Big Ten Football Power Rankings has a new No. 1

Week 9 was very revealing for the Big Ten in more ways than one. Ohio State did their true freshman, back-up quarterback no favors in an ugly loss in Los Angeles, while Indiana continues to look the part of a fraud despite an overtime victory. Elsewhere, the Wisconsin dream bubble popped and Oregon picked up a huge bounce-back win.

Heading into Week 10, here are our latest Big Ten Power Rankings:

10. Nebraska Cornhuskers: 5-3, Lost to Washington 10-17, LW: 6

Another week, another fourth quarter collapse for Matt Rhule’s squad. After starting the season 5-0, the Cornhuskers have blown fourth quarter leads in three consecutive weeks with this week’s being arguably the most painful. Washington was down 7-3 with a fourth-and-18 with under two minutes remaining. The Huskies somehow picked that up, scored a touchdown, and then immediately scored again on a pick-six. It is the scariest of Sunday Scaries today for Nebraska fans.

9. Minnesota Golden Gophers: 5-3, Lost to Indiana 16-23, LW: 9

Minnesota suffered the most heartbreaking loss of the season this week. They kicked what should have been a game winning, 60-yard field goal with 19 seconds left. However, some terrible prevent defense in those last 19 seconds, as well as a very lackluster performance in overtime, prevented the upset from occurring.

8. Oregon Ducks: 5-3, Def. Northwestern 34-26, LW: 10

In what has been a disastrous season for the Ducks, Dylan Raiola was able to get his team off the mat and defeat a ranked Northwestern squad thanks to an offensive barrage. There is no path to the CFP, given that Oregon already has three losses, but it says a lot about the character of this Oregon offense as they haven’t given up just yet.

7. Wisconsin Badgers: 5-3, Lost to Iowa 0-30, LW: 5

Just like that, Wisconsin’s CFP bubble has burst. With all the momentum on their side following a field-storming win over USC the prior week, Wisconsin laid an absolute egg against Iowa. Now with three losses, the dream is dead for the Badgers.

6. Northwestern Wildcats: 6-2, Lost to Oregon 26-34, LW: 4

Northwestern’s magical run came to a screeching halt on Saturday against Dylan Raiola and the Oregon Ducks. Chip Kelly’s offense still looked awesome as the Wildcats amassed 456 yards of total offense. However, Northwestern’s defense was thrashed by Oregon, giving up 441 yards including 336 through the air.

5. USC Trojans: 7-2, Def. Ohio State 30-18, LW: 8

Lincoln Riley finally got the signature victory he has so desperately needed. The Trojans looked shockingly good as they won the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball against an Ohio State team that was supposed to be more talented on paper. USC is back to being a dark-horse CFP contender with a very quality win now on their resume.

4. Iowa Hawkeyes: 6-2, Def. Wisconsin 30-0, LW: 7

Well, that’s one way to change a narrative. After Iowa’s shocking loss to Minnesota seemed to dash the Hawkeyes’ CFP aspirations, they pushed themselves back into the picture this week with a blowout win over Wisconsin. The scoreline could have been even worse, as Iowa was up big early and let off the gas. Iowa has no margin for error, but the door is back open.

3. Ohio State Buckeyes: 6-2, Lost to USC 18-30, LW: 1

I know what you may be thinking: how could I have Ohio State behind Indiana when the Buckeyes beat the Hoosiers in Bloomington just a few weeks ago? Well, that was a different Ohio State team with Julian Sayin at the helm for a majority of the game. The Buckeyes looked like a shell of themselves on Saturday night, despite their backup quarterback actually looking decent. The defense and offensive line did him no favors. All of a sudden, Ohio State is firmly on the CFP bubble and has no margin for error.

2. Indiana Hoosiers: 8-1, Def. Minnesota 23-16, LW: 3

Indiana looked thoroughly unimpressive in an overtime win over Minnesota. However, a 60-yard field goal as time expired by a kicker whose season long was less than 30 yards is an incredible stroke of luck or skill depending on how you look at it. With the win, the Hoosiers have penciled themselves into the CFP bracket despite having no passing game whatsoever and a quarterback controversy on their hands.

1. UCLA Bruins: 8-0, Def. Nevada 27-0, Last Week: 2

Why UCLA opted to schedule a non-conference game against Nevada on Halloween I will never know. While defeating the Wolfpack isn’t impressive in and of itself, UCLA remains unbeaten in a world in which Ohio State and Indiana looked downright bad and Northwestern lost for the first time in a while. Until proven otherwise, Bob Chesney and the Bruins deserve to be here.

Everybody else:

• 11. Washington Huskies
• 12. Michigan Wolverines
• 13. Illinois Fighting Illini
• 14. Penn State Nittany Lions
• 15. Purdue Boilermakers
• 16. Michigan State Spartans
• 17. Rutgers Scarlet Knights
• 18. Maryland Terrapins