Big Ten Power Rankings: Hoosiers close to last after Week 9

College football as a whole is gaining more and more traction after Week 9 and Indiana football is nearing the last spot in our Big Ten Power Rankings after a bye week last week.

Top three stays put? What does Illinois need to do to get back into the top three? Is Michigan stuck at #2 until Week 12 matchup against Ohio State? All of these questions are answered and more!

Biggest Riser: Iowa Hawkeyes ⬆️

Biggest Faller: Purdue Boilermakers ⬇️

Big Ten Power Rankings after Week 9

Last game: 33-13 loss @ Iowa
Next game: Nov. 5 vs. #2 Ohio State

It’s tough to identify any positives from last weekend’s loss to Iowa on the road. Your quarterback (Brendan Sullivan) throws for under 175 yards. Your running back (Evan Hull) gets just 11 carries and doesn’t hit 40 yards rushing, along with fumbling the ball. And none of your wide receivers get close to 50 yards receiving.

The only positive I took away from this beatdown was the performance of junior linebacker, Xander Mueller, who finished the game with nine total tackles, one sack, and 2.5 tackles for loss.

But man, things do not get any easier for Northwestern after a tough road loss in Iowa City. Now the Wildcats travel back home to Chicago to take on the second-best team in all of college football in Ohio State, who just beat No. 13 Penn State on the road, 44-31. Northwestern has not beaten Ohio State in a football game since October 2, 2004, with the Buckeyes winning nine straight since then.