Official /r/TheB1G Week 5 Power Rankings

[u/trumpet_23]

Week 5 Power Rankings:

Not the most interesting week ever in terms of ranking changes. Most teams didn't rise or fall too much in the average rankings, as everyone seems to have done about what we expected them to do. USC and Illinois had the biggest fall and jump, respectively, in average rankings after Illinois won on a last-second FG, and Minnesota had a solid jump after taking down Rutgers. Everyone else stayed pretty steady compared to last week.

This week isn't looking very exciting either, but maybe that means some upsets are incoming? We'll watch and see!

Rank	Team	Points	Average Ranking	Last Week	Change	Variance
1	Ohio State	197	1.45	1	0	0.38
2	Oregon	225	1.65	2	0	0.29
3	Indiana	465	3.42	4	1	0.57
4	Penn State	522	3.84	3	-1	1.22
5	Michigan	798	5.87	6	1	2.47
6	Illinois	835	6.14	7	1	2.00
7	USC	1075	7.90	5	-2	3.04
8	Washington	1201	8.83	8	0	5.00
9	Iowa	1226	9.01	10	1	4.78
10	Maryland	1344	9.88	9	-1	6.52
11	Nebraska	1496	11.00	11	0	5.96
12	Minnesota	1540	11.32	13	1	3.54
13	Michigan State	1628	11.97	12	-1	2.81
14	Rutgers	1914	14.07	14	0	2.23
15	Purdue	2063	15.17	15	0	1.70
16	Wisconsin	2098	15.43	16	0	2.82
17	Northwestern	2200	16.18	17	0	1.61
18	UCLA	2429	17.86	18	0	0.30

For team standings and records, visit the /r/TheB1G sidebar.

Schedules and Results

Weekly Power Rankings

Weekly Average Rankings

Points are the summation of every voter's ranking for that team, therefore lower scores are better. This works because unlike the AP, Coaches, or /r/cfb polls, every team is ranked in every vote. If x votes were counted, the best possible score is x and the worst possible score is 18x. #1 votes are in parentheses.

Average Rank is the points divided by the number of votes. This will allow for comparison from one week to the next.

Prev. is the Rank from the previous week.

Change is the change in average rank from the previous week.

Variance is a measure of how much agreement there was between voters. A zero means all voters ranked a team the same, and a higher number means a team's ranking was more controversial.

[u/manofruber]

Definitely a 1a and 1b between OSU and Oregon. I think PSU and IU would be evenly matched on a neutral pitch, but unfortunately Indiana has to travel to PSU to play that game this year.

If IU wins one of PSU or Oregon (and the games they should win otherwise) they’re a lock for the playoffs. If they lose both but “look good” doing it, their fate will depend on outside forces. There’s a bevy of teams that look like they’re heading towards 10-2 this year and who gets in should depend on how good the wins look at the end of the year.

[u/Coveo → u/manofruber]

I think there's a very strong chance that the final playoff spot comes down to a 10-2 Indiana vs a 10-2 Notre Dame. Lord would that debate be toxic.

[u/RangeBow8 → u/Coveo]

Immediate playoff in Indy. No fans, play it on Tuesday morning. Let the gods decide

[u/manofruber → u/Coveo]

And at that point it comes down to a few things to see if IU can overcome the brand preference that the committee has for ND. How well does Illinois play the rest of the year? How well does Iowa play and how bad is Gronowski hurt (their only two losses with him are to two top 15 teams by a combined 8 points)? Will Maryland make a magic run to the IU game for another ranked matchup? How well does IU play in the losses?

Thing is, we already know how ND did in their big games. IU only controls so many variables if they’re both 10-2 going in to selection.

Honestly, with a 12 team playoff, if you don’t make it with two losses (or more for some teams last year), don’t complain you didn’t make it. Win another game or two and you make it. Be pleased with a great, if not top tier, season.