By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Rarely has the Iowa football team been ranked above Ohio State in my always fluid Big Ten power rankings, but that’s the case right now, and I don’t feel like a Hawkeye homer in saying so.

Iowa continues to climb in the rankings, while Ohio State’s season is unraveling in the wake of starting quarterback Julian Sayin suffering a season-ending injury.

Star receiver Jeremiah Smith actually looks human since Sayin was injured, while Iowa quarterback Hank Brown has completed 36-of-45 passes for 348 yards and three touchdowns over the last two games.

With three-fourths of the regular season now having been played, Iowa still has a legitimate chance of making the college playoff if it can win its final three games, starting with Purdue this coming Saturday at Kinnick Stadium.

If you wondering where Purdue currently sits in my power rankings, just scroll down, way down.

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1. Indiana, 5-1, 8-1 – Curt Cignetti would look at this ranking and probably say “hey, slick, tell me something I don’t know.”

2. UCLA; 6-0, 9-0 – Former James Madison head coach Bob Chesney continues his Curt Cignetti-like turnaround at UCLA, matching Cignetti’s 9-0 start as the Indiana head coach in 2024 after Cignetti also had come from James Madison.

3. Iowa; 4-2, 7-2 – Kirk Ferentz would look at this ranking and probably say that his only focus is preparing for Saturday’s game against Purdue, and the best way to do that is to block the outside noise, live in the moment and embrace the daily grind by taking it one practice and one day at a time, and by having a team-first mentality in which sacrificing for a greater cause is the driving force.

4. Oregon; 4-2, 6-3 – The Ducks are fighting back just like the Delta House fraternity did in the 1978 movie classic “Animal House” after being stripped of its official recognition and license. The movie was filmed on the Oregon campus if you’re wondering what the heck I’m talking about.

5. USC; 4-2, 7-2 – Coming off a bye week and being out-of-sight and out-of-mind for nearly two weeks, USC football has dropped to No. 27 on the list of most popular things to do for entertainment in the Los Angels area; one spot behind climbing palm trees.

6. Ohio State; 4-2, 6-3 – To spoiled Buckeye fans, Ohio State’s national title in 2024 probably seems about as far back in history as the reign of the dinosaurs.

7. Illinois; 4-2, 6-3 – If the Fighting Illini keep winning, it wouldn’t be surprising if the Beef House started serving breakfast.

8. Wisconsin; 4-2, 6-3 – The Badgers were obviously looking ahead to the Rutgers game this past Saturday when they lost at Iowa 30-0 in their previous game.

9. Northwestern; 3-3, 6-3 – Maybe the Wildcats would have more success if they played more games on school days.

10. Minnesota; 3-3, 5-4 – Since defeating Iowa 13-10 on Oct. 24 in Minneapolis, the Gophers have lost two straight games against Indiana and UCLA, preventing P.J. Fleck from doing any body surfing and causing Floyd of Rosedale to miss Iowa City even more.

11. Penn State; 2-4, 5-4 – The Nittany Lions have moved one game ahead of 4-5 Iowa State in the Matt Campbell standings.

12. Washington; 2-4, 5-4 – The same Washington defense that performed so poorly in pass coverage in a loss to Iowa on Oct. 9 in Seattle that you sometimes wondered if there were only nine or 10 Husky defenders on the field was penalized for having 12 players on the field late in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s 28-25 loss to Penn State.. So who’s counting in Seattle?

13. Nebraska; 2-4, 5-4 – Matt Rhule would be one of Nebraska’s greatest head coaches of all time if the season ended in September.

14. Michigan State; 1-5, 3-6 – The Spartans scored all their points in the 15-6 victory over Michigan on Saturday on five field goals, showing that former Hawkeye LeVar Woods is certainly earning his paycheck as Michigan State’s new special teams coordinator.

15. Michigan; 2-4, 5-4 – Not to pile on the struggling Wolverines, but they should actually have a losing record right now.

16. Rutgers; 1-5, 2-7 – Greg Schiano wins a lot more on pay day as the Rutgers head coach than on game day.

17. Maryland; 1-5, 3-6 – The Terrapins are undefeated in the month of November this season, and undefeated on the road in the month of November. Of course, they’ve only played one game at Purdue.

18. Purdue; 2-4, 3-6 – This is what happens to a team that loses to Maryland at home.