After all the conjecture and projections of what we thought each team in the Big Ten will look like, we now have some actual, real, live football to react to and use to try to figure out the pecking order of the conference.
However, it would be foolish to think that what we saw during Week 1 of the college football season is what we’re going to see going forward. Teams that looked great during their first game can change the narrative if they don’t back it up in Week 2. Still — at least we saw some things to help us make educated guesses on what the power of the Big Ten conference is.
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Each week during the season we take stock in what we saw on the field of play and determine which Big Ten teams are playing the best at the moment in our weekly Big Ten football power rankings.
And there’s still a lot of questions. Ohio State, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Michigan State didn’t feel like well-oiled machines at times, but looking across the conference, it’s hard to find a team that did.
Here’s our Week 1 Big Ten power rankings to set a baseline for 2023.
14
Northwestern Wildcats
Last Week
Lost at Rutgers, 24-7
| Preseason | Change |
| 14 | no change |
It’s going to be a long season for Northwestern as evinced by a lackluster showing in Piscataway. The Wildcats still haven’t won a game in the United States since Oct. 16, 2021. Yikes.
Next Up
at UTEP
13
Purdue Boilermakers
Last Week
Lost vs. Fresno State, 39-35
| Preseason | Change |
| 11 | ⇓ 2 |
Not only did Purdue lose, it lost at home against a non-Power Five Fresno State team. It’s a year of transition and one that needs to see improvement pronto.
Next Up
at Virginia Tech
12
Indiana Hoosiers
Last Week
Lost vs. Ohio State, 23-3
| Preseason | Change |
| 13 | ⇑ 1 |
Indiana gave Ohio State a scare with a defense that looks like it might give some teams problems this year. The problem is the offense may struggle to score enough points to win many games.
Next Up
at Kansas
11
Illinois Fighting Illini
Last Week
Won vs. Toldeo, 30-28
| Preseason | Change |
| 8 | ⇓ 3 |
Illinois might have had a case of first game jitters, but we can only go by what we see thus far on the field of play, and the Illini needed a late field goal to beat a MAC opponent. Not a good start.
Next Up
at Kansas
10
Rutgers Scarlet Knights
Last Week
Won vs. Northwestern, 24-7
| Preseason | Change |
| 12 | ⇑ 2 |
We don’t know quite yet whether Northwestern is THAT bad, or if Rutgers is going to surprise folks this season. For now, from what we saw, the defense looked great and the offense is a little more dynamic with Gavin Wimsatt under center.
Next Up
vs. Temple
9
Nebraska Cornhuskers
Last Week
Lost at Minnesota, 13-10
| Preseason | Change |
| 8 | ⇓ 1 |
Nebraska played well enough to win on the road in the Twin Cities, but we’ve been saying that for a couple of years now. It’s going to be an uphill climb in Lincoln for Matt Rhule this season until he can change the culture.
Next Up
at Colorado
8
Minnesota Golden Gophers
Last Week
Won vs. Nebraska, 13-10
| Preseason | Change |
| 6 | ⇓ 2 |
It wasn’t a great look with an offense that struggled mightily in Game 1. Do the Golden Gophers have enough weapons to simply be a good coached team in 2023? We’ll look for the improvement.
Next Up
vs. Eastern Michigan
7
Michigan State Spartans
Last Week
Won vs. Central Michigan, 31-7
| Preseason | Change |
| 9 | ⇑ 2 |
The Spartans struggled in the first half but pulled away. In a week when many Big Ten teams weren’t that impressive, Michigan State did what it needed — more or less. I’m not sure that I’m sold yet on this team, so we’ll continue to see what happens in the upcoming weeks.
Next Up
vs. Richmond
6
Maryland Terrapins
Last Week
Won vs. Towson, 38-6
| Preseason | Change |
| 7 | ⇑ 1 |
I’m not sure we got a real taste for what Maryland is just yet, but the Terps cruised fairly easily against an inferior opponent, so this feels about right for now with more game film and results to put together.
Next Up
vs. Charlotte
5
Iowa Hawkeyes
Last Week
Won vs. Utah State, 24-14
| Preseason | Change |
| 5 | No Change |
Iowa did what Iowa does and won a game in non-convincing, root-canal fashion. The defense will still be good and there’s no way the offense can be worse, right — especially with quarterback Cade McNamara under center?
Next Up
at Iowa State
4
Wisconsin Badgers
Last Week
Won vs. Buffalo, 38-17
| Preseason | Change |
| 4 | No Change |
It was an OK start for Wisconsin in Game 1, but like other top teams, it’ll need to build on what we saw. Rumors of a spread attack were over-exaggerated based on what we saw from the running game on Saturday.
Next Up
at Washington State
3
Ohio State Buckeyes
Last Week
Won vs. Indiana, 23-3
| Preseason | Change |
| 2 | ⇓ 1 |
If you believe Indiana isn’t that great, you have to also believe that Ohio State has plenty to work on when it comes to an offense that looked very suspect. The good news is there’s time to grow, and based on years past, we should all feel pretty good about that growth coming in the weeks ahead. For now, though, this didn’t look like one of the two best teams in the league.
Next Up
vs. Youngstown State
2
Penn State Nittany Lions
Last Week
Won vs. West Virginia, 38-15
| Preseason | Change |
| 3 | ⇑ 1 |
No Big Ten team really looked completely dominant in Week 1, but Penn State probably had the best combination of performance plus opponent, so we’ll give the Nittany Lions credit for that. More to come …
Next Up
vs. Delaware
1
Michigan Wolverines
Last Week
Won vs. East Carolina, 30-3
| Preseason | Change |
| 1 | No Change |
It wasn’t an overly impressive performance for the Wolverines sans Jim Harbaugh, but they didn’t really do anything to remove themselves from the perch we’ve seen over the last two seasons with all the firepower back. The defense looked as advertised. Off to the next nonconference cream puff.
Next Up
vs. UNLV
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