Hoge: Week 12 Big Ten Power Rankings
By Adam Hoge -
Before we get to the rankings, just a quick word on the biggest controversy in the Big Ten right now: Indiana giving up 83 points to Wisconsin.
See how I worded that?
Bret Bielema and the Badgers are getting a lot of heat for scoring 83 points, but most of that criticism is coming from people who didn't even watch the game (ahem... Mike and Mike...).
Everyone is pointing out the 74-yard touchdown pass backup quarterback Jon Budmayr threw to backup wide receiver Jared Abbrederis in the fourth quarter that made it 76-13. No one is pointing out the fact that it was 3rd-and-6 and the guy was WIDE OPEN. As far as I'm concerned, that's still a passing situation when you have your reserves in the game. How else are those players going to get experience in a real game? And how are you going to tell a quarterback who never plays not to throw the ball to a wide open receiver down field?
You don't want to be embarrassed, Indiana? Play some defense.
And if you disagree with me that 3rd-and-6 is a passing situation with a 56-point lead, then just look at the Badgers' final touchdown. It was 3rd-and-4 with less than two minutes left and UW called a run for fourth string quarterback Nate Tice to run the clock out. He was begging someone to tackle him. Indiana refused.
Tice -- who happens to be the son of Chicago Bears' offensive line coach Mike Tice -- will likely never take a meaningful snap in his college career. So if you think he should have taken a knee once he got the first down, then you simply don't value what's great about college football. He'll probably never score another touchdown, so good for Tice.
If you want to form an argument that Wisconsin showed poor sportsmanship Saturday then at least use the right example. In the third quarter, when the starters were still in the game, UW ran a play-action pass on 1st-and-goal from the 2-yard line. They completed the touchdown pass to take a 45-10 lead. Even though it was just after halftime, it was probably unnecessary to trick the defense. Running the ball into the end zone would have been just fine.
Every score after that -- and there were a lot of them -- was justified and a result of Indiana playing poorly.
Week 12 Power Rankings (BCS rankings are used)
1. No. 7 Wisconsin (9-1 overall, 5-1 Big Ten) – Enough about Indiana. Badgers have a must-win at Michigan Saturday and they haven't won in Ann Arbor since 1994. Last week: 1
2. No. 9 Ohio State (9-1, 5-1) – The Buckeyes slightly closed the gap on Wisconsin in the BCS standings after a very impressive second half against the surging Nittany Lions. A huge game at Iowa looms. Last week: 2
3. No. 12 Michigan State (9-1, 5-1) – The Spartans fell one spot in the BCS despite not playing a game. They need Ohio State to lose because they have the tiebreaker over Wisconsin. Last week: 3
4. No. 13 Iowa (7-3, 4-2) – The Hawkeyes are not who we thought they were. They should have lost at Indiana and did lose at Northwestern. Things could spin out of control with a loss against Ohio State Saturday. Last week: 4
5. Michigan (7-3, 3-3) – Could the Wolverines be ranked by the end of the year? They could be if they win either of their last two games, but it won't be easy. They host Wisconsin before going to Ohio State. Last week: 7
6. Northwestern (7-3, 3-3) – What a bittersweet win for the Wildcats. Dan Persa won the game in dramatic fashion, but suffered a torn Achilles on the game winning toss. It's bad timing as the nationals spotlight will be on Northwestern and Wrigley Field this weekend. Last week: 8
7. Penn State (6-4, 3-3) – The Nittany Lions rolled right into Columbus with all the offensive momentum they had the last two games. Then Jim Tressel made it all go away. Tough to tell how good this team really is. Last week: 5
8. Illinois (5-5, 3-4) – I was wrong for ranking the Illini ahead of Michigan last week. It's that simple. Ron Zookis back on the hot seat. Last week: 6
9. Purdue (4-6, 2-4) – That was a tough loss for Purdue Saturday. They needed to beat Michigan to have a chance at a bowl game. Now they have the tall task of beating Michigan State on the road Saturday. Last week: 9
10. Minnesota (2-9, 1-6) – I never thought the Gophers would climb out of the No. 11 spot, but they did. Last week: 11
11. Indiana (4-6, 0-6) – Can I rank the Hoosiers No. 12? Seriously, they gave up 83 points! Last week: 10
Five random nuggets
- Minnesota quarterback Adam Weber ranks second all-time in the Big Ten with 11,603 yards of total offense.
- Wisconsin running back Montee Ball has 294 yards and five touchdowns on the ground in the last two games.
- While everyone is talking about Northwestern and Illinois meeting at Wrigley Field Saturday, Penn State and Indiana will play at FedEx Field in Landover, Md. Indiana is the home team.
- The Big Ten is the only BCS conference with two team averaging more than 40 points per game (Ohio State and Wisconsin).
- Michigan is on pace to break the all-time Big Ten record for average yards per game. They currently average 535.9 yards per game. The 1994 Penn State team holds the record with 512.7 ypg.
Get more college football coverage from Adam Hoge by following him on Twitter @AdamHoge670.
