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There were a few Big Ten games sprinkled in a shaky Week 3 slate, but now there's no such thing as sprinkling anymore. 

The conference season is here, and a rather important conference opener between No. 17 Iowa and No. 18 Michigan in Ann Arbor is fast approaching. 

We'll have plenty of preview content coming here on HawkeyeRoundtable.com, but before we can get there, it's time to release our weekly batch of Big Ten power rankings. 

Where do the Hawkeyes stand after a 55-0 demolition of Northern Iowa? Here's our answer.  

No. 18: Rutgers (0-3, 0-1) 

Rutgers surprisingly hung around with a ranked USC team at home, but the Scarlet Knights simply couldn't stop a nosebleed and lost by a touchdown. Much better outing from Greg Schiano's team, but Rutgers is still going nowhere. 

No. 17: Purdue (1-2, 0-1) 

Purdue went blow-for-blow at the Rose Bowl with what looks to be a good UCLA team, but like Rutgers, the Boilermaker defense simply had no answers for the Bruin offense and lost 52-38. That's now 19 straight Big Ten losses for Purdue. 

No. 16: Maryland (2-1) 

Maryland came out flat at home against Virginia Tech, which seems to be a theme under Mike Locksley. Having thousands of Hokie fans inside SECU Stadium probably didn't help, either. 

No. 15: Michigan State (2-1) 

Michigan State was expected to get throttled in South Bend, but Pat Fitzgerald's Spartans actually held their own against Notre Dame. That earns some brownie points from me. 

No. 14: Wisconsin (2-1) 

Wisconsin trailed Eastern Michigan for most of the first half, but somehow exploded for 54 points. That's not even close to earning a bump in these rankings, though. 

No. 13: Minnesota (2-1) 

The Gophers bounced back from their blowout loss to Mississippi State with a 41-7 win over Akron, but we'll still need to see more from P.J. Fleck's group in conference play. 

No. 12: Nebraska (3-0) 

Nebraska rolled to a victory over North Dakota, which happens to be on Iowa's 2027 schedule. Next, please. 

No. 11: Northwestern (2-0) 

The Wildcats had an extra week to prepare for Coach Prime's Colorado Buffaloes, and it must've helped, as Northwestern cruised to a 41-7 win. Very, very impressive early-season victory for the 'Cats. 

No. 10: Illinois (2-1) 

The Fighting Illini dominated FCS Southern Illinois at home. Time to move on. 

No. 9: Washington

Points can be added to the Husky Stadium scoreboard, after all. Forty-eight points for Washington is nice, but it did come against an FCS team as well. 

No. 8: UCLA (3-0, 1-0) 

UCLA had to score 52 points to beat Purdue, but when it was all said and done, Bob Chesney's team left with its first Big Ten win of the season. The Bruins have already matched their win total from all of last season. 

No. 7: Michigan (3-0) 

Michigan struggled with UTEP in the first half before finally getting things going and coasting to a 52-17 triumph over the Miners. A massive home showdown with Iowa awaits. 

No. 6: Iowa (3-0) 

Iowa did what it needed to do against an overmatched Northern Iowa team – take care of business. The Hawkeyes did just that and more and tallied the second-most total yards in the Kirk Ferentz era. That's a really good momentum boost for Iowa as it heads to Ann Arbor for a huge matchup. 

No. 5: USC (3-0, 1-0) 

USC avoided an absolute disaster in Piscataway, but that's the name of the game. There are some valid concerns with this defense, though. 

No. 4: Oregon (2-1) 

I was not a fan of Oregon running up the score and reaching 84 points against Portland State, but apparently the Ducks needed to take their anger out on someone after the embarrassing loss in Stillwater. 

No. 3: Penn State (3-0) 

Iowa State East had no trouble taking care of Buffalo. Time for some better competition. 

No. 2: Ohio State (2-1) 

Kent State's best defense on Saturday was to simply move out of the way for Jeremiah Smith. No one was stopping Ohio State after its loss to Texas, and it's probably a good thing the Buckeyes don't come to Iowa City this weekend. 

No. 1: Indiana (3-0) 

The defending national champions will stay in the top spot until they lose. The Hoosiers will open conference play with an intriguing Friday night battle against Northwestern. 

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HawkeyeRoundtable publisher Brad Schultz has covered the Iowa Hawkeyes since 2023. To send him story ideas, scoops, or criticize his writing, reach him at bradschultz@roundtable.io

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