MOTSAG Conference Rankings: Week Five

After five weeks of action, our Big Ten rankings have shifted slightly and the contests will be more competitive with the bulk of the conference schedule being the only thing left on the docket for each team.  Week five answered a ton of questions for some and the rest, there are more questions left than answers.  Let’s take a stab at how the conference represented itself.

1.  Ohio State:  The Buckeyes played on the road at Lincoln, which is usually a nightmare for opposing teams.  The Buckeyes puffed out their chests and dominated the home team and did so by showing their prowess in every phase of the game.  The offense dazzled and the defense shut down the offense and the performance broke the proverbial tie with Wisconsin to be the best team in the conference and possibly one of the best in the nation.  [Next Game:  Michigan State at home]
2. Wisconsin:  Wisconsin’s defense scored twice against a scrappy Evanston crowd before pulling away.  Northwestern is normally a great team at home, but the offense is virtually broken right now, but hats off to them for giving the Badgers a contest.  Either way, the Badgers fall one spot, but they have a tune-up match with Kent State before traveling to the Shoe, so they can gain a head of steam for the eventual clash for conference supremacy [Next game:  Kent State at home]
3. Penn State:  Penn State looked dangerous once again after they traveled to Maryland to throttle them 59-0.  Their quarterback nearly had 400 yards passing, but he was pulled to give the second unit some time.  The defense looked fresh after the bye and the Terrapins stood no chance to compete in this game.  [Next game:  Purdue at home]
4. Iowa:  Iowa was their normal self as they handled a mismatched Middle Tennessee State team 48-3 at home.  A tune-up game that is used to work out the kinks before traveling to Ann Arbor where it pits two conference heavyweights against each other in a knock-out bout.  Iowa has yet to be tested, but this could be it.  [Next game:  Michigan at Ann Arbor]
5. Michigan:  Speaking of the Wolverines, they handed Rutgers a beatdown to get back on track with a 52-0 throttling against a struggling team.  A tune-up before Iowa, the Wolverines looked bad before this display of what they can be.  Was it another mirage?  Either way, they have some momentum coming into the next game.  Are they legit or pretenders?  [Next game:  Iowa at home]
6. Michigan State:  The Spartans fought a tightly contested game against an upset-minded Indiana team at home.  The final score showed that their offense is average, but it also proved their defense is legit.  The 40-31 score does not change my mind, but if they want to be successful, their offense must be as consistent as their defense.  [Next game:  Ohio State at Columbus]
7. Minnesota:  They look dangerous after they escaped West Lafayette with a single-digit win against Purdue.  Their offense looks crazy good with two game-changing receivers that this young quarterback relies heavily on upon.  Their defense played well and they need to keep the momentum in order to climb the charts.  [Next game:  Illinois at home]
8. Indiana:  They took Michigan State to the limit and gave it all in the upset bid.  This is what I was talking about because they are a 50/50 type of team.  You never know what team will suit up and if they will punch you in the mouth with their offense.  They showed fight up until the end and they can always surprise teams.  [Next game:  Bye week]
9. Northwestern:  They also put up a fight at home against a good Wisconsin team that relied on its defense to put points on the board.  The only issue is their offense needs to be better.  Their defense is always disciplined and good, but consistency is what bites them.  [Next game:  Nebraska at Lincoln]
10. Nebraska:  They were throttled at home against a great Ohio State team, but they showed enough fight to not plummet in the rankings.  They negated the shutout with a great drive against the second-team defense, but they need to rebound at home against another team that suffered a loss in week five.  Turnover have killed the momentum, but another home game in front of their home crowd will help in what could be another sloppy game.  [Next game:  Northwestern at home]
11. Illinois:  They were on a bye week, but they needed it after collapsing at home against Nebraska.  They had a double-digit lead that disappeared before the Cornhuskers stole the game from them.  Their offense looked good early on, but they got too cute with the playcalling opting to pass more instead of running out the clock.  They had two weeks to prepare for their next game, hope it works out.  [Next game:  Minnesota at Minneapolis]
12. Maryland:  The hype train has been derailed five weeks into the season.  They were demolished at home at the hands of Penn State and they need to search for their identity.  59-0 was another bad omen to humble the Terrapins that were in the top 2 in scoring in the nation after two weeks.  This week they can regain their footing to right the ship.  [Next game:  Rutgers at Piscataway]
13. Purdue:  Purdue fought, but in a close loss, they lost two of their best playmakers in Sindelar and Moore.  Their best quarterback along with the best playmaker went down on a single play and it was a bad time to be a Boilermaker fan.  It’ll get worse this week before it gets better because they will travel to Happy Valley to go against a peaking Penn State team.  [Next game:  Penn State at Happy Valley]
14. Rutgers:  They lost big to a rejuvenated Michigan squad that found their offense again and they lost 52-0.  Their head coach Chris Ash and their offensive coordinator got the pink slip and they have an interim head coach in place to pick up the pieces.  Good thing they have a struggling Maryland team to play at home, but bad news, none of them scored points in week five.  Who will be able to score enough and who will play inspired football?  [Next game:  Maryland at home]