Buckeyes drop down to No. 3
1. Penn State (2-0): James Franklin is being mentioned as a candidate for the opening at Southern California. Who knows? But beating Auburn, a ranked SEC team, would look good on the resume.
2. Iowa (2-0): The Hawkeyes showed who’s king of the state by putting little bro Iowa State in its place. But calm the playoff talk for now.
3. Ohio State (1-1): Buckeye Nation has knives out for a defensive coaching change after Oregon slashed coordinator Kerry Coombs’ crew for 35 points and 505 yards a week after a similar showing against Minnesota.
4. Michigan (2-0): Tailback Blake Corum is a tank, so no wonder Jim Harbaugh referenced General George Patton after Corum rushed for 171 yards against Washington.
5. Wisconsin (1-1): The Badgers get the week off to prepare for the Sept. 25 visit from Notre Dame, when Madison will be mayhem.
6. Michigan State (2-0): The Spartans have found life to be a beach so far, but things heat up with a trip to Miami, where the Hurricanes will test how rugged the Green and White really are.
7. Minnesota (1-1): Despite losing Mohamed Ibrahim for the season, the
Golden Gophers still show a strong run game, but that pass defense? Yuck.
8. Maryland (2-0): The Terps have plastered the scoreboard with 92 points over two games. They may come close to that over four quarters against the Illini.
9. Rutgers (2-0): A good litmus test this week vs. Delaware for the Scarlet Knights, who over the past decade struggled to beat teams they were supposed to. Like Delaware.
10. Purdue (2-0): The Boilermakers hope to be celebrating on the 110-mile ride back from Notre Dame, but the Irish likely put a damper on the festivities.
11. Indiana (1-1): Crucible time in Bloomington, where the Hoosiers can live up to their preseason billing as the Little Train That Could by running Cincinnati off the rails.
12. Northwestern (1-1): The Wildcats visit Duke for “The Smarty Pants Game” with hopes of not getting the pants beat off them.
13. Nebraska (2-1): A classic rivalry that has gone missing since 2010 is recovered just in time for the Cornhuskers to realize they were lucky to have missed Oklahoma for a decade.
14. Illinois (1-2): Fans rush the field after big wins at Arkansas, the previous stop of Illini coach Bret Bielema. At struggling Illinois fans rush from the field by halftime. Bielema has work to do.