Another Basement Blog by Rittenberg: B10 Power Rankings
http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/20166/big-ten-power-rankings-w…
Rittenberg came out with his B10 rankings earlier tonight. Either he scored some extra cat nip tonight or rushed this because his Ma was calling him to come out of the basement for a late dinner.
Northwestern & Illinois above Michigan?!
Illinois can only play on half a field and Northwestern was stricken by the Angry QB Hating God. How are they in this position?
PSU above Iowa and Illinois?!
Both these teams crushed PSU. I know they didn't have McGloin, but I doubt the outcome would change with him in.
LOLophers above Indiana?
Granted Indiana has not won a conference game, but I feel that they would if they played the LOLophers.
Agree? Disagree? Thoughts?
osu sucks.
November 23rd, 2010 at 1:03 AM ^
It should be
1) Wisky
2) OSU
3)MSU
4) Iowa
5) PSU (very close behind Iowa)
6) Mich
7) NW (very close behind us)
8) Illinois
9) Purdue
10) IU
11) Minny
November 23rd, 2010 at 9:25 AM ^
How could you conceivably have Iowa behind MSU?
November 23rd, 2010 at 9:43 AM ^
Because one is 10-1 while the other is 7-4?
November 23rd, 2010 at 2:06 PM ^
I'll take Iowa at 7-4 over MSU's 10-1.
Iowa didn't just beat MSU, they abused them.
November 23rd, 2010 at 3:14 PM ^
So you are using one game weeks ago to make your power rankings? That makes sense. MSU beat Wiscy pretty easily, doesn't that mean they should be ahead of them?
November 23rd, 2010 at 5:43 PM ^
Yes I am. They played head-to-head. Iowa kicked their ass.
In a question of 3rd vs. 4th in power rankings, I take Iowa over MSU.
November 23rd, 2010 at 9:59 AM ^
If that's the case, how could you have Wisconsin ahead of MSU?
November 23rd, 2010 at 3:46 PM ^
so MSU can' t be ahead of Iowa, but then Wisconsin can't be ahead of MSU, and Ohio State can't be ahead of Wisconsin. Iowa in turn, can't be ahead of either OSU and Wisconsin but can be ahead of MSU. Meanwhile, PSU can't be ahead of Iowa and Illinois. PSU can however be ahead of Michigan, but Michigan has to be ahead of Illinois but not Iowa. Can Indiana and Minn be tied for last?
November 23rd, 2010 at 9:33 AM ^
POSSIBLY have OSU above anyone else? It's hate week. THEY'RE THE WORST TEAM IN EXISTENCE.
November 23rd, 2010 at 1:05 AM ^
how do you have illinois behind northwestern after saturday?
November 23rd, 2010 at 1:08 AM ^
If Minnesota is not last, it is not a legitimate rankings.
November 23rd, 2010 at 1:10 AM ^
He literally just went straight by conference record.
November 23rd, 2010 at 1:10 AM ^
How did he put Illinois over us when we beat them? If Persa would have played last weekend, Illinois wouldn't even be bowl elidgible. PSU over Iowa is a joke too. Whatever Shittenberg AKA (Kyle Edwards).....
November 23rd, 2010 at 1:44 AM ^
Rittenberg is fair. He doesn't deserve vulgar nicknames.
Illinois over Michigan is possible; yes, we beat them, but it was in overtime on our own field. On a neutral field, who knows? I'm not so sure that NW would have beaten them with Persa, given that their D gave up 48 points.
PSU over Iowa is iffier, but you could argue that the two teams are trending in opposite directions.
November 23rd, 2010 at 2:25 AM ^
You are right, he is usually fair. Dumb joke on my part, but I do think Persa is a huge difference maker with NW. I dont care about what Illinois did to NW's Defense because I believe Persa might of been able to swap scores with Illinois like we did. With that being said, these rankings really don't matter. What matters now is us going to Columbus and playing our best game of the year.
November 23rd, 2010 at 1:13 AM ^
1. Michigan
2. Rest of Big Ten
November 23rd, 2010 at 1:57 AM ^
Next year it will be
12. OSU
November 23rd, 2010 at 9:27 AM ^
Might as well be ranking literacy too.
November 23rd, 2010 at 1:41 AM ^
I say this because they manhandled both Penn State and MSU despite losing to Northwestern.
November 23rd, 2010 at 1:49 AM ^
Is unfounded. Persa doesn't play defense. Illinois' O murdered NW's D. No reason to assume Illinois couldn't beat NW with Persa, too.
November 23rd, 2010 at 2:05 AM ^
Illinois, Michigan, NW comparisons get tricky
UM beat Illinois by 2 in 3OT
Ill thumped NW who was playing without Persa
NW beat Iowa which neither Michigan or Illinois has done
Ill thumped PSU
PSU thumped UM
PSU beat NW
November 23rd, 2010 at 2:07 AM ^
This any of this really matter to life? Its like reading the Power Rankings....ok?
