Week 3 of the college football season was fairly drama-free in the Big Ten. No big upsets occurred, and conference play began for four teams with USC defeating Rutgers and UCLA taking down Purdue. The Indiana Hoosiers moved to 3-0 with a 38-0 win over Western Kentucky.
Now, a full weekend of conference play begins. Heading into the first league games for the majority of the conference, how does each team stack up? Let's take a look.
Week 4 Big Ten Football Power Rankings
18. Rutgers Scarlet Knights (0-3, 0-1)
17. Purdue Boilermakers (1-2, 0-1)
16. Maryland Terrapins (2-1, 0-0)
15. Michigan State Spartans (2-1, 0-0)
Rutgers gave USC a fight, losing 42-35 in a game that was a lot closer than a lot of people expected. Still, Rutgers is 0-3 with losses to UMass and Boston College as well. They stay in the cellar of the Big Ten this week.
The Purdue offense is looking much-improved this season, as the Boilers have scored at least 36 points in all three games. However, they are just 1-2 after losing in overtime to Wake Forest last week and allowing 52 points to UCLA this week. There's been some bright spots, but Barry Odom still has plenty of work ahead of him.
Maryland lost to Virginia Tech 35-26 over the weekend. They fall one spot from No. 15 last week to No. 16 this week.
Michigan State moves up a spot despite losing to No. 3 Notre Dame on Saturday. Pat Fitzgerald's team put forth a strong effort and hung around longer than people expected, losing 27-10. Michigan State shouldn't be expected to compete for a Big Ten title, but they are a team to watch.
14. Wisconsin Badgers (2-1, 0-0)
13. Minnesota Golden Gophers (2-1, 0-0)
12. Northwestern Wildcats (2-0, 0-0)
11. Nebraska Cornhuskers (3-0, 0-0)
Wisconsin started the season by getting blown out by Notre Dame, and has since blown out Western Illinois and Eastern Michigan. Luke Fickell could be in hot water if he doesn't put forth a strong showing in the Big Ten. The Badgers start conference play on Saturday at No. 13 Penn State.
Minnesota beat Akron 41-7 on Saturday following a blowout loss to Mississippi State last week.
Northwestern moved to 2-0 with an emphatic 41-7 win over Colorado. The Wildcats are set to take on the Hoosiers on Friday night in Bloomington. It will be interesting to see how offensive coordinator Chip Kelly approaches that upcoming contest.
The post-Dylan Raiola era in Lincoln is off to a 3-0 start with wins over Ohio, Bowling Green, and North Dakota. The Cornhuskers battle Michigan State this weekend.
10. Illinois Fighting Illini (2-1, 0-0)
9. UCLA Bruins (3-0, 0-0)
8. Iowa Hawkeyes (3-0, 0-0)
7. Oregon Ducks (2-1, 0-0)
6. Penn State Nittany Lions (3-0, 0-0)
Illinois started slow but picked up a 48-10 win over Southern Illinois. The Fighting Illini haven't looked particularly strong, and now have to go up against Ohio State this weekend.
UCLA beat Purdue 52-38 over the weekend. The Bruins are 3-0 under Bob Chesney, and the offense is rolling. The defense has plenty of work to do, but there's no denying that UCLA is trending in the right direction early on in 2026.
Iowa rolled to a 55-0 win over Northern Iowa. The Hawkeyes are 3-0, but their schedule really picks up from here. Iowa's next three games are at No. 18 Michigan, vs. No. 7 Ohio State, and at Washington.
Poor Portland State. Oregon crumbled against Oklahoma State last week, and then put up 84 points on Portland State this week. The Ducks still haven't been overly impressive this season, and a huge matchup against USC awaits this weekend.
The Matt Campbell era at Penn State is off to a 3-0 start with wins over Marshall, Temple, and Buffalo. Campbell's first Big Ten game comes this Saturday against Wisconsin.
5. Michigan Wolverines (3-0, 0-0)
4. Washington Huskies (3-0, 0-0)
3. Ohio State Buckeyes (2-1, 0-0)
2. USC Trojans (4-0, 1-0)
1. Indiana Hoosiers (3-0, 0-0)
After a momentous win over Oklahoma last week, Michigan cruised to a 52-17 win over UTEP in Week 3. Bryce Underwood has looked better each week, but it will be interesting to see how he performs throughout the course of Big Ten play.
After back-to-back slow performances, the Washington offense finally got rolling in Week 3. The Huskies scored 48 points and Demond Williams threw for four touchdowns. Washington begins Big Ten play this Saturday against Minnesota.
Ohio State took out some steam on Kent State following its brutal collapse against Texas. Ohio State rolled to a 59-3 victory, and holds steady at No. 3 this week.
The USC Trojans are the only Big Ten team to have played four games so far. They've handled all four, and have scored 43 points per game while doing so. A huge matchup against Oregon awaits the Trojans this weekend. That matchup will tell us a lot about how for real USC is this season.
Indiana cruised through its non-conference schedule with convincing wins over North Texas, Howard, and Western Kentucky. The Hoosiers took care of business in all three contests, winning those games by a combined score of 145-16. Curt Cignetti's squad stays No. 1 heading into their first conference game on Friday against Northwestern.
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