The Big Ten will probably have four teams in the Top 10 of College Football Playoff rankings heading into Week 11. But in the AP Poll, things will be a little different.
Penn State dominated Iowa at home but still won’t move into the Top 10, even afterNo. 10 Florida lost at Arkansas and No. 9 Nebraska got crushed at Ohio State. The Nittany Lions were ranked No. 12 in the first playoff rankings, but No. 20 in the AP Poll last week.
Michigan and Ohio State will likely retain their rankings. Here’s our projection for each Big Ten team, and a projection of the entire Top 25 from SECCountry.
Michigan
Previous: No. 2
New: No. 2
The Wolverines are No. 3 in the playoff rankings, but ranked No. 2 in the AP Poll and will stay there. Alabama survived a tough road test at LSU and will surely stay No. 1, while No. 3 Clemson beat Syracuse.
Michigan was dominant at home again, topping Maryland 59-3. It’s beating Big Ten opponents by an average of 37 points per game.
“I felt the week of practice we had was outstanding,” coach Jim Harbaugh said. “It seems better every week, and when you see that good of a week — you want to see it translate into the game. I got a lot of enjoyment from seeing that.”
Ohio State
Previous: No. 6
New: No. 6
Texas A&M lost at Mississippi State and will definitely drop. But this is the AP Poll, remember. The Buckeyes were already ahead of the Aggies, who were only No. 4 in the College Football Playoff rankings.
Even with Ohio State’s 62-3 win over Nebraska, it likely won’t move up, since No. 4 Washington beat Cal. No. 5 Louisville destroyed Boston College and will stay ahead of the Buckeyes, too.
Wisconsin
Previous: No. 8
New: No. 7
Wisconsin didn’t look perfect in a tough road test against Northwestern, but proved again how good its defense is. The Badgers now control their own destiny in the Big Ten West after Nebraska’s loss and will slide ahead of Texas A&M after its loss.
Penn State
Previous: No. 20
New: No. 14
Voters may try to catch up with the College Football Playoff rankings after this week. Penn State was No. 12 in the first edition of those and after beating down Iowa, the Nittany Lions will move up six spots.
Penn State will definitely jump LSU, Nebraska and Baylor, and probably Western Michigan, Florida State and either Texas A&M or Florida, too.
“We will never be satisfied, we will never be satisfied, ever. That’s not just coach speak, I mean that,” coach James Franklin said. “We’ll always be looking at things that we need to get better in, areas that we can improve, depth that we need to create.
“Can you give us your best for six seconds at a time from an effort and focus standpoint and right now we’re doing that,” he continued. “The guys are playing really hard so I’m proud of them. I love our staff, I love our team, I love the support staff that we have. Everybody is singing the same song and everybody is singing it in the same tune right now. There’s consistency in our behavior, there’s consistency in our actions and everybody’s on the same page.”
Nebraska
Previous: No. 9
New: Not ranked
Things have gone from bad — an overtime loss at Wisconsin last week — to worse for Nebraska. A primetime, 59-point loss, the second-worst in program history, is enough to knock the Huskers out of the Top 25 completely.
Projected AP Poll entering Week 11
SECCountry’s Alex Martin-Smith projected the whole AP Poll Top 25 entering Week 11. Here’s how he thinks things will shake out.
25. Arkansas (6-3)
24. USC (6-3)
23. Virginia Tech (7-2)
22. Florida (6-2)
21. Boise State (8-1)
20. Oklahoma State (7-2)
19. Washington State (7-2)
18. Colorado (7-2)
17. Florida State (6-3)
16. LSU (5-3)
15. Penn State (7-2)
14. North Carolina (7-2)
13. Western Michigan (9-0)
12. Utah (7-2)
11. Texas A&M (7-2)
10. West Virginia (7-1)
9. Oklahoma (7-2)
8. Auburn (7-2)
7. Wisconsin (7-2)
6. Ohio State (8-1)
5. Louisville (8-1)
4. Washington (8-0)
3. Clemson (9-0)
2. Michigan (9-0)
1. Alabama (9-0)
