Power ranking all 18 Big Ten football programs after latest expansion news

[nitramnaed]

Whaaaaaaat! Okay, this is from Buckeyes Wire>

Not all college football programs are created equal. We are perhaps, reminded of that even more with the latest round of league expansion.
The richest and most powerful programs are gobbled up to enhance other leagues’ pedigrees. Others are left in a cruel game of musical chairs in which teams will most likely be left without a seat at the big boy table.

Right now, it’s the Big Ten, SEC and, to a lesser extent, the Big 12, doing the hunting and consumption of programs looking for a better and sweeter deal. ACC, you are on the clock. So much so, that after the latest news of Oregon and Washington joining UCLA and USC in the Big Ten, the Pac-12 is most likely going the way of the rotary phone save for Bruce Willis hopping on an asteroid and saving the presumed crash, burn and annihilation of the conference, which is left with just four members.

Even within the Big Ten, the most prestigious cash cows are pulling some in the rear. Now that the conference is set to have 18 members battling from coast-to-coast, and sea to shining microplastic-riddled warming sea, we thought we’d rank each Big Ten football program based on its value to the league.

We count down from 18, all the way to No. 1 in our Big Ten football program ranking.

12
Minnesota Golden Gophers​

Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports

Why the Ranking​

Minnesota is a really tough and weird program to rank on the football field. The program is clearly much, much better on the field with P.J. Fleck as the head coach, but it feels like the program has reached its ceiling. Being a team that contends from time to time and goes to a decent bowl game most years seems to be where this program is.

Power ranking all 18 Big Ten football programs after latest expansion news

It was a hard task, but we took a stab at it. #B1G

buckeyeswire.usatoday.com

 

[matt]

Trash ranking is trash. They have wisconsin 6, MSU 7, and Nebraska 11.

 

[GophersInIowa]

Being behind Nebraska is ridiculous and Wisconsin being so high is odd but other than that can't argue too much against it.

 

[PMWinSTP]

There are so many ways to look at it. If we use wins over the last 10 years, OSU is of course #1...but guess who is #2? Gophs are #7.

 

[Cedar Rapids Gopher]

I thought the description was accurate however I agree the actual rank is low.

 

[Otis]

The way I see the B1G 18:

1. OSU
2. Michigan
3. USC
4. PSU
5. Oregon
6. Washington
7. Iowa
8. Minnesota
9. UCLA
10. Wisconsin
11. Maryland
12. Illinois
13. Nebraska
14. Purdue
15. Michigan State
16. Rutgers
17. Indiana
18. Dumpster fire on the lake

I’ll take Iowa and Minnesota over whisky and throw UCLA a bone as well.

Just doing this list shows me just how hard it will be for the Gophers in the new 18 team setup.

 

[ottertail]

Problem is there is no relation to said ranking. Is it all time, a moment in time, or now?

Regardless disagree with 12.

 

[gophernut1]

If the rankings are talking about historical ranking with modern day weighing in more than past, than being 12th makes sense. We have a glorious history that is to far back to count for much. 50 years of being terrible isn't being erased by a decade of being competitive. Still, we are in that place where a few more solid years we are 6th on the list. Every year i hear more people paying attention to the Gophers. 2019 is still the best sports memory of the last decade for many sports fans in MN. Repeat that again in 2023 or 2024 and watch out.

 

[hungan1]

It is a bias against Minnesota. Minnesota has not won the Big Ten West title outright. Loses to teams like BGSU still reverberate.

Year Seven under PJ Fleck show a lot of optimism.

 

[Some guy]

It is a bias against Minnesota. Minnesota has not won the Big Ten West title outright. Loses to teams like BGSU still reverberate.

Year Seven under PJ Fleck show a lot of optimism.

What other game like BGSU are you referencing when you say “losses”

 

[Some guy]

The way I see the B1G 18:

1. OSU
2. Michigan
3. USC
4. PSU
5. Oregon
6. Washington
7. Iowa
8. Minnesota
9. UCLA
10. Wisconsin
11. Maryland
12. Illinois
13. Nebraska
14. Purdue
15. Michigan State
16. Rutgers
17. Indiana
18. Dumpster fire on the lake

I’ll take Iowa and Minnesota over whisky and throw UCLA a bone as well.

Just doing this list shows me just how hard it will be for the Gophers in the new 18 team setup.

I think your 1-3 is correct.
4-5 could be argued flip flop but I agree with what you have.

Anyone from 6-15 can really be argued in almost any order depending on what you weight.

16) northwestern
17) Indiana
18) Rutgers

 

[CentralGopher]

There are so many ways to look at it. If we use wins over the last 10 years, OSU is of course #1...but guess who is #2? Gophs are #7.

Is that all wins or just conference wins?

 

[PMWinSTP]

Is that all wins or just conference wins?

Overall.

 

[highwayman]

I think the Pac-4 will have a rude awakening. Ask Nebraska.

 

[Schnauzer]

More useless offseason “ranking”.

It works, because nothing generates clicks and views better than ranking a variety of “stuff”.

It even works on people like me, who consider it useless. I click, and I almost always regret it. But I keep clicking.

 

[MaxyJR1]

I thought the description was accurate however I agree the actual rank is low.

He said contend from time to time. Gophers have been 1 flipped game from Indy in the last 3 full football seasons. Might be the ceiling, but it's not contending time to time once Fleck got established.

 

[matt]

He said contend from time to time. Gophers have been 1 flipped game from Indy in the last 3 full football seasons. Might be the ceiling, but it's not contending time to time once Fleck got established.

The “ceiling” talk is lazy and meaningless. If a team contends from time to time, that means they can win it from time to time. Not sure that qualifies as a ceiling if the ceiling is the top.

