Big Ten Football: Power Ranking Every Team Post-Spring Practice
Spring practices are in the books, and the only thing left to do now is to focus on the start of fall camps in August. That doesn't mean we didn't learn a lot about the upcoming 2015 college football season, though. We have a clearer picture—if only slightly—about which teams could rise to the top this fall, and which teams are still outclassed by their conference brethren.
The Big Ten is poised to take another giant leap forward, and the speculation has already begun about which program—if any—will challenge Ohio State for supremacy in the conference. We've taken into account graduations (and early departures), incoming freshmen, last year's backups now ready to take over as starters and all of the standout performances from spring ball and rolled them all into one giant rankings list for the Big Ten.
The result is our post-spring practice Big Ten football power rankings.
Teams 11-14
1 of 11
West No. 7: Purdue
Purdue has been a division cellar-dweller for quite some time, and while there are plenty of reasons you might be able to find to generate some sort of hope for the future of the Boilermakers, the near future doesn't look to be significantly brighter than the past season or two under Darrell Hazell—especially after yet another lackluster recruiting season.
East No. 7: Indiana
The Hoosiers have certainly fielded one of the most exciting offensive teams over the past several seasons. Unfortunately, as prolific as the offense has been, the defense has been inversely awful. Indiana's defense gave up 32.8 points per game last season, 102nd in the nation. Until there's some sort of major change on defense, and given the offensive weaponry that has departed, we're placing Indiana right where they finished 2014: last in the East.
West No. 6: Northwestern
The Wildcats are one of those teams that seems to sneak up on top teams and score a major upset victory only to fall into obscurity by the time the following Saturday rolls around. That obscurity has carried over to recruiting for Pat Fitzgerald, as he again failed to secure a single prospect ranked by 247Sports as a 4- or 5-star recruit.
East No. 6: Rutgers
The Scarlet Knights had an adequately successful first season in the Big Ten last year, finishing with a bowl berth and victory. Still, Rutgers was just 3-5 in conference play, and it looks as if some conference foes might pass the Knights by. Last season, Rutgers had a headline-generating victory over Michigan, but if you compare what has happened this offseason in Ann Arbor to events in Piscataway, most people are giving the Wolverines the edge. So are we.
West No. 5: Illinois
2 of 11
Last year was a make-or-break year for Tim Beckman, and his Illini performed well enough to earn their head coach at least one more season at the helm. Illinois earned a trip to the Heart of Dallas Bowl, only to lose to Louisiana Tech.
Illinois could also benefit from some new blood arriving on campus this fall, namely in the form of a pair of 247Sports 4-star recruits, offensive lineman Gabe Megginson and running back Ke'Shawn Vaughn.
Illinois will also return quite a bit of experience on both sides of the football, and a solid spring practice season should keep the Illini out of the West Division's basement in 2015.
East No. 5: Maryland
3 of 11
Like Rutgers, Maryland had a solid inaugural Big Ten season. The Terps finished 7-6 after a loss to Stanford in the Foster Farms Bowl.
Looking to the future, Maryland added some muscle with a pair of 247Sports 4-star prospects in defensive tackle Adam McLean and offensive guard Quarvez Boulware. The Terps will have to replace some experience and talent on offense, however, as both C.J. Brown and standout wide receiver Stefon Diggs depart.
While there's nothing that is particularly worrisome, Maryland isn't currently built like a program on the cusp of a major push up the crowded East Division ladder.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
West No. 4: Iowa
4 of 11
It probably won't come as a galloping shock to anyone if we call 2015 a rebuilding year for Iowa. The Hawkeyes seem to be perpetually stuck in rebuilding mode, as it seems every year just enough talent departs Iowa City to raise some serious questions about the Hawkeyes' upcoming season.
And 2015 won't be much different. Gone is all-universe offensive tackle Brandon Scherff, as well as Jake Rudock (who transferred to Michigan, and the Hawkeyes won't play the Wolverines, barring the unlikely event both win their respective divisions and meet in the conference title game).
Taking over under center is C.J. Beathard, who has shown a great deal of promise. Whether or not he can single-handedly propel Iowa's offense up to the next level remains to be seen, but we certainly don't think the Hawkeyes will suffer a major collapse in 2015.
East No. 4: Penn State
5 of 11
James Franklin should be excited. Penn State players should be excited. Nittany Lions fans should be excited.
It was just a few years ago when most of the college football world was giving the Penn State program up for dead. Now, Penn State is a bowl game winner with its historical wins, once vacated in the wake of scandal, restored. More importantly, Penn State is operating with a full complement of scholarships (although another full recruiting season will be necessary to reach that allowed number of 85 grants-in-aid).
