Big Ten power rankings after Week 4: Tons of movement after Michigan upsets USC

Big Ten play is now mostly under way and two of the former Pac-12 teams went up against new conference foes for the first time — with some mixed results.

The big game was a ranked-on-ranked matchup with No. 11 USC coming to Ann Arbor to face No. 18 Michigan — a team that was reeling and made a quarterback change midstream. And yet, the Wolverines found an identity, which just happened to be the same as their old identity. Despite mounting a comeback, USC folded, losing to the Wolverines, 27-24. Washington, however, managed to take out Northwestern, 24-5.

Ohio State, Penn State, Indiana, Maryland, Iowa, Rutgers, and Illinois prevailed in Week 4, while Purdue, UCLA, MSU, Nebraska, and Minnesota failed. Oregon and Wisconsin were on bye this week.

With all of that in mind, here is our revamped Big Ten power ranking after Week 4.

Record: 1-2

Hi/Lo: 16/18

Change: –

Last game: Loss vs. Oregon State, 21-38

Biggest win: vs. Indiana State, 49-0

Purdue remains a bottom feeder after losing at Oregon State. After an impressive first game to start the season, Hudson Card has regressed considerably, going 7-for-17 for 56 yards. The Boilermakers did run the ball well with 263 yards on the ground. But the defense, Ryan Walters’ specialty, gave up 341 yards rushing to the Beavs. A home game against Nebraska is up next.

17. Northwestern Wildcats

Record: 2-2

Hi/Lo: 12/17

Change: -1

Last game: Loss at Washington, 5-24

Biggest win: vs. Miami (Ohio), 13-6

Northwestern went to Washington and looked like the moribund program it was before David Braun took over. There’s a lot of work to do in Evanston.

Record: 1-2

Hi/Lo: 16/18

Change: +1

Last game: Loss at LSU,17-34

Biggest win: at Hawaii, 16-13

UCLA gets to move up after showing a pulse. Ethan Garbers threw for nearly 300 yards with two touchdowns but an interception. But the run game and the defense were abysmal. Still, it lost to LSU on the road by a better margin than it did to Indiana at home last week. Progress!

15. Minnesota Golden Gophers

Record: 2-2

Hi/Lo: 14/15

Change: -1

Last game: Loss vs. Iowa, 14-31

Biggest win: vs. Rhode Island, 48-0

Well, Minnesota, you tried. And you failed miserably! The lesson learned here is never try.

The Gophers went up against a frustrating Iowa team that didn’t pass the ball at all but ran with impunity. The super bad news? The next game is against a Michigan football team that just installed Alex Orji at QB. And against USC, Michigan didn’t pass the ball at all but ran with impunity.

Good luck!

14. Maryland Terrapins

Record: 3-1

Hi/Lo: 9/14

Change: +1

Last game: Win vs. Villanova, 38-20

Biggest win: vs. UConn, 50-7

Maryland won, but there’s no world in which it should lose to FCS Villanova. The defense has some work to do, but the Terps need to continue to string together some wins. An Indiana team no one wants to face is up next.

13. MSU Spartans

Record: 3-1

Hi/Lo: 12/17

Change: -1

Last game: Loss at Boston College, 19-23

Biggest win: vs. Maryland, 27-24

It took four weeks for MSU to get its first loss and after a bit of a struggle in the rain in the first half, the Spartans took control in the second half. But MSU squandered some opportunities. Aidan Chiles threw two more interceptions which is something he will need to clean up in a hurry. The next four games are brutal: at home vs. Ohio State, at Oregon, vs. Iowa, and then a trip to Ann Arbor.

12. Wisconsin Badgers

Record: 2-1

Hi/Lo: 10/12

Change: -1

Last game: Loss vs. Alabama, 10-42

Biggest win: vs. Western Michigan, 28-14

Wisconsin was one bye this week but plays at USC next week.

11. Washington Huskies

Record: 3-1

Hi/Lo: 9/11

Change: -1

Last game: Win vs. Northwestern, 24-5

Biggest win: vs. Northwestern, 24-5

Washington rebounded after losing to its in-state rival by beating a tough Northwestern team. The offense was very good but the star of the show was the defense which allowed just 112 yards to the Wildcats and came away with two interceptions while forcing two fumbles. Rutgers is up next before Michigan comes to town.

10. Indiana Hoosiers

Record: 4-0

Hi/Lo: 10/16

Change: +3

Last game: Win vs. Charlotte, 52-14

Biggest win: vs. Western Illinois, 77-3

Indiana should be ranked higher on our list, because — wow. When was the last time we’ve seen a Hoosier team go and dominate everyone in their path? We scoffed when Curt Cignetti proclaimed at Big Ten media days that he gets his teams rolling early, but that’s exactly what he’s done. Kurtis Rourke continues to be solid at quarterback and the run game was phenomenal against Biff Poggi’s Charlotte. The defense was impressive, yet again, as well.

