Big Ten Power Rankings – Week 8

Hello there and welcome to the Big Ten Power Rankings! Each week we’ll rank how the teams across the conference are playing, in the hopes of seeing just who is a contender, and who is a pretender over the course of the season.

The rules are few, but resolute:

Teams are ranked by how they’re playing at that time. Not body of work, not rankings in the polls, but simply how each team is playing at that point in the season.

The approach to the rankings is not necessarily on the field results (though those do count, as an obvious, tangible data point), but more generally if the two teams played at a neutral site 100 times, which team would win 51 times (or more).

These rankings are subjective. As the author I get to follow the rules as closely or loosely as I want to, and if you don’t like the rankings, you’re wrong.

Week 8 is in the books, and the amount of upsets across the conference have made these power rankings look like an episode of Whose Line Is It Anyway? – the wins are made up and the rankings don’t matter. Let’s get to it!

Tier 1: Playoff Locks

Teams that are all but guaranteed to make the playoffs, if they continue to play the way they have played thus far.

1. Ohio State

The Buckeyes were on their bye week, and will now head across the country to take on recently unranked USC.

2. Indiana

The Hoosiers had their hands full with Michigan, managing just 13 points in a 13-6 overtime win over the Wolverines. Kinda makes Penn State’s regulation 18 points look good, no? They’ll host plucky Minnesota next.

Tier 2: Playoff Hopefuls

Teams that could very well end up in the playoffs, but need to continue to improve their resume and move up the rankings before they can make it.

3. UCLA

The Bruins handled business against Michigan State, 28-10, and have a rare November non-conference game against Nevada next.

4. Northwestern

The Wildcats continued their winning ways, defeating Rutgers 42-14. They’ll head west to take on a wounded Oregon squad.

Tier 3: High-Level Bowl Teams

Teams that likely won’t make the playoffs, but will represent the conference in quality bowls, including the Citrus Bowl and the Guaranteed Rate Bowl.

5. Wisconsin

Full disclaimer – everything from here down to Tier 5 is basically complete hogwash. Flip a coin and any one of these teams could beat any other one of these teams (unless you’re Penn State, in which case you lose that coin flip every time). Wisconsin, of the hapless offense variety, stifled USC to a historic 7 point output, and won 24-7. Sure, why not? The Badgers will travel to play recently unranked Iowa next.

6. Minnesota

The Gophers are giving me some serious whiplash. Beat Washington and Michigan, lose to Purdue, beat Iowa 13-10? Sure, why not? A visit to play #4 Indiana will surely go as we all expect, right?.

7. Iowa

A fairly shocking loss to Minnesota has knocked Iowa out of the rankings, but this is still a good team. They’ll head to the bye week before getting back to it.

8. USC

Apparently no Lincoln Riley team has ever scored just 7 points in a game, yet that’s exactly what Wisconsin did to the Trojans. A visit from #2 Ohio State could have the USC showrunners considering Riley’s future with them.

9. Nebraska

The Cornhuskers were on their bye, and will get back to it by hosting Washington.

Tier 4: Low-Level Bowl Teams

Teams that will end up making it to a bowl game, but likely the bowls that aren’t quite as prestigious, including the Pinstripe Bowl and the Music City Bowl.

10. Illinois

Another big upset had the Illini beating Oregon 21-10. Like I said, flip a coin and any team can beat any team. They’ll travel to play Maryland next.

11. Oregon

The Ducks season has been a disaster, and the parallels to 2025 Penn State continue. A visit from a solid #20 Northwestern squad doesn’t bode well (which means, of course, they’ll somehow pull out a win).

12. Michigan

The Wolverines gave their all in a 13-6 overtime loss to Indiana, but couldn’t generate enough offense to get the win. Funny what happens when you don’t give them 3 turnovers. They’ll travel to take on Rutgers next.

13. Penn State

The Lions were on their bye, and will host Purdue next.

14. Washington

The Huskies were on their bye, and will travel to play Nebraska next.

15. Purdue

The Boilermakers were on their bye, and will travel to play Penn State next.

Tier 5: Bowl-Ineligible Teams

Teams that are on a trajectory to end the season below .500 and miss out on a post-season bowl game.

16. Michigan State

The Spartans came up short against UCLA, 28-10. They’re off to the bye week before getting back to the last portion of the season.

17. Rutgers

The Scarlet Knights got taken to task by Northwestern, 42-14. Michigan comes to town next.

Tier 6: The Basement™

The worst of the worst, teams whose fans wear paper bags over their heads and count down the days until they have a new head coach.

18. Maryland

The Terrapins were on the bye, but still managed to make waves by firing Mike Locksley as their head coach, the first domino to fall in the 2026 coaching carousel. We’ll see where that news heads, but in the short term, Illinois comes to town.

I jinxed it. Things got super squiggly this week.

Ohio State and Indiana chill at the top, followed by UCLA, Northwestern, Wisconsin, and Minnesota on the rise. Iowa, USC, and Nebraska all drop, with Illinois shooting up. Oregon, Michigan, Penn State, Washington, and Purdue all move down, with Michigan State, Rutgers, and Maryland staying steady at the bottom. The top and bottom are set, and the middle is a whole bunch of weird.

On to Week 9!