Big Ten Football Power Rankings: UCLA, USC rise after huge road wins

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EUGENE, OREGON – OCTOBER 10: Jalen Woods #9 of the UCLA Bruins celebrates after a play during the first half of a game between the Oregon Ducks and ULCA Bruins at Autzen Stadium on October 10, 2026 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Al Sermeno/ISI Photos/ISI Photos via Getty Images) | ISI Photos via Getty Images

Week 6 saw UCLA pick up a huge road win in Eugene, while Indiana snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in Lincoln. Our power rankings had to adjust accordingly, as Oregon plummets and UCLA moves up near the very top.

There is still tons of football left to be played, but here are our Big Ten power rankings heading into Week 7:

10. Purdue Boilermakers: 3-3, Def. Minnesota 41-13, LW: 14

Purdue? Really? I’m just as surprised to see the Boilermakers crack the top 10 as you are, but check the tape. Purdue’s three losses are to Notre Dame, UCLA, and Wake Forest. We know Notre Dame was a good loss, but since playing Purdue, both UCLA and Wake Forest are off to excellent starts to the season. Purdue is also 2-1 in the Big Ten with wins in back-to-back weeks over Illinois and Minnesota. For now, the Boilermakers sit at 10.

9. Northwestern Wildcats: 4-1, Def. Ball State 45-14, LW: 10

Northwestern’s slow climb up the power rankings continues, as the Wildcats easily dispatched Ball State out of the MAC. With Michigan State and Rutgers up next on the schedule, expect Northwestern to continue to move up and up as time goes by.

8. Oregon Ducks: 3-2, Lost to UCLA 15-17, LW: 3

Compared to preseason expectations, Oregon might just be the most disappointing team in the country. However, for the purposes of these power rankings, I can’t drop the Ducks any lower than No. 8. Dylan Raiola was a turnover machine in Eugene on Saturday, which led to his benching. With Dante Moore still unavailable, Oregon had to turn to their third-string quarterback. The Ducks will now need to win out in order to make the CFP. Good luck with that.

7. Nebraska Cornhuskers: 5-1, Lost to Indiana 17-20, LW: 7

It’s hard to penalize Nebraska when they had a double-digit lead against a top five team in the second half. Matt Rhule’s squad choked away an epic opportunity, but they still proved themselves to be somewhat legitimate. Quarterback Anthony Colandrea was reckless with the ball for a majority of the game, but his gunslinging mentality also helped the Cornhuskers build their lead to begin with.

6. USC Trojans: 6-1, Def. Penn State 31-23, LW: 8

USC’s loss to Oregon isn’t aging well. However, they have picked up back-to-back solid wins against Washington and at Penn State in a white-out. While I still don’t fully buy Lincoln Riley and the Trojans, they’ve done enough to climb back into the top third of the conference.

5. Wisconsin Badgers: 4-1, On bye, LW: 4

The Badgers were idle this week. They only dropped a spot due to impressive performances by a few of other Big Ten foes.

4. Iowa Hawkeyes: 5-1, Def. Washington 41-24, LW: 5

Iowa bounced back in a big way Friday night with a thrashing of Jedd Fisch’s Washington Huskies. The Hawkeyes amassed 465 total yards. This offense is a far cry from Brian Ferentz’s unit of a few years ago. Iowa has arguably the easiest remaining schedule in the Big Ten so keep an eye out for them come CFP ranking time.

3. UCLA Bruins: 5-0, Def. Oregon 17-15, Last Week: 6

UCLA is easily the feel-good story of the Big Ten this season. When Bob Chesney was hired from James Madison, people joked that it couldn’t possibly go as well as Curt Cignetti at Indiana. So far, so good for Chesney and the Bruins. UCLA only has one ranked opponent left on the schedule, somehow, in rival USC. Don’t look now, but this could be a CFP team come December.

2. Ohio State Buckeyes: 5-1, Def. Maryland 45-16, LW: 2

The Buckeyes completed another route of an overmatched, Big Ten bottom-feeder. Ohio State still has just one very good loss, although that lone loss doesn’t look quite as elite after Texas dropped a rivalry game to Oklahoma. The Buckeyes simply need more quality wins before they can move up.

1. Indiana Hoosiers: 6-0, Def. Nebraska 20-17, LW: 1

I agonized over whether to put the Hoosiers or Buckeyes No. 1 this week. Indiana looked objectively bad through three quarters in Lincoln. However, I have a hard time punishing them for completing a furious fourth-quarter rally against an undefeated Big Ten team on the road. Whether this was the right or wrong move will be settled on the field this coming Saturday.

Everybody else:

11. Minnesota Golden Gophers
12. Michigan Wolverines
13. Washington Huskies
14. Penn State Nittany Lions
15. Illinois Fighting Illini
16. Michigan State Spartans
17. Maryland Terrapins
18. Rutgers Scarlet Knights

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