By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Just when it looked as if the Iowa football team was starting to click, the offense performed woefully in a 13-10 loss at Minnesota on Saturday.

Iowa was coming off a bye week and a 41-24 win against Washington on Oct. 9 in Seattle, so the players were rested and riding a wave of momentum, and yet, the offense still laid a major egg.

The defense certainly did its job against Minnesota, but it just didn’t have enough help.

Iowa fell to 5-2 overall and 2-2 in the Big Ten, but only dropped two spots in my Big Ten power rankings, maybe because I’m biased, but also because the conference is loaded this season with teams that are wildly inconsistent and vulnerable, including Iowa.

Injuries were certainly a factor in deciding where teams currently stand, and that helps to explain why there is a change at the top.

These weekly rankings are very fluid, especially this season where almost everybody seems capable of beating almost everybody, considering 12 Big Ten teams already have two losses in conference play, including Iowa.

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1. Indiana; 4-1, 7-1 – Curt Cignetti would look at this ranking and probably say it’s about time this hack pulled his head of you know where.

2. Ohio State; 4-0, 6-1 – Until another quarterback steps up in the absence of injured starter Julian Sayin, even a team as talented as Ohio State loses some perceived power and strength because Jeremiah Smith can’t pass to himself.

3. UCLA; 5-0, 7-0 – The Bruins under first-year head coach Bob Chesney have five very winnable games left on the schedule: at home against Nevada, at Minnesota, at home against Illinois, at Michigan and at home against USC. What is about these former James Madison head coaches?

4. Northwestern; 3-1, 6-1 – Northwestern football, with its newly renovated stadium, and with winning six of its first seven games this season, has climbed to No. 18 on the list of most popular things to do in the Chicago area from an entertainment standpoint; one spot ahead of eating street tacos from a vendor after midnight.

5. Wisconsin; 3-1, 5-2 – The Badgers are out-Iowa-ing Iowa so far this season and will face the Hawkeyes Saturday at Kinnick Stadium. First team to 10 points probably wins.

6. Minnesota; 3-1, 5-2 – Hopefully, P.J. Fleck didn’t make Floyd body surf or smear blood on him.

7. Iowa; 2-2, 5-2 – If Kirk Ferentz saw this ranking he’d probably say that it doesn’t matter how his team is perceived, and what does matter is not letting the loss at Minnesota linger and become two losses, and the best way to do that is to learn from the loss and move on with a positive mindset, with a determination to get better one practice at a time and with a team-first mentality.

8. USC; 3-2, 6-2 – There is growing speculation that USC might have to make the playoff for Lincoln Riley to save his job. But considering where his team stands right now, he’d probably have a better chance of swimming across Santa Monica Bay with the Trojans having lost at Wisconsin 24-7 this past Saturday and with Ohio State and Indiana up next on the schedule.

9. Nebraska; 2-2, 5-2 – Nebraska is coming off a bye week and has lost two straight conference games to Indiana and Oregon. Another march to mediocrity appears on the way, though the remaining schedule is reason for Cornhusker fans to be unrealistic and delusional.

10. Illinois; 2-2, 4-3 – With Saturday’s 21-10 victory over Oregon at home, the Fighting Illini continue to be more unpredictable than a sloth bear.

11. Michigan; 1-3, 4-3 – If life were fair, Michigan would have a losing record right now.

12. Oregon; 2-2, 4-3 – Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Time to get out the NIL checkbook.

13. Washington; 1-3, 4-3 – The Space Needle in Seattle is 605 feet at its highest point. A person could parachute from the Space Needle and land in Husky Stadium probably without Washington’s pass defenders ever noticing.

14. Purdue; 2-2, 3-4 – The Boilermakers beat Minnesota 41-13 on Oct. 10 at home, and yet, a case still could be made for Purdue being the most winnable game left on Iowa’s Big West schedule.

15. Penn State; 0-4, 3-4 – Even Iowa State fans aren’t used to being ranked 15th in a conference.

16. Rutgers; 1-3, 2-5 – Watching the Scarlet Knights has sunk to No. 84 on the list of most popular things to do in the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area, one spot ahead of feeding the rats.

17. Michigan State; 0-5, 2-6 – Pat Fitzgerald has lost 21 of his last 23 conference games as a Big Ten head coach.

18. Maryland; 0-4, 2-5 – The Terrapins are now looking for a new head coach in addition to looking for their first conference win, which is why they’re looking for a new head coach to replace Mike Locksley.