 

[Some guy]

I think the Pac-4 will have a rude awakening. Ask Nebraska.

On paper, playing nov 12 @ Purdue sounds a lot easier than it actually is.

The middle of the big ten is a lot deeper and better than the middle of other conferences.

 

[Ewert86PC]

The way I see the B1G 18:

1. OSU
2. Michigan
3. USC
4. PSU
5. Oregon
6. Washington
7. Iowa
8. Minnesota
9. UCLA
10. Wisconsin
11. Maryland
12. Illinois
13. Nebraska
14. Purdue
15. Michigan State
16. Rutgers
17. Indiana
18. Dumpster fire on the lake

I’ll take Iowa and Minnesota over whisky and throw UCLA a bone as well.

Just doing this list shows me just how hard it will be for the Gophers in the new 18 team setup.

Prior to the Fitz Fiasco, would you have ranked Northwestern higher?

I would have slotted them at 16 since they won two B1G Conference Championships in the 1990s prior to the installation of the BCS.

 

[Some guy]

Prior to the Fitz Fiasco, would you have ranked Northwestern higher?

I would have slotted them at 16 since they won two B1G Conference Championships in the 1990s prior to the installation of the BCS.

Northwestern is a really odd ranking regardless of how you do it.

If you have northwestern rated in the middle tier then how can you excuse Pat Fitzgerald’s very bad records in many seasons?


The only way you can have Fitzgerald classified as a great coach is if you think northwestern is a really bad job.

 

[highwayman]

It is a bias against Minnesota. Minnesota has not won the Big Ten West title outright. Loses to teams like BGSU still reverberate.

Year Seven under PJ Fleck show a lot of optimism.

I'm surprised you can spell "reverberate" when you can't spell "losses".

 

[MNfootballfan]

What other game like BGSU are you referencing when you say “losses”

I was thinking the same thing, the losses since 2019:
2019: #23 Iowa, #13 Wisconsin
2020: #18 Michigan, Maryland (44-45, I would consider this a bad loss), Iowa, @ Wisconsin
2021: #4 Ohio State, Bowling Green, Illinois, @ 19 Iowa
2022: Purdue (bad loss), @ 24 Illinois, @ 16 Penn State, Iowa

Not sure we have had many 'bad' losses - Maryland in 2020 and Purdue last year were both games we should have won, but not embarrassingly bad losses.

 

[MNVCGUY]

I think your 1-3 is correct.
4-5 could be argued flip flop but I agree with what you have.

Anyone from 6-15 can really be argued in almost any order depending on what you weight.

16) northwestern
17) Indiana
18) Rutgers

This is why I like tiers way more than just straight numeric rankings for something like this. In the new Big Ten there is a clear top tier, a large middle tier and a fairly well defined smaller bottom tier.

within those tiers the teams are pretty interchangeable on a yearly basis

 

[PMWinSTP]

I was thinking the same thing, the losses since 2019:
2019: #23 Iowa, #13 Wisconsin
2020: #18 Michigan, Maryland (44-45, I would consider this a bad loss), Iowa, @ Wisconsin
2021: #4 Ohio State, Bowling Green, Illinois, @ 19 Iowa
2022: Purdue (bad loss), @ 24 Illinois, @ 16 Penn State, Iowa

Not sure we have had many 'bad' losses - Maryland in 2020 and Purdue last year were both games we should have won, but not embarrassingly bad losses.

Bowling Green and Illinois in 2021 are pretty bad losses as well.

 

[Some guy]

Bowling Green and Illinois in 2021 are pretty bad losses as well.

2021 Illinois was 4-5 in conferences with wins over 9-4 Minnesota, @ 7-6 penn state

2021 Illinois Lost 2 games all year by 11 or more.
Of their 7 losses, 4 were 1 score games


Not remotely comparable to bowling green

 

[PMWinSTP]

2021 Illinois was 4-5 in conferences with wins over 9-4 Minnesota, @ 7-6 penn state

2021 Illinois Lost 2 games all year by 11 or more.
Of their 7 losses, 4 were 1 score games


Not remotely comparable to bowling green

A ranked 6-2 MN scored 6 points. At home. Bad loss.

 

[Some guy]

A ranked 6-2 MN scored 6 points. At home. Bad loss.

Bad loss. But not remotely close to bowling green.
Iowa was a bad loss too, didn’t show up in the first quarter and then couldn’t come back.


But neither of those are in the same neighborhood as bowling green.


But let’s just say it is the same.
The Illinois loss in 2021 doesn’t “reverberate”

 

[PMWinSTP]

Bad loss. But not remotely close to bowling green.
Iowa was a bad loss too, didn’t show up in the first quarter and then couldn’t come back.


But neither of those are in the same neighborhood as bowling green.


But let’s just say it is the same.
The Illinois loss in 2021 doesn’t “reverberate”

Yes, BG was a worse bad loss. I wasn't saying they were the same in severity, but that they are both bad losses.

 

[Some guy]

Yes, BG was a worse bad loss. I wasn't saying they were the same in severity, but that they are both bad losses.

We aren’t talking about bad losses. Iowa last year was a bad loss. We are talking about bowling green level losses that “reverberate”

The post I specifically responded to said losses to teams like BGSU
2021 Illinois is not a team like BGSU and would’ve been favored by 20+ over BGSU

 

[PMWinSTP]

We aren’t talking about bad losses. Iowa last year was a bad loss. We are talking about bowling green level losses that “reverberate”

The post I specifically responded to said losses to teams like BGSU
2021 Illinois is not a team like BGSU and would’ve been favored by 20+ over BGSU

I was responding to a specific post (#22) that referenced bad losses.