Big Ten Power Rankings (Week 4): Championship Week Comes Early With 2 Big Showdowns

It's title-chasing time this week with a No. 1 vs. No. 2 battle between Ohio State and Indiana in the Big Ten East, and a No. 3 vs. No. 4 showdown in the West between Northwestern and Wisconsin.

The Big Ten Championship Game isn't until Dec. 19, but we may very well get our two participants this weekend thanks to a pair of showdowns at the top of our conference power rankings.

Ohio State and Indiana are tangling in Columbus on Saturday in a battle of unbeatens that has a bit of history to it. The two teams have played 93 times, but this is the first time that BOTH will be ranked in the Associated Press top-10 when they play each other. Ohio State is No. 3, Indiana comes in at No. 9 this week. The winner almost assuredly will get the Big Ten East title and a trip to the championship game.

And it's the same in the Big Ten West. The two best teams there, Northwestern and Wisconsin, get together Saturday afternoon in Evanston, Ill. The winner will have a huge edge in winning the division, though Wisconsin's two canceled games because of COVID-19 may still be a factor, too.

Week 5 will be great, but here's where we stand through four weeks, which, amazingly, is the halfway point in this truncated season.

Here are the new rankings after Week 4, with TV and game times for next week as well, plus my usual enlightening outtakes on each team. New bonus, too. I've added the highest and lowest power ranking throughout the season for each team as well:

1. Ohio State (3-0)    ***    Last Week: 1

• Last week: Did not play vs. Maryland (COVID-19)
• This week: Indiana at Ohio State, Noon ET (TV: FOX)
• Preseason ranking: No. 1
• Highest/Lowest ranking: 1/1
• The skinny: Ohio State doesn't really need any help, but the Buckeyes got a bit of that last week when Maryland couldn't play because of COVID. That gave them extra time to rest up, get healthy and prepare for what turns out to be a huge game this weekend with Indiana. Ohio State is still a solid No. 1 in our rankings, and we get a showdown Saturday between the two best quarterbacks in the Big Ten, Justin Fields of Ohio State and Michael Penix Jr. of Indiana.

2. Indiana (4-0)    ***    Last Week: 2

• Last week: Beat Michigan State 24-0
• This week: Indiana at Ohio State, Noon ET (TV: FOX)
  
• Preseason ranking: No. 6
• Highest/Lowest ranking: 2/6
• The skinny: Indiana continues to impress, winning its first game in East Lansing since 2001 and getting its first shutout there in a 24-0 rout. The Hoosiers had never won by more than 16 points before there. They've cleared long-troublesome hurdles so far this season over Penn State, Michigan and Michigan State, but now come the Buckeyes, a team that I picked to win the national championship in August. Are the Hoosiers ready for this big next step? A great start to the season for the Hoosiers, and now comes the biggest game in program history dating all the way back to the Rose Bowl at the end of the 1967 season.

3. Northwestern (4-0)    ***    Last Week: 3

• Last week: Beat Purdue 27-20 
• This week: Wisconsin at Northwestern, 3:30 p.m. ET (TV: ABC)
• Preseason ranking: No. 9
• Highest/Lowest ranking: 3/9
• The skinny: Peyton Ramsey keeps finding ways to win for the Wildcats, and for the former Indiana quarterback, getting a win over Purdue in West Lafayette is always fun. He had three touchdown passes and, once again, the Northwestern defense was very good. They get Wisconsin this week, which will be their biggest test yet. I was going to bump Wisconsin past them this week, but I left it alone. I'll let the two teams decide it on the field on Saturday

4. Wisconsin (2-0)    ***    Last Week 5

• Last week: Wisconsin beat Michigan 49-11 
• This week: Wisconsin at Northwestern, 3:30 p.m. ET (TV: ABC)
• Preseason ranking: No. 2
• Highest/Lowest ranking: 2/5
• The skinny: The Badgers had their biggest win ever in Ann Arbor on Saturday night, and they thoroughly embarrassed Michigan. They showed no signs on not being able to practice for two weeks because of a big COVID outbreak, and they look like they should be ranked higher. Win one more this Saturday, and they'll be back to where they started, at No. 2 in our rankings.

5. Iowa (2-2)    ***    Last Week: 6

• Last week: Beat Minnesota 35-7
• This week: Iowa at Penn State, 3:30 p.m. ET (TV: Big Ten Network)
• Preseason ranking: No. 7
• Highest/Lowest ranking: 6/9 
• The skinny: Iowa not only won a big rivalry game last Friday, but they rubbed it in at the same time, too, thumbing their noses at Minnesota while taking the Floyd of Rosedale trophy back home. They've looked very good the past two weeks and are trending in the right direction again. 

6. Purdue (2-1)    ***    Last Week 4

• Last week: Purdue lost to Northwestern 27-20
• This week: Purdue at Minnesota, Friday 7:30 p.m. ET (TV: Big Ten Network)
• Preseason ranking: No. 10
• Highest/Lowest ranking: 4/10
• The skinny: Purdue didn't respond the way I thought it would after having a week off, and fell to Northwestern. I don't like the way they're trending either, and their running game is a mess. You can tell and scream that they should be ranked ahead of Iowa because the Boilermakers beat them, and I get that, but the eye test the past two weeks is telling a different story. I'm looking at all four weeks, not just one. They should beat a struggling Minnesota team on the road on Friday night, but nothing makes me feel like that's a certainty.