Everything seems to be falling into place to put Penn State on a positive trajectory.
It's no wonder there was such excitement surrounding Penn State's spring practices this year. The Nittany Lions welcome 25 new signees, including a whopping 13 4-star prospects (giving Franklin's program the No. 2 recruiting class in the Big Ten), and with eight offensive and seven defensive starters coming back, the exuberance is certainly understandable.
West No. 3: Minnesota
6 of 11
Minnesota is enjoying a renaissance of sorts, with the Golden Gophers challenging for a West Division title in 2014 before finishing second in the division. Still, it's a long way from the days when Minnesota was getting beat by then-FCS newcomer South Dakota.
The bad news for 2015 is that the Gophers are going to lose perhaps the most talented receiving threat in tight end Maxx Williams, who departs for the NFL. Williams was really the only scoring threat in the passing game, as Minnesota averaged just 141.8 passing yards per game last season.
The good news? The Gophers return most of the defense and a solid core of the offensive running game (three offensive linemen and fullback Miles Thomas).
There's certainly some momentum in Minneapolis—when was the last time we said that?—and the Gophers fanbase is excited to see what head coach Jerry Kill will come up with next. But in order for us to move Minnesota up above No. 3 in the West Division power rankings, we'll need to see something better than a 13th-place finish in recruiting rankings.
The Gophers will need to start putting together impressive wins (as opposed to simply winning the games they should). So far, we're not ready to put our chips down for Minnesota in those big games.
East No. 3: Michigan
7 of 11
Michigan finished 2014 with a 5-7 record, which included five losses against conference opponents. The Wolverines missed a bowl game, and Brady Hoke was fired after yet another loss to Ohio State.
Since then, Michigan has put together a solid, if uninspiring, recruiting class for 2015 and flew through spring practices ahead of most other Big Ten programs.
So what possesses us to put Michigan all the way up in the top three in the East Division power rankings for next season? Two words: Jim Harbaugh.
The arrival of the prodigal son to his collegiate home in Ann Arbor has exhilarated the Michigan faithful like nothing we've seen in recent history. With one simple hire, Michigan is walking with renewed swagger, as if the Wolverines are coming off of something more than the horribly disappointing 2014 they had.
Spring flew by not only because of the advanced schedule (with a spring game on April 4), but also because Michigan fans were so excited to see Harbaugh take the reins of the program he once quarterbacked.
Harbaugh has been an unqualified success in every head coaching position he's ever held, and he appears to be able to do the one thing that doomed Hoke: develop talent.
With a talent-magnet program like Michigan, we expect a short-term turnaround in Ann Arbor under Harbaugh's tutelage, and a vigorous quarterback battle this fall between Jake Rudock and Shane Morris—two true quarterbacks—have us at least taking a sip of the Maize and Blue Kool-Aid.
West No. 2: Nebraska
8 of 11
Nebraska's Bo Pelini years are in the past, and it's time for a new era in Lincoln with Mike Riley taking over after a 93-80 record at Oregon State (14 total seasons).
When a new head coach arrives, there's always cause for excitement and trepidation. On one hand, things are hopefully going to change. Nebraska hasn't won a conference title since 1999, and Pelini's tenure was marked by perpetual four-loss seasons.
The other side of the coin, of course, is the apprehension about the inevitable changes to the fabric of the program. Nebraska has a long and proud history, and while Riley is certainly a guy who respects that tradition, he's going to put his own stamp on Cornhuskers football—and possibly end a few longstanding and beloved traditions along the way.
If early indications are any barometer, Huskers fans are probably going to like what they see. Riley has already pulled in a top-tier recruiting class; while absent any blue-chip prospects, it is a solid start for a guy pitching a program with which he's not yet intimately familiar.
Secondly, Nebraska's spring showed off some ups and downs for the upcoming season. First off, we can't help but notice that the six quarterbacks who saw action combined for a 50 percent completion mark, including Tommy Armstrong going 6-of-12 for 77 yards. A.J. Bush completed 12 of his 22 attempts, but none were for touchdowns and two were picked off.
Add in the departure of Ameer Abdullah, and it's entirely possible that Nebraska's offensive identity will be a work in progress—possibly into September, and maybe even October.
Nebraska is still a team no one in the Big Ten should turn their backs on, but without any real superstars ready to lead the Huskers on a conference title run, Nebraska will be stuck at No. 2 in the West Division in 2015.
