By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – My latest Big Ten football power rankings have no change at the very top, or at very the bottom, but plenty of changes in between.

So let’s get right to it:

1. Ohio State; 2-0, 4-1 – Buckeye receiver Jeremiah Smith would probably be ranked ahead of two or three teams on this list just by himself.

2. Indiana; 2-0, 5-0 – Curt Cignetti would look at this ranking and probably say that he cares more about the lint on his shirt than what some irrelevant clown in Iowa thinks.

3. Oregon; 1-0, 3-1 – The Ducks have yet to win a national title in football, but the Oregon campus is where most of the scenes from the 1978 movie  “Animal House” featuring John Belushi were filmed. And while that has nothing to do with Big Ten football, it still should be a source of pride for Oregon fans.

4. USC; 1-1, 5-1 – The chance of USC making the playoff looks pretty good until you realize it still has to play at Penn State, Wisconsin, Indiana and UCLA and at home against Ohio State. Penn State obviously has problems under first-year head coach Matt Campbell, but just the road trip from Los Angeles to Unhappy Valley will present a challenge.

5. UCLA; 2-0, 4-0 – UCLA’s campus is located in Los Angeles in case anyone was wondering.

6. Iowa; 1-1, 4- 1– Kirk Ferentz would look at this ranking and probably say that rankings in early October don’t mean anything and that it’s more important to focus on the daily grind by taking it one day at a time, by working collectively as a team to get better, by trusting and respecting the process, and by sacrificing for a bigger cause.

7. Nebraska; 2-0, 5-0 – The Cornhuskers are nearly half way through the regular season and still undefeated, but without facing a quality opponent. That will change dramatically this coming Saturday when Indiana reminds everyone who the real Big Red is now in college football.

8. Northwestern; 1-1, 3-1 – David Braun would maybe be my top choice at this moment to replace Kirk Ferentz as the Iowa head coach if Ferentz decides to retire in the next few years, which is his decision to make.

9. Minnesota; 2-0, 4-1 – PJ Fleck seems like a pretty good guy, but enough with the body surfing.

10. Wisconsin; 2-0, 4-1 – Nobody is ready to call Luke Fickell the second coming of Barry Alvarez, or even Bret Bielema in Madison. But at least Badger fans aren’t calling for Fickell’s job, thanks to a surprising 2-0 start in conference play.

11. Michigan; 0-2, 3-2 – The Wolverines should actually be 2-3, but 3-2 overall and 0-2 in conference play still is enough to qualify as a crisis in Ann Arbor.

12. Washington; 0-2, 3-2 – After starting Big Ten play with two straight losses, and with an offense that is struggling and decimated by injuries, Sleepless in Seattle has taken on a new meaning.

13. Purdue; 1-1, 2-3 – Can we assume that the Boilermakers celebrated their first conference win since 2023 by eating at the Beef House on the way home from Champaign? And if so, imagine how many dinner rolls the players must have consumed.

14. Penn State; 0-2, 3-2 – Matt Campbell can always take solace in knowing that he will forever be a Cyclone coaching legend.

15. Illinois, 0-2, 2-3 – After losing at home to Purdue on Saturday, Bret Bielema might want to consider replacing more than just his defensive coordinator during the season.

16. Maryland; 0-2, 2-3 – I keep waiting for Maryland to discover that it’s only been using nine players on defense.

17. Michigan State; 0-2, 2-3 – Though it’s still way too early to judge Pat Fitzgerald for his performance as the Michigan State head coach, Northwestern finished a combined 4-20 in his final two seasons as head coach in 2021 and 2022, including 1-11 in 2022.

18. Rutgers; 0-2, 1-4 – Greg Schiano returned to Rutgers to make the football program competitive again, but also because he was paid a lot of money and currently has a buyout that would pay more than $17 million just for him to go away. In other words, Rutgers has a big problem on and off the field.