7. Maryland (2-1)    ***    Last Week: 7

• Last week: Did not play vs. Ohio State (COVID-19)
• This week: Michigan State at Maryland, Noon ET (TV: Big Ten Network)
• Preseason ranking: No. 13
• Highest/Lowest ranking: 7/13
• The skinny:  Maryland was really looking forward to seeing where they stood against Ohio State, but couldn't play because of a COVID outbreak. It's going to be interesting to see who's in and who's not this weekend when the Terps take on Michigan State. I know Mike Locksley and his staff would love to keep piling up wins.

8. Nebraska (1-2)    ***    Last Week: 10

• Last week: Beat Penn State 30-23
• This week: Illinois at Nebraska, Noon ET (TV: Big Ten Network)
• Preseason ranking: No. 8
• Highest/Lowest ranking: 8/10
• The skinny: Nebraska got a much-needed win against Penn State and did a lot of good things. Now they've got a chance to start stacking wins and changing the narrative a little bit in Lincoln. Beating Illinois  this weekend is a must.

9. Michigan (1-3)    ***    Last Week: 8

• Last week: Lost to Wisconsin 49-11
• This week: Michigan at Rutgers, 7:30 p.m. ET (TV: Big Ten Network)
• Preseason ranking: No. 5
• Highest/Lowest ranking: 3/8
• The skinny: I''ll be honest, I wish I could just stop these rankings at eight because the bottom six teams in this league a complete and collective dumpster fire right now. I can't explain Michigan still as high as No. 9, and that's only because they have  beaten the team behind them. Michigan is as bad as the RichRod and Brady Hoke days, and I never expected that from a Jim Harbaugh team. Let's see if they can turn it around at all. I tend to doubt it.

10. Minnesota (1-3)    ***    Last Week: 9

• Last week: Lost to Iowa 35-7
• This week: Purdue at Minnesota, Friday 7:30 p.m. ET (TV: Big Ten Network)
  
• Preseason ranking: No. 4
• Highest/Lowest ranking: 4/13 
• The skinny: I have the same disgust with Minnesota. They don't deserve to be No. 10, but they did beat the team beneath them. They looked horrible on Friday night in a solo national TV window, and this 2020 free-fall is still stunning to me. I really thought they'd be better this year. They need a better showing this Friday vs. Purdue. 

11. Illinois (1-3)    ***    Last Week: 14

• Last week: Beat Rutgers 23-20
• This week: Illinois at Nebraska, Noon ET (TV: Big Ten Network)
• Preseason ranking: No. 12
• Highest/Lowest ranking: 12/14
• The skinny: Illinois is playing without a full deck, so its win over Rutgers was the feel-good start of the weekend. The Illini may not win a lot of games this year, but they do play hard every week. I'll give them credit for that right now, especially considering the three teams below them.

12. Penn State (0-4)    ***    Last Week: 11

• Last week: Lost to Nebraska 30-23
• This week: Iowa at Penn State, 3:30 p.m. ET (TV: Big Ten Network)
• Preseason ranking: No. 3
• Highest/Lowest ranking: 3/11
• The skinny: Penn State is the only one of 14 Big Ten teams without a win thus far, and that's still head-shaking for me. It looks like Sean Clifford has lost his job at quarterback, which I never saw coming, and the amount of mistakes they're making on both sides of the ball is so out of character. This was a team ranked No. 8 in the country in the preseason, and now we have no idea when they will win a game. They're 0-4 and now get an Iowa team that's looked great the past two weeks. Stunning. 

13. Rutgers (1-3) *** Last Week: 12

• Last week: Lost to Illinois 23-20 
• This week: Michigan at Rutgers, 7:30 p.m. ET (TV: Big Ten Network)
• Preseason ranking: No. 14
• Highest/Lowest ranking: 11/14
• The skinny: Rutgers is supposed to be getting better this year, so letting a winnable game slip away against Illinois isn't good. Now comes Michigan, a team that's been embarrassing them for years. Can they rise up and pull off an upset here? The growth process can be very slow.

14. Michigan State (1-3)    ***    Last Week: 13

• Last week: Lost to Indiana 24-0
• This week: Michigan State at Maryland, Noon ET (TV: Big Ten Network)
  
• Preseason ranking: No. 11
• Highest/Lowest ranking: 10/13 
• The skinny: Michigan State's offense is horrible, and it's really reared its ugly head in the past two weeks. They've only scored seven points in the past two weeks in ugly losses to Iowa and Indiana, and  there's no question right now that the cupboard is really bare, especially on the offensive side of the ball. Ranking them dead last might seem harsh, but the eye test validates my thoughts these past two weeks.

Previous Big Ten Power Rankings stories

• WEEK 1: Plenty of surprises in season openers. CLICK HERE
• WEEK 2: Hoosiers make their move to No. 2. CLICK HERE
• WEEK 3: Maryland makes a big jump. CLICK HERE