By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – As a fan of both Big Ten football and one of the greatest rock bands of all time, The Doors, I decided to think outside the box with my latest Big Ten power rankings.

So, I picked a song by the Doors to help describe the circumstances and the mood surrounding each of the 14 teams in the conference. I did the same thing with Led Zeppelin songs earlier in the season, and had some fun doing it.

Let the show begin.

1. Ohio State, 7-0, 9-1 – “Easy Ride” from the 1969 album The Soft Parade: The Buckeyes have yet to lose a Big Ten game under head coach Ryan Day, whose record is 22-0 in conference play.

2. Michigan State, 6-1, 9-1 – “Alabama Song (Whiskey Bar)” from the Doors’ 1967 self-entitled debut album: Spartans fans might flock to whiskey bars if Mel Tucker leaves after just two seasons for the LSU job.

3. Michigan, 6-1, 9-1 – “Break On Through (To The Other Side)” from the Doors debut album: This won’t happen until Jim Harbaugh finally beats Ohio State for the first time and wins the Big Ten East Division for the first time.

4. Wisconsin, 5-2, 7-3 – “Runnin’ Blue” from the 1969 album The Soft Parade: Just having the word runnin,’ even without the G at the end, is good enough for me when describing the surging Badgers.

5. Iowa, 5-2, 8-2 – “Strange Days” from the 1967 album Strange Days: This is what it felt like watching Iowa, with a mobile quarterback, move the pocket and take chances down field on offense against Minnesota this past Saturday.

6. Penn State, 3-4, 6-4 – “Hello I Love You” from the 1968 album Waiting for the Sun: Penn State head coach James Franklin says this to himself every time an elite Power Five head coaching job becomes available.

7. Minnesota, 4-3, 6-4 – “Ship Of Fools” from the 1970 album Morrison Hotel: If anyone could motivate a drunken, restless and combative Jim Morrison to row a boat, it’s P.J. Fleck.

8. Purdue, 4-3, 6-4 – “Five To One” from the 1968 album Waiting for the Sun: This is how it seems every time David Bell faces the Iowa defense; five of him against one defensive back in single coverage.

9. Maryland, 2-5, 5-5 – “You’re Lost Little Girl” from the Strange Days album: This describes Maryland whenever it faces a good opponent.

10. Rutgers, 2-5, 5-5 – “Love Me Two Times” from the Strange Days album. This is what Greg Schiano demanded from Rutgers before agreeing to be its head coach for the second time, and at a cost of $32 million in compensation.

11. Illinois, 3-4, 4-6 – “Been Down So Long” from the 1971 album L.A. Woman: Bret Bielema was hired to rebuild an Illinois program that hasn’t had a winning season since finishing 7-6 in 2011. The Fighting Illini are 4-6 heading into Saturday’s game against Iowa at Kinnick Stadium.

12. Nebraska, 1-6, 3-7 – “We Could Be So Good Together” from the Waiting for the Sun album: Nebraska fans were convinced that former Husker quarterback Scott Frost would be their savior and lead the Cornhuskers back to dominance, but instead, Frost has been a huge disappointment and a public relations disaster due to his excuse making and his unwillingness to accept blame for anything.

13. Northwestern, 1-6, 3-7 – “Crawling King Snake” from the album L.A. Woman: Pat Fitzgerald is without question the king of Northwestern football, but his team is crawling to the finish line this season.

I know, that’s weak, but so is Northwestern’s sieve-like defense.

14. Indiana, 0-7, 2-8 – “The End” from the Doors’ debut album: The end to what has been a disastrous season can’t get here soon enough for Hoosier fans.