Big Ten Football Power Rankings, Featuring Metallica

The inaugural Big Ten championship is over, signaling the end of another Big Ten football season. Heading into the bowl games, the Big Ten has another opportunity to begin revitalizing national perception of the conference.

Especially following up on a dreadful 0-5 performance in last year's New Year's Day bowls, the 2011-12 bowl season is critical to turning things around for 2012 and the future.

With every team taking on at least two losses and 10 teams ending up bowl eligible, the parity was heavy in the new 12-team Big Ten. This truly was a season of transition, as four new head coaches took the field to varying levels of success at Michigan, Ohio State, Minnesota and Indiana. With coaches already fired or replaced for next season at Penn State, Illinois, and Ohio State again, the conference will still be shaking itself out next year.

The lull between bowl previews and the conference championship game provides a perfect opportunity to evaluate where each team falls in the power rankings when the season is considered as a whole. To close out the regular season, the rocking quartet Metallica will bring theme songs to keep us company along the long and winding road through 12 teams.

Without further ado, let's see how the "B1G" rankings stack up before the season will Fade to Black...

1. Wisconsin (7-2, 11-2)

Theme Song – Seek and Destroy

Wisconsin was on a mission after losing two heartbreaking games in late October at East Lansing and Columbus.  The Badgers needed a little help from the opponents of Penn State and Ohio State to get back into the title race, but that help came readily in the form of Nebraska and Purdue by the second week of November.

Montee Ball and company never looked back, blowing through the final four games of the season and then escaping a tough rematch with Michigan State in the inaugural Big Ten championship. Ball racked up 38 touchdowns in 13 games, but with fewer touches than Barry Sanders, who has long held the season record with 39 touchdowns. Although Ball remains a long shot to win the Heisman, he will hold the banner for the Big Ten in the finals ceremony for the first time since Troy Smith won the award in 2006.

Wisconsin capitalized on a perfect situation by adding Russell Wilson to helm a loaded offense that was only missing an experienced quarterback. The Badgers will put up a lot of points on Oregon in the Rose Bowl, but the key will be whether the defense plays consistently enough to stop the Ducks.

Wisconsin should be queuing up tapes of how Ohio State defeated the Ducks two years ago with similar talent. If Wisconsin follows the game plan, the pain of last year's Rose Bowl loss will be erased this time.

2. Michigan State (7-2, 10-3)

Theme Song – Jump In The Fire

Michigan State appeared to be an enigma coming into the season, as the defending co-champions of the Big Ten were overshadowed by the new coach in Ann Arbor and the new conference member Nebraska. However, Mark Dantonio led the same solid game plan to the Big Ten championship game this year and perhaps should have won that championship.

Although a couple of absolute clunkers on the road at Notre Dame and Nebraska (as well as an uninspiring win at Ohio State) detract a bit from the total resume, this season has to be considered a success with Michigan State ending the regular season with the best conference record of all teams. Kirk Cousins proved he is one of the most valuable quarterbacks in the league by leading a balanced offense that performed more than well enough with the strong Spartans defense shutting teams down.

Although Nebraska and Michigan skipped ahead of Michigan State in the bowl selections (welcome to the world of losing championship games Spartans), the pairing in the Outback Bowl is actually better than what would have awaited in the BCS or the Capital One Bowl. Perhaps it is best to not send Michigan State back to Orlando after last year's debacle, as this is a much more impressive Spartans team.

A win over Georgia would be a nice cap to the season. The Spartans will be ignored no longer, as Dantonio has one of the best programs in the conference now.

3. Michigan (6-2, 10-2)

Theme Song – Nothing Else Matters

It turns out Rich Rodriguez was starting to turn the program around, although perhaps he did not have the correct coaching philosophy to succeed in the Big Ten. Greg Mattison has taken the worst defense in the conference and made the players work as a unit. With his guidance, the Wolverines are far more dangerous than just being an offensive juggernaut.

Although it cannot be underestimated that Michigan can land a knockout offensive blow at a moment's notice. Nebraska and Notre Dame found that out the hard way. However, the only thing that matters to Michigan is stopping losing streaks that were growing to historic levels against rivals Michigan State and Ohio State.

Although the streak against the Spartans still stands, the 8 year reign of Ohio State is over in The Game. Out the door goes Jim Tressel and out the door goes all that frustration against the Buckeyes. Although Ohio State had a terrible year, that does not slow the magnitude of how Michigan is bringing back meaning and national significance to the most important rivalry in the conference.

Sure, there's a BCS bowl waiting in January. But ending the streak against OSU makes the first year under Brady Hoke a resounding success. Bright times lie ahead for these Wolverines.