East No. 2: Michigan State
9 of 11
Michigan State is looking to continue its spectacular pace from the past couple of seasons in 2015, and a quick glance at the Spartans after the spring doesn't dissuade us from believing that will happen.
MSU returns seven starters on each side of the football this fall, and Connor Cook, who led the Big Ten in passing yards last year, is back for his senior season. The offensive line returns four of five, including All-American Jack Allen. Other than quarterback, however, the offense is a little thin on experience at the skill positions.
If defense truly wins championships, however, Spartans fans shouldn't focus too much on MSU's youth on offense. The defense looks solid—again—and even without longtime defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi (now the head coach at Pitt), expect another season of short drives and punts from the opposition.
MSU runs its spring game in a fun-filled "draft" style, where each team's players are "drafted" to their respective squad. In 2015, the White team topped the Green team with a somewhat unsurprising low score of 9-3.
If Michigan State can field a defense ranked in the top 10 nationally again in 2015, it will mark the fifth straight season the Spartans can make the claim. That appears pretty likely, especially considering the lone touchdown scored in the spring game this year came via a trick play (a reverse handoff to Jack Allen).
Anyone who watched the MSU spring games knows that it was a halfhearted, frivolity-filled event, and it's hard to put much credence behind the performances. Then again, after a Big Ten title in 2013, a Rose Bowl victory and a Cotton Bowl Classic championship this past year, the Spartans have earned their fun.
Just don't expect Mark Dantonio to tolerate much of that come fall camp.
West No. 1: Wisconsin
10 of 11
There are new head coaches, and then there are new head coaches. Paul Chryst falls into the former category, meaning he's new to his current position, but that's about it. He's been a head coach before, and he's been at Wisconsin before.
That all bodes very well for the Badgers heading into 2015.
Wisconsin has had a bit of trouble holding on to its head football coaches lately, as Chryst becomes the third head coach for the program in just over two years. Regardless of your thoughts about the reasoning behind the constant changes, it wasn't enough to keep Chryst away—and he should know full well what he's walking into.
What else is Chryst walking into? For starters, a Wisconsin offense that's going to need to find a way to replace all of that offense generated by Melvin Gordon. Center Dan Voltz is the lone All-Big Ten honoree returning on offense, and only five other starters join him on that side of the football.
What's more, quarterback questions still linger through spring, as quarterback Joel Stave is on some dangerously thin ice. Meanwhile, his chief competition for the job, Tanner McEvoy, may move to wide receiver this spring to round out the receiving corps. Last season, Wisconsin relied on the now-departed Kenzel Doe far too often. The Badgers must develop more than one deep threat to make a conference title viable.
Wisconsin will benefit some from scheduling this season, as Maryland and Rutgers are again the cross-division opponents for the Badgers in 2015. For that reason, and the relative weakness of the rest of the West Division combined with a head coach who should (finally) feel right at home in Madison, we're putting the Badgers in our No. 1 slot in the West for 2015.
East No. 1: Ohio State
11 of 11
It didn't take long for Urban Meyer to rebuild an Ohio State program left shell-shocked after the "resignation" of Jim Tressel. The Buckeyes are once again on top of the Big Ten—and the nation, for that matter—and nothing short of a repeat performance in 2015 will satisfy the seemingly insatiable braggarts of Columbus.
Not that Ohio State fans don't have anything to brag about; the Buckeyes carried the Big Ten's banner into the first-ever College Football Playoff and left the best of the SEC and Pac-12 in a pile of utter ruin in their wake. Combined with impressive victories by Michigan State and Wisconsin over top teams from the Big 12 and SEC, respectively, the Big Ten took its biggest step yet in announcing its return to national prominence.
And if you were thinking the Buckeyes might be a flash-in-the-pan kind of team last season, think again. They return 14 starters from last season, and that only counts the quarterback position once.
There's enough talent and experience spread around the field to make Ohio State look every bit as dangerous this season as last, and with a Week 1 meeting with Virginia Tech in Blacksburg to kick things off, expect OSU to build up plenty of steam before conference play gets underway October 3 (at Indiana).
There's no reason to put any other Big Ten team ahead of Ohio State in our power rankings, and the Buckeyes are No. 1 in the East Division (and overall) by more than a nose.
It's far too soon, however, to predict another national title, or even conference crown, as Michigan State and Michigan loom large in the final two weeks of the regular season. Still, Ohio State is the safest bet around the Big Ten these days, and there are plenty of good reasons to keep them atop your Big Ten list until somebody else proves otherwise.
Follow Bleacher Report National College Football Featured Columnist David Luther on Twitter.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
