Big Ten Football Week 3 Power Rankings: Is Indiana the Clear-Cut No. 1?

The Big Ten as a whole had a less-than ideal Week 2. Ohio State blew a 20-point lead in the fourth quarter. Oregon fell to an Oklahoma State squad on the heels of a Week 1 loss to Tulsa. Save for Michigan knocking off Oklahoma, the league didn’t have a redeemable showing against a worthy opponent.

The top tier of the conference is seemingly down to two, and the rest of the best all blur together. Here is our Week 3 top five of the Big Ten:

Big Ten football Week 3 top five

Dec 6, 2025; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day and Indiana Hoosiers head coach Curt Cignetti shake hands after the 2025 Big Ten championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Goddin-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Next up: Nebraska, Iowa, Penn State

No. 5 Oregon

Oregon head coach Dan Lanning looks on as the Oregon Ducks face the Oklahoma State Cowboys on Sept. 12, 2026, at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Oklahoma. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Pulling off an escape act vs. Boise State in Week 1 before getting blasted by Oklahoma State – the final score of 39-31 was deceiving – in Week 2 inspires very little confidence.

The natural reaction is to call Oregon this year’s Penn State and knock the Ducks out of the discussion for any Big Ten title or College Football Playoff contention