4. Nebraska (5-3, 9-3)

Theme Song – Welcome Home (Sanitarium)

Although the two divisions were relatively evenly matched for most of the season, the way Illinois, Ohio State, and Penn State fell apart at the end of the year showed why the Legends division was a bit tougher this season. Thus, it should come as no surprise that the Cornhuskers struggled a bit in the better of the two Big Ten divisions this year.

Nobody was winning in Madison this season, and Michigan was a buzz saw in November, but the loss that will sting the most is the loss to Northwestern. Nebraska is quickly learning that the Big Ten is very deep, and any team can win on any given Saturday if the opponent does not bring its A-game. Taylor Martinez still has some growing to do, but he and Rex Burkhead will be back next year to lead the dynamic offense once again.

Nebraska pulled a tough South Carolina defense for the Capital One Bowl, but at least the Blackshirts should find it relatively easy to stop the banged up Gamecocks offense. Nebraska should put the right foot forward for the conference in its first bowl game as a conference member.

This season proved that the addition of Nebraska was a perfect move for both sides, and the enjoyment will continue for years to come. While other conferences (cough, Big East, cough) make ridiculous alignments of teams, the Big Ten moved first and moved best.

5. Penn State (6-2, 9-3)

Theme Song – And Justice For All

Yeah that theme song is a bit cheesy (too soon?), but the wrath of Sandusky has fallen on State College and wiped half a college administration with it along with Joe Paterno. Justice is coming or has come for many of the bad actors or people who failed to act in the child sex abuse scandal. What was a promising season for Penn State fell apart with two losses in the last three games.

However, these players and Tom Bradley deserved better than falling all the way to the TicketCity bowl. On the bright side, the battle of ranked teams in Texas against Houston will be a compelling game that may help begin revitalize the national image of this program. One can only hope that this scandal does not set back Penn State multiple years or more.

Penn State had the most consistent and best defense in the conference. While the offense faltered too much to earn a conference championship, the right pieces are there for Penn State to compete next year. Stopping Case Keenum will be a great thing to focus on for the next month, as opposed to headline news of the scandal.

6. Iowa (4-4, 7-5)

Theme Song – Don't Tread On Me

Iowa appeared to be a middle of the road type of team heading into this season, and that is right where the Hawkeyes ended up. Iowa won some games that perhaps it should not have won (Pittsburgh), and lost some games that should have been won (Iowa State). However, Kirk Ferentz is working on recruiting players to get his team back into the conference championship mix.

James Vandenberg will miss having senior receiver Marvin McNutt to throw to, but Marcus Coker will be back to lead the offense and the running game again next year. With these building blocks in place, the Iowa offense should continue to improve next season. However, better defensive play will be necessary to compete with the best three teams in the Legends division.

Iowa drew the short straw by pulling Oklahoma in the Insight Bowl. This will be a highly difficult bowl game to win, unless Oklahoma shows up uninspired and disappointed to be there. Oklahoma was legitimately one of the most talented teams in the country, and that group of players should be difficult for this Iowa team to defeat. However, should Iowa upset another strong Big 12 team, the conference may try to steal the Hawkeyes away!

7. Ohio State (3-5, 6-6)

Theme Song – Turn The Page

The look on the Buckeye players' faces walking off the field in Ann Arbor told you all you needed to know about the last three weeks of the season. A team that had won seven straight games against Michigan and six straight conference titles fell apart in the month where the team dominated for the last decade. With a bowl game left, this could be Ohio State's first losing season in decades.

However, all hope is not lost in Columbus. A final infractions ruling from the NCAA is expected within a week and the news should likely be good considering the lack of serious violations uncovered since the original tattoos story broke (the violations during the summer and season were minor infractions). Then on the Monday following the Michigan loss, Urban Meyer was introduced as the next head coach.

Boom, the page is officially turned on the scandalous ending to the Jim Tressel era. It is unclear whether Meyer can return another program to national championships, but this was the right hire for the right time for one of the biggest programs in college football. The Buckeyes will be back, and soon.

That being said, this season was a colossal disappointment for the amount of talent OSU had on the field. One can only hope that the freshman tested by fire this year bring more to the table next year than usual sophomores.

8. Purdue (4-4, 6-6)

Theme Song – The Day That Never Comes

At long last, Danny Hope has found a way to win six games at Purdue. And the day that seemed like it would never come will finally be here in a little over two weeks when Purdue takes on Western Michigan in the Little Caesar's Bowl.

Some may argue that Purdue should be ranked higher with a better conference record and a head-to-head win against Ohio State, but the Boilermakers were lucky to defeat a down Buckeyes team at home. Furthermore, Ohio State is just simply a better team that would have likely finished much better without the stream of injuries and suspensions.

