CFB: Ohio State tops Big Ten rankings

1.Ohio State (1-0, win over Florida Atlantic): Not exactly the best performance after getting up 28-0, but obviously they took their foot off the gas. I just feel like Urban Meyer-led teams rarely held up so I wanted to see that same thing in Ryan Day's first head coaching appearance. Fields was nearly perfect, hitting 72% of his throws for 234 and four touchdowns. They should be careful with Cincinnati coming to town but I see them getting to at least 4-0.

2. Michigan (1-0, win over Middle Tennessee State): Speed in space? Yeah, I guess. Not exactly the offensive (or defensive output) that the Wolverines were preparing for all summer but just show me against Army and Wisconsin and maybe I’ll buy in a little more. Shea had 203 yards, three scores, and a lost fumble in the win. I thought Zach Charbonnet was pretty impressive in his freshman debut but the defense let six receivers go for 15+ yards.

3. Michigan State (1-0, win over Tulsa): The second half could have been better offensively but am I really going to nitpick a team that allowed a pathetic -73 rushing yards? And nearly an average of three yards lost per run. Thank about that. Brian Lewerke will have to do better than a 46.6 QBR against the Big Ten but he looked fine. This defense can get them to 3-0 on their own. We'll see what happens once the conference season gets closer.

4. Wisconsin (1-0, win over South Florida): Jonathan Taylor is so good. I could see him going for Big Ten Player of the Year and then darting to the NFL but let’s slow down. Is Wisconsin back to contending for a championship? Probably not but they’ll contend for the division down to the final weeks. They get to beat up on Central Michigan next weekend before they get a bye week ahead of #7 Michigan. Taylor will have to hit 100+ yards against the Harbaugh's.

5. Penn State (1-0, win over Idaho): I mean 79 points points is pretty impressive and so is just giving up seven... But still, it was Idaho. The same team that went 4-7 and 3-5 in the Big Sky last year. Sean Clifford, from Cincinnati, looks like he'll be a drop off from Trace McSorely, but maybe not as much as some though preseason. He threw for 280 yards and two touchdowns in the win. James Franklin's team has to prove it again against Buffalo this Saturday.

6. Iowa (1-0, win over Miami-OH): Nate Stanley looked good. I think he's a little overrated on most draft boards but he is a high-level Big Ten quarterback and it wouldn't surprise me if this team ended up in the Big Ten title game. I was even more impressed with Mekhi Sargent, who not only ran for 91 yards and a score, but he also caught four balls for 65 yards. The defense was pretty stout as usual. They start Big Ten play early against Rutgers on September 7th.

7. Nebraska (1-0, win over Nebraska): Man people went from on the Cornhuskers' bandwagon to off it real quick when they led just 14-7 at the break... But we all overreacted to them preseason and now were overreacting back after a 14-point victory. They’ll make a bowl. That’s really as far as I’m willing to go but maybe they’ll surprise me. Scott Frost gets to try and get revenge against Northern Illinois soon so I'll keep one foot out the door until then.

8. Maryland (1-0, win over Howard): 79 points was a conference-high for the week and the zero points allowed is pretty cool. I don't really think it's shocking that they covered the spread (-30.0) but scoring more than 11 touchdowns worth of points is crazy. Josh Jackson, who transferred into from Virginia Tech, looked good in his team debut and they should fall somewhere between 5-7 wins. Let's see how they do against #21 Syracuse this coming Saturday.

9. Minnesota (1-0, win over South Dakota State): Not exactly the ideal start for a team that hopes to contend in the Big Ten West, but also not a total disaster. It’s not exactly rare for a team to struggle in their opener and a 28-21 win over South Dakota State isn’t the worst result. I think Rodney Smith is going to have a pretty good year in the backfield but they have to be careful as they head to California for a sneaky-good game against Fresno State.

10. Northwestern (0-1, loss to Stanford): Yeah they didn't exactly look like reigning Big Ten West champions on the road against Stanford. With that said, though, the Cardinal have a really good defense and I think the Wildcats were just overmatched in this one. Also the score was really 10-7 excluding a late scroop-and-score. I think this team is a middling squad but allowing Cameron Scarlett to out-rush your entire team isn't the best way to start a year.

11. Purdue (0-1, loss to Nevada): A loss to Nevada in the opener isn't the most shocking result but losing a 17-point lead is pretty embarrassing. I feel bad for Purdue fans because I know when they led 24-7 and 31-17, they fooled themselves into thinking this was the year they'd make a run at the West. Rondale Moore was electric, going for 124 yards on 11 catches but that will only get you so far. They desperately need a win against Vanderbilt.

12. Indiana (1-0, win over Ball State): It's not always the best idea to go on the road against a Group of Five team in the first game of the year (see Purdue), but the Hoosiers handled themselves pretty well. If Ball State still had Riley Neal then they might have been able to keep it a little closer but they didn't and Indiana outscored them by six points in the first half and it felt like the lead was safe in the second half after taking a 31-17 lead.

13. Illinois (1-0, win over Akron): I put Illinois right there with Rutgers in that they are one of the lower-tier teams in the Big Ten but their offense did improve. Brandon Peters played well in his first game since leaving Michigan, as he tossed 14 completions for 163 yards and two touchdowns. Their defensive backs need to clean it up a little though as they continuously allowed Nate Stewart to get open on his routes. They should be able to beat UConn.

14. Rutgers (1-0, win over UMass): I’m not going to say Rutgers is back, but they do have a ground-breaking chance to make a bowl game. With Gilmer High School alum McLane Carter under center, the offense will be much improved. The defense? Eh, we’ll see. I'm far from sold on a unit that gave up 183 yards on the ground to UMass. They have to face Iowa, Boston College, Michigan, and Maryland next so I don't see this team being any better than 2-3.

Photo Credit: Eleven Warriors.