November 23rd, 2010 at 8:39 AM ^
But I did want to note that, no, this isn't like reading the power rankings. This is reading the power rankings.
November 23rd, 2010 at 8:45 AM ^
it's exactly like reading the power rankings.
November 23rd, 2010 at 8:49 AM ^
Even better: this activity is logically equivalent to reading the power rankings.
November 23rd, 2010 at 2:31 AM ^
He goes by how teams perform on a week to week basis, not their body of work as a whole. That is why those teams are above Michigan this week.
November 23rd, 2010 at 9:22 AM ^
He always overreacts to the game that a team just played. Putting Penn State above Iowa makes no sense based on recent performance (both played OSU in the last 2 games, Penn State got pounded while Iowa barely lost) but he does it because PSU just won and Iowa just lost. After Purdue bean Minn and NW, he put them 5th even though they hadn't played well.
November 23rd, 2010 at 2:57 AM ^
I think its more a reflection of current form of a team than anything else.
November 23rd, 2010 at 4:53 AM ^
More like:
1. Wisc
2. OSU
3. Iowa
4. PSU (after they beat MSU)
5. MSU
6. NW (healthy Persa)
7. Michigan
8. Illinois
9. Purdue
10. Indiana
11. Minn.
November 23rd, 2010 at 5:11 AM ^
Wisc, OSU, MSU top three are fine and pretty much noncontroversial.
Iowa should be fourth. I thought Iowa was the best 3-loss team in the country, and now they're the best four-loss team in the country. It's pretty much the bizarro version of last year's team. I don't care how good PSU looks, when Iowa just did better against OSU than PSU did.
PSU, NW 6th and 7th.
I'd put Illinois over Michigan. While neither team is particularly good, Illinois has actually led ranked teams before Zooking away their win in the second half. Good 4th quarters don't win games unless the score was already fairly close. If I were only going off of head to head, I'd take Michigan on a neutral field, but there's more to the teams than head to head at this point.
Minnesota last. Stupid upset over Illinois or not, they have two wins and lost to a 1-AA team. When you lost to a 1-AA team, you need several good skulls before you can be considered a half-decent team again.
November 23rd, 2010 at 7:57 AM ^
I actually emailed him about this and told him by putting teams in front of teams they lost to he's no better than Lou Holtz, who claims OSU is a better 1 loss team than Wisconsin, despite Wisconsin beating them.
November 23rd, 2010 at 9:57 AM ^
Not a strongly worded letter!
November 23rd, 2010 at 8:26 AM ^
Northwestern is sunk without Persa. And he's out for the year, so they should sink in anybody's polls.
November 23rd, 2010 at 8:31 AM ^
No reason to call out Rittenberg. He calls it like he sees it and though you might disagree, there's nothing absurd in those rankings.
I keep hoping that at some point people will stop going into a freep frenzy every time someone writes an article that doesn't have Michigan at #1 in all categories. Looks like I need to wait a little while longer.
November 23rd, 2010 at 8:33 AM ^
Yes, I respect Rittenberg a lot. It must have been a HR mistake that ESPN hired him because he actually thinks about what he says/writes. Also, of all the people in the non-local media he's probably been the most supportive of RichRod, besides maybe Cowherd (until recently). And I really can't say that if I were unbiased I'd disagree with those rankings. Or, as a biased person, that I disagree with those rankings.
November 23rd, 2010 at 8:38 AM ^
he makes it very clear that his power rankings are NOT a list of what he sees as the best teams in the league numbered 1 through 11. The rankings are almost solely based on the previous week, maybe two, of games, not the entire season. With that in mind, I think it is entirely reasonable to have Mich that low since we barely deserved to be on the same field as Wisco last Sat.
November 23rd, 2010 at 9:00 AM ^
Rittenberg was in the Big House to see it with his own two eyes on Saturday, not like he's relying on second-hand reports or watching it on tv. He assess us at this point pretty well, actually. Coming out flat offensively while allowing 600+ yards to be piled up on your defense is not going to win you many kudos.
GO BLUE!
November 23rd, 2010 at 9:06 AM ^
It's funny how when Rittenberg writes good things about us people post threads praising him, but when we aren't happy with his unbiased assessment, we hate him.
November 23rd, 2010 at 9:41 AM ^
I dislike him all the time.
November 23rd, 2010 at 10:01 AM ^
Are there any sports writers you do like?
November 23rd, 2010 at 9:22 AM ^
Illinois/NW/Michigan are interchangeable, imo. Call it a tie for 6th. I think Iowa should be ahead of PSU, but no real gripes otherwise.
November 23rd, 2010 at 9:33 AM ^
Well we're 3-0 against Illinois, Purdue and Indiana so at least we're beating the teams we should beat. With our defense that says something. Put it all together and we're a middle of the pack team that can't quite compete just yet with the best in the conference. We had a favorable schedule against Wisconsin, MSU and Iowa getting all of them at home and we lost soundly in each contest. I don't mean to get all Ricky Bobby but if you aren't competing at the top who really cares where we're rated?