By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The wild, wild Big Ten West Division, which currently has four teams with a 4-2 record in conference play, makes compiling these weekly power rankings a challenge because there isn’t much that separates the teams, or much that you can count on happening.

Just when you think you have a team like Minnesota figured out, it only scores six points in a loss to Illinois at home.

Just when you think that Purdue is only capable of defeating a highly ranked and undefeated Iowa team in convincing fashio, it defeats a highly ranked and undefeated Michigan State team in convincing fashion.

And just when you think that Illinois is about to unravel under first-year head coach Bret Bielema, it pulls off another upset, the latest being this past Saturday’s 14-6 victory at Minnesota.

The East Division, on the other hand, is more predictable and stable at this point with Ohio State on top and with the two Michigan schools near the top.

1. Ohio State, 6-0, 8-1 – The Buckeyes had their hands full against Penn State and then looked somewhat vulnerable in this past Saturday’s 26-17 victory at Nebraska.

But who would you rank above Ohio State? And remember neither Georgia nor Alabama are members of the Big Ten Conference.

Ohio State still has the most explosive offense in the Big Ten, and is the only Big Ten team still without a conference loss.

2. Michigan State, 5-1, 8-1 – I gave serious consideration to ranking Michigan above Michigan State, which lost at Purdue 40-29 this past Saturday, but as you can tell, I stuck with the Spartans because they defeated Michigan.

Michigan State has good balance on offense and features one of the top running backs in the country in Wake Forest transfer Kenneth Walker III, who had 146 rushing yards against Purdue on 23 carries.

Michigan State’s biggest weakness is its secondary, or at least it was against Purdue, whose quarterback – Aidan McConnell – passed for a career-high 536 yards and three touchdowns this past Saturday.

3. Michigan, 5-1, 8-1 – This appears to be Jim Harbaugh’s best team at Michigan, but it won’t really matter without a victory over Ohio State and without winning the Big Ten East Division.

It also won’t matter if Michigan loses at Penn State this coming Saturday.

At this stage, Harbaugh has very little margin for error in his quest to make his alma mater dominant again.

4. Wisconsin, 4-2, 6-3 – The Badgers are proving that you don’t necessarily need a star quarterback to be effective. Wisconsin’s offensive line is now performing as a cohesive unit, and its one-two punch at running back with Chez Mellusi and Braelon Allen is helping Wisconsin look like Wisconsin again.

And, of course, it also helps having arguably the best defense in the conference as is the case with the Badgers, who have won five games in a row.

5. Purdue, 4-2, 6-3 – I suggested that Jeff Brohm should have his players hypnotized before facing Michigan State so they would believe they’re playing Iowa.

Maybe he did because that sure seemed to be the case with how Purdue shredded Michigan State’s pass defense.

6. Iowa, 4-2, 7-2 – The Hawkeyes are proving that a team can stay in the race for a division title despite having issues at quarterback and on the offensive line.

Iowa has done so by playing high-level defense and by having dominant special teams.

However, Iowa could be on to something with backup quarterback Alex Padilla having provided a spark in the win at Northwestern. He replaced Spencer Petras late in the first quarter and would go on to lead three scoring drives during the 17-12 victory.

There is now a question as to who will start at quarterback against Minnesota? Petras, obviously, was ailing against Northwestern, but the coaches felt that he was healthy enough to start after having evaluated him during warmups.

The offense could benefit from Petras and Padilla both playing because their styles are so different and defenses would have to adjust on the fly.

7. Penn State, 3-3, 6-3 – A case could be made for Penn State being the best 6-3 team in college football, but will that be enough to help James Franklin land another job?

8. Minnesota. 4-2, 6-3 – The Gophers shift back and forth almost on a weekly basis from being one of the conference’s biggest overachievers to one of its biggest underachievers.

The question is which team will show up against Iowa on Saturday? The one that defeated Purdue 27-13 or the one that lost to Bowling Green and to Illinois 14-6 this past Saturday at home?

9. Maryland. 2-4, 5-4 – The Terrapins look really good when facing bad teams and really bad when facing good teams.

10. Illinois, 3-4, 4-6 – The Fighting Illini are good when you expect them to be bad, and bad when you expect them to be good.

11. Nebraska – 1-6, 3-7 – Scott Frost probably was hoping that the clocks would be turned back to the 1990s this past weekend instead of just one hour.

12. Rutgers, 1-5, 4-5 – Greg Schiano’s second season as head coach doesn’t look nearly as bad if you just ignore the conference games.

13. Northwestern, 1-5, 3-6 – The fact that Pat Fitzgerald couldn’t figure a way to defeat an Iowa team with a sputtering offense shows just how far this season has slipped off the rails.

14. Indiana, 0-6, 2-7 – It doesn’t appear that Indiana’s disastrous season was ever on the rails.