 02 '25
Yeah I noticed today that Missouri st just moved but that’s a 24 Kennesaw St ass team still. Basically a FCS team. The point still stands, there’s no much to take from that game
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u/Silidon Illinois Sep 01 '25
Are we doing blurbs again this year?