This is a team no one wants to face.

Record: 3-1

Hi/Lo: 3/9

Change: -4

Last game: Loss vs. Illinois, 24-34 (OT)

Biggest win: vs. Colorado, 28-10

Dylan Raiola threw for almost 300 yards but, due to sacks, Nebraska managed just 50 yards on the ground. The Huskers still had multiple chances to win and remain undefeated, but they missed a late field goal and had as disastrous of an overtime period as a team could have.

You can remove Scott Frost from the team, but you might not be able to fully take Frost’s one-possession losses against ranked teams away, even with Matt Rhule at the helm.

Record: 4-0

Hi/Lo: 8/13

Change: +1

Last game: Win vs. Nebraska, 31-24

Biggest win: vs. Kansas, 23-17

Illinois took care of its precious ranking it received last week by surviving on the road at Nebraska on Friday night. Luke Altmeyer continues to impress in his second year with the Illini and the defense stymied the Huskers just enough. This could be a team to contend with. We’ll see Illinois take on Penn State next.

Record: 3-1

Hi/Lo: 4/7

Change: +1

Last game: Win vs. Minnesota, 31-14

Biggest win: vs. Minnesota, 31-14

Iowa continues to get things going on the ground, but certainly not through the pass. Cade McNamara had just 62 yards passing but the Hawkeyes — led by Kaleb Johnson — amassed 272 yards on the ground. The defense was solid, allowing just 79 yards rushing to a usually formidable Minnesota ground game. Next week is a bye week but then Iowa takes a trip to Ohio State.

Record: 3-0

Hi/Lo: 6/8

Change: –

Last game: Win at Virginia Tech, 26-23

Biggest win: at Virginia Tech, 26-23

OK, so Virginia Tech isn’t the same team it was a decade or so ago, but neither is Rutgers. It used to be the Scarlet Knights would lose to any team with a pulse, but now they’re going into Power Four stadiums and beating home teams. It was a good day for QB Athan Kaliakmanis, but the ground game wasn’t quite as dominant it had been. The run defense looks like it could be a concern, but we’ll see if things get shored up when Rutgers hosts Washington next week.

Record: 2-1

Hi/Lo: 2/8

Change: -3

Last game: Loss at Michigan, 24-27

Biggest win: vs. LSU, 27-20

There weren’t many people expecting this resurgent USC team to go into Ann Arbor and lose, and yet, here we are. The Trojans outgained the Wolverines but an untimely pick-six by Miller Moss — only his second career interception — helped the struggling Michigan offense out in the second half.

USC tried to the run the ball, but outside of one explosive play, it was nothing doing. Though some offensive line changes in the second half helped, Miller Moss was on his back a lot and the Trojans are licking their wounds. They’ll have a matchup against Wisconsin next.

4. Michigan Wolverines

Record: 3-1

Hi/Lo: 3/7

Change: +3

Last game: Win vs. USC, 27-24

Biggest win: vs. USC, 27-24

Meat’s back on the menu, boys!

This is what Michigan football should have been doing from the beginning, letting Alex Orji run point and let the boys up front be physical. USC couldn’t handle the Wolverines’ physicality in the first half with nearly 200 yards rushing allowed to Kalel Mullings and Donovan Edwards through the first half hour. Yes, it was a struggle in the second half on both sides of the ball, and yes, Orji only passed for 32 yards. But this is the formula to winning and Sherrone Moore has his first ranked win as the bona fide head coach. This team could do some damage if it can replicate this game plan.

3. Penn State Nittany Lions

Record: 3-0

Hi/Lo: 2/4

Change: +1

Last game: Win vs. Kent State, 56-0

Biggest win: at West Virginia, 34-12

Drew Allar had his second 300-plus-yard game of his career, his second-best behind his 2023 West Virginia performance as the Nittany Lions amassed more than 700 yards of offense while allowing 67 total yards on defense. It was a thoroughly dominant game against a MAC team. A potentially daunting matchup against Illinois is up next.

2. Oregon Ducks

Record: 3-0

Hi/Lo: 1/6

Change: +1

Last game: Win vs. Oregon State, 49-14

Biggest win: vs. Oregon State, 49-14

Oregon was on bye but has a road trip to UCLA next week.

Record: 3-0

Hi/Lo: 1/2

Change: –

Last game: Win vs. Marshall, 49-14

Biggest win: vs. Western Michigan, 56-0

After a dicey start to the game defensively, Ohio State was firing on all cylinders against Marshall. It went from a 7-0 game with the Thundering Herd up to Marshall being down 21-7 in a hurry. OSU took a 28-14 lead into the locker room at halftime and didn’t let Marshall reach the end zone again.

This is still the most formidable team in the conference.

This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Big Ten power rankings after Week 4: Tons of movement after Michigan upsets USC