Purdue was hard to get an accurate read on this season, as the Boilermakers struggled out of conference and in some conference games that should have been easier. However, the Boilermakers have found a new quarterback for the future in Caleb Terbush, who has been able to learn from two talented mentors this season. Look for TerBush to take over more in the bowl game, where Purdue will prepare for the future in a wide-open Leaders division.

9. Northwestern (3-5, 6-6)

Theme Song – The Memory Remains

Northwestern may have finished with a loss to Michigan State, but it could be argued that the Spartans were the best team in conference play.  Considering that the Wildcats survived a mid-season five game swoon to end up bowl eligible for the fourth straight season, the year will be considered a moderate success.

From the opening gun when Dan Persa was not completely healed from his Achilles tendon injury, Pat Fitzgerald's team was placed behind the 8 ball. Although Kain Colter stepped in and played moderately well, the Wildcats struggled to find consistency on offense. Perhaps even more troubling was the lack of consistent good play on the defense, which is Fitzgerald's specialty.

Northwestern always seems to come up with a big road upset, and this year was no different with Nebraska surprisingly losing to Northwestern at home. However, better recruiting must take place so that the loss of one player such as Persa does not wreck the team the way it did this year.

A compelling game against Texas A&M awaits in bowl season. Northwestern does have the advantage that the Aggies have fired their coach already, so bowl preparation should favor the Wildcats. The Aggies have more overall talent, but Northwestern can defeat them with a few breaks. The last bowl win came five years after the Pearl Harbor attack, so this win is long overdue.

10. Minnesota (2-6, 3-9)

Theme Song – Broken, Beat and Scarred

The race for tenth best in the conference was actually a tough call, as Minnesota finished three games worse than Illinois but had a much better second half of the season. The Golden Gophers were also experiencing the difficulties of adjusting to new schemes in a new coach's first year, while Illinois finally fired Ron Zook. But before we get carried away with Illini talk, we will just say 27-7 on the last week of the season cemented Minnesota up into this spot.

Quarterback MarQueis Gray took some strides forward this year, and the offense looked much better in the month of November then during a tough opening stretch. The defense even learned how to come up with big plays against the likes of Iowa, Illinois, and Nebraska. Jerry Kill will need a few years to dig this program out of the hole in the Legends division, but there are good signs already visible.

For 2012, the goal should be bowl eligibility. Even that may be a long shot in a tough Legends division, but the Golden Gophers might as well shoot for the stars early rather than hoping for small steps only. The beatings dished out against the young Gophers this season will bring a much better and tougher version in 2012.

11. Illinois (2-6, 6-6)

Theme Song – I Disappear

After a tumultuous seven seasons in Champaign, Ron Zook is finally out the door. It seemed like every season Zook was on the hot seat, but kept doing just enough to stay on the coaching staff. Despite a surprise trip to the Rose Bowl and a lot of talent recruited, Zook kept finishing near .500 or with losing records.

Once again, it looked like this Illini team was going to breakthrough and help Zook keep his job at 6-0. Then the wheels fell off at home against Ohio State and the season might as well have ended on that mid-October Saturday. Illinois endured six consecutive losses in which the offense failed to score for a complete half in each game. Despite the defense outplaying Penn State and Wisconsin, the offense could not do enough to win those games.

Then the final straw came the day after Zook was fired, as the Illini put up an uninspired effort and lost to Minnesota by 20. Nobody knows which Illini team or what coaches will show up to play against UCLA in the Dysfunctional Bowl, but hopefully for the Big Ten, the 6-0 version of the Illini shows up.

As for next year, a good coach could do a lot right away with all the talent Zook assembles. Illinois could actually be a dark horse Leaders division contender in 2012.

12. Indiana (0-8, 1-11)

Theme Song – Harvester of Sorrow

Kevin Wilson brought a hard-nosed attitude with him from Oklahoma, but he was not allowed to bring all his former players along. As a result, Indiana dropped to lower lows than even the past few disappointing seasons. Similar to Minnesota, the Hoosiers showed life in the second half of the season.

However, the Hoosiers were never all that close to winning. The best performance of the year probably came in early November at Ohio State, but then the Buckeyes lost their last three games and perhaps explained why the Hoosiers played so well. The biggest problem with Indiana in 2011 was a defense that did not tackle well and gave up tons of big plays.

Wilson will need to go back to the basics with this group of players while he recruits the level of talent that he needs to get better in the conference. Indiana will likely be in the basement for a couple more years, but winning conference games will be the first step on the road to redemption.