Big Ten Power Rankings #2

Two notes before this week’s Big Ten power rankings:

— The MSU secondary should return to full health this weekend with the exception of cornerback Chris L. Rucker. Rucker went out in the fourth quarter with an elbow injury and head coach Mark Dantonio said it was a possibility that the sophomore cornerback would return this week. Given the look of the injury and the fact that Dantonio is cagy about releasing injury information, my uninformed guess is that Rucker will be out for a few weeks. Safety Otis Wiley might return from a hamstring injury this week and safety Kendell Davis-Clark is healthy after practicing last week. Ross Weaver will be back after a pregame illness kept him out of Saturday’s win over Iowa.

— Highly touted freshman wide receiver Fred Smith will not be redshirted after an unimpressive first half of the season. Smith has yet to make a catch, but Dantonio said there hasn’t been any thought about redshirting the Detroit product.

And now, football reporters Cash Kruth and Jacob Carpenter return for week two of their Big Ten power rankings (last week’s ranking in parentheses):

Jacob’s rankings:
1 (1). Penn State (6-0, 2-0)
2 (2). Ohio State (5-1, 2-0)
3 (5). Illinois (3-2, 1-1)
4 (7). Northwestern (5-0, 1-0)
5 (4). Michigan State (5-1, 2-0)
6 (3). Wisconsin (3-2, 0-2)
7 (6). Michigan (2-3, 1-1)
8 (10). Iowa (3-3, 0-2)
9 (8). Purdue (2-3, 0-1)
10 (9). Minnesota (5-1, 1-1)
11 (11). Indiana (2-3, 0-2)

Here’s my reasoning for placing Northwestern ahead of Michigan State: The Wildcats beat Iowa on the road by five while MSU beat Iowa at home by three, so Northwestern gets the ever-so-slight nod for winning by more while on the road. Penn State keeps their top spot, but it looks less secure after an average outing at Purdue and Ohio State’s win at Camp Randall. I still think Wisconsin is the conference’s No. 3 or 4 team (behind Penn State, Ohio State and possibly Illinois), but its pair of losses is too incriminating.

Cash’s rankings:
1. (1) Penn State
2. (2) Ohio State
3. (3) MSU
4. (5) Illinois
5. (4) Wisconsin
6. (8) Northwestern
7. (6) Purdue
8. (7) U-M
9. (10) Iowa
10. (9) Minnestoa
11. (11) Indiana

Penn State and OSU are obviously the top two teams in the conference. After that, it’s shady. MSU and Illinois are interchangeable, while Wisconsin’s two losses knock them down. Northwestern hasn’t beaten anybody, so I’m not jumping on the bandwagon — even if they are undefeated. Purdue is the best of the rest, while Iowa jumps up a spot because of sheer toughness. I vastly underrated the Hawkeyes coming into the season.

• News
• Campus
• City
• Police Briefs
• Crime Map

• Opinion
• Editorials
• Columns
• Letters

• Features
• Event Calendar

• Sports
• Baseball
• Basketball
• Cross Country
• Football
• Golf
• Gymnastics
• Field Hockey
• Ice Hockey
• Rowing
• Soccer
• Softball
• Swimming & Diving
• Track & Field
• Volleyball
• Wrestling

• Blogs
• Classifieds
• Religious Guide
• Puzzles
• Mobile Edition
• Housing Guide

• Multimedia
• Living City
• Video
• Photo Galleries
• Podcasts

• Archives
• Search
• Feeds
• Photo Reprints
• Advertise With Us
• SN Alumni
• Work Here
• Contact Us
• Privacy Policy

• Follow Us:
• Facebook
• Twitter

• 
• More Page Fronts
• Reprints

The State News is published by the students of Michigan State University. State News, Inc. is a nonprofit corporation. Its current 990 tax form is available for review upon request at 435 E. Grand River Avenue during business hours.