JUST IN: Rankings And Predictions For Big Ten Following Week 7

Oregon, Penn State, and Indiana keep winning as the Dawgs, Scarlett Knights, and Terrapins keep losing.

UW had a negative weekend. They not only suffered a loss, but their opponent Oregon also achieved a significant victory against the previously undefeated Ohio State. Northwestern pulled off the only surprising victory of the weekend by defeating Maryland convincingly on the road.

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Although Ohio State lost to Oregon, they are still ranked in the top 5 in both polls. 3 Big Ten teams are still in the top 5. Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan are still ranked in the top 25 in both polls. Nebraska’s rise in the Coaches poll has brought the Big Ten’s total teams in the top-25 to seven.

Below are the Big Ten teams currently ranked in both the AP and Coaches polls.

Ohio State is ranked fourth in the AP and fifth in the Coaches, trailing by two and three spots, respectively.

Oregon is ranked 2nd in both polls.

Penn State is ranked number one in the AP poll and number two in the Coaches poll.

Indiana is ranked higher in both polls, moving up to 16th in the rankings.

Illinois is ranked one spot higher in the AP poll and two spots higher in the Coaches poll.

Michigan is ranked 24th in the Coaches poll, just one spot below their ranking in the AP poll.

Nebraska was not ranked in the top-25 in both polls before (27/25).

Nebraska, ranked at #27, Iowa, ranked at #31, and USC, ranked at #37, are receiving support in the AP poll. Iowa is receiving votes in the Coaches poll.

Ranking that combines multiple criteria or factors to determine an overall position.

As of the time of writing, the Massey Composite features a total of 73 varied rankings, which encompasses the AP and Coaches polls. The “Cool Chart” below displays the differences since the beginning of the season.

Clearly, UW, Rutgers, and Maryland all experienced significant decreases in their rankings following their defeats. Northwestern and Wisconsin saw significant rankings increases following their victories. Oregon and Ohio State exchanged positions at the top.

SP Plus is the same company as SP+.

Bill Connelly has refreshed his SP+ rankings for every college football team, spanning across FBS, FCS, DII, D3, and NAIA. This is the ranking of Big Ten teams compared to all teams. The rank from the previous week is available ().

Ohio State scored two goals.

Penn State scored a total of 6 points in the game.

Oregon: Seven (7)

Indiana has a population of 15 residents, but it can reach up to 17 at times.

Iowa has a total of 19 delegates, with 29 at large.

Michigan scored 21 points in the game and ending with a final score of 27.

Nebraska: twenty-two (twenty-six)

University of Southern California scored 27 points in the game, with 25 of those points coming from the 1st half.

Washington: twenty-eight (nineteen)

Wisconsin has a total of 32 points, with 39 points possible.

Minnesota scored 41 points in the game.

Illinois: Forty-seven (47)

Maryland has a score of 52 points, with 42 of those points coming from their own efforts.

Rutgers scored 58 points while their opponent scored 44 points.

Northwestern scored 72 points, with only 1 FCS team scoring more.

Michigan State scored 74 points, surpassing the total of two FCS teams.

UCLA was ranked 83rd, with 4 FCS teams ranked higher.

Purdue scored 86 points, with 4 FCS teams ranking higher.

Stanford is now ranked lower than Purdue among Power-4 teams. Last year, two out of the lowest three P4 teams were from the Pac-12 conference (Stanford and UCLA).

Iowa had the largest increase of 10 points, while Northwestern and Purdue both saw significant improvements of 8 points each. The largest decreases were seen at UW (-9), Maryland (-10), and Rutgers (-14).

Grade F rating

The F+ Ratings (including rankings) are a blend of the FEI Rating and the SP+ Rating. It consists of a general rating as well as individual ratings for offense, defense, and special teams.

F+ Rankings for Big Ten Teams

School	Overall	Offense	Defense	Special Teams
Ohio State	1	2	4	17
Oregon	3	1	16	16
Penn State	7	11	8	79
USC	16	9	45	31
Michigan	17	56	9	6
Iowa	19	77	2	8
Indiana	21	13	46	18
Wisconsin	27	54	21	34
Washington	28	20	30	125
Nebraska	29	74	6	126
Minnesota	37	65	22	114
Maryland	49	64	38	81
Illinois	55	60	53	10
Rutgers	61	82	33	77
Northwestern	70	104	25	5
Michigan State	74	105	36	22
UCLA	75	92	51	55
Purdue	91	73	108	90

Just like the Composite Rankings mentioned earlier, Maryland (-11), Rutgers (-16), and UW (-10) experienced the largest decreases in overall ranking. Iowa’s offense climbed 18 ranks following their showing against UW. Northwestern’s defense (+10) and Special Teams (+21) showed signs of improvement. UW’s offense, defense, and Special Teams all experienced decreases: the Special Teams drop occurred even though they were already among the worst in the nation. Illinois’ defense fell 19 spots due to surrendering 43 points in 4 quarters to Purdue.

Software requirements specification (SRS) document detailing the functional and non-functional requirements for a software product.

Another method to rank teams is the Simple Rating System (SRS). It relies on point differential (within certain constraints) and the quality of opponents faced. It can not only rank teams but also divide them by offense and defense as well as passing and rushing for each. In upcoming pieces in this series, I will provide more information on that. Currently, this is the ranking of UW in various SRS categories.

Scoring on offense: 87

Yards gained per play on offense: 27

Scoring by the defense: 13

Yards allowed per play on defense: 22

Offense through the air: 24

Defense against passes: 7

Rushing Attack: 54

Defense against the run: 70

One could debate some of those rankings, but they appear to align with the team’s performance this season.

The major disparity between scoring offense and offensive yards per play has been a focal point this season. Despite gaining yardage in the opponent’s territory, converting those yards into points has proven challenging, leading to a struggle in scoring. Despite some Husky fans advocating for more running plays, statistics show that the University of Washington is more successful when passing the ball compared to running it (#24 ranking for passing vs #54 ranking for running).

The defense at UW has been solid, with the exception of their ability to stop the running game. As stated earlier, it is highly probable that some of the success is a result of the teams UW has competed against. That will be evaluated during the upcoming 5 games. However, UW’s run defense has been too porous this season, according to Husky fans.

Comparison of rankings

Here is a comparison of the overall SRS rankings with those above. The FEI ranking has been substituted for the F+ ranking, as the F+ ranking incorporates SP+.

Big Ten Ranking Comparison

School	Composite	SP+	FEI	FPI	AP	SRS
Illinois	33	47	59	57	22	44
Indiana	12	15	26	15	16	5
Iowa	23	19	19	23	31	18
Maryland	60	52	52	53		57
Michigan	26	21	15	33	24	33
Michigan State	71	74	79	69		68
Minnesota	51	41	35	50		46
Nebraska	30	22	33	43	27	29
Northwestern	67	72	66	72		58
Ohio State	3	2	1	2	4	2
Oregon	2	7	3	8	2	4
Penn State	6	6	7	9	3	11
Purdue	110	86	101	102		107
Rutgers	56	58	61	64		52
UCLA	89	83	72	74		88
USC	29	27	13	13	37	23
Washington	44	28	27	40		39
Wisconsin	36	32	24	28		40