Week 1 has concluded in the B1G. The conference finished 17-1 on the week, with Minnesota the lone loss to UNC. There were blowout and nailbiters. Week 2 appears to be a stiffer test, with Michigan hosting Texas, Northwestern hosting Duke, the Cy-Hawk game, Kansas traveling to Illinois, Nebraska hosting Colorado, and Boise St heading to Oregon.
The week 1 B1G Power Rankings are below. These are based strictly on on-field performance relative to the competition and is not a projection of things to come.
2. USC - Maybe LSU isn't a good team, time will tell, but Lincoln Riley found a defense for a night, and with Miller Moss and the skill positions, the offense isn't going to have any trouble scoring this season.
3. Ohio St - Three is probably too high for the Buckeyes, who were just not good in the first half against a bad Akron team. Ohio State had two starters out, in Donovan Jackson at guard and Cody Simon at linebacker, and it showed. Freshman receiver JJ Smith showed why he was the number one recruit in the country, with two touchdown catches. We won't have a good idea how good the Buckeyes are until they get in to B1G play at the end of the month.
4. Michigan - I don't know. They "won" the national title last season. Offense wasn't great against Fresno, but it wasn't last year either. We'll know this week. They'll either be #1 after week 2 or in the teens.
5. Nebraska - Is Dylan Raola the real deal? He looked good in his first game for the Huskers. Nebraska hosts Colorado on Saturday night in Lincoln, looking to avenge last seasons loss. They shouldn't have any issues scoring against a terrible Buffaloes defense. A win Saturday and the fans will be thinking of 7-0 going to the Horseshoe at the end of October.
6. Iowa - Iowa scored 40 points, though only had six at half against FCS Illinois St. If they can show anything offensively, a shot at the playoffs is definitely within reach.
7. Rutgers - They beat FCS Howard and did it convincingly. Kyle Monangai continued to be dominant on the group and new QB Athan Kaliakmanis looked good. There's a good chance it will be a battle of 4-0 teams when they head to Lincoln in early October.
8. Purdue - Purdue will probably end up being at the bottom of the conference, but they looked really good in a 49-0 win over FCS Indiana State. Hudson Card was 24/25 and four TD's. Notre Dame comes to West Lafayette on Saturday afternoon. We'll have a good idea then.
9. Washington - After a title game appearance last season, Washington lost their coach and pretty much all the starters. Jedd Fisch looks to start from scratch and a ho-hum 35-3 win over Weber St is a good place to start.
10. Indiana - The Curt Cignetti era is off to a good start in Bloomington after a 31-7 win over FIU. Watch out, because they have a good chance to start 5-0,
11. Maryland - The presumed bottom feeders of the B1G started off with a good 50-7 win over UConn. They start B1G play this weekend when Michigan State comes to down.
12. Illinois - The drive to six is on, as the Illini opened with a 45-0 victory over FCS Eastern Illinois. This coming week will be a test as a good Kansas team comes to Champaign
13. Oregon - Oregon opened the season as the #3 team in the polls and slogged their way to a 24-14 win over FCS Idaho, in a game that wasn't put away until late in the 4th quarter. If they play anywhere similar to that the next two weeks against Boise and Oregon St, the L's will start to pile up for the Ducks.
14. Wisconsin - Wisconsin was down to Western Michigan in to the 4th quarter before pulling away with two late touchdowns. They should be able to hand South Dakota this weekend, but Alabama makes their way to Madison in two weeks and it may not be pretty for Luke Fickell and company.
15. Michigan St - Sparty led 16-0 late in the 2nd quarter before letting FAU tick away at the lead. They hung on through the 4th quarter in Jonathan Smith's debut in East Lansing. QB Aiden Chiles did not look good for the Spartans. They'll open B1G play this weekend at Maryland, in a likely pillow fight.
16. Northwestern - After a 3-3 score at halftime, the Wildcats scored in the 3rd to secure the lead for good. Miami should be a good MAC team so the win may not look to bad at the end of the season.
17. UCLA - The Bruins survived on a late field goal to win at Hawaii. This is going to be a very bad team this season.
18. Minnesota - The Gophers lost on Thursday night to UNC. Being the only B1G loss in week 1, this is the only spot for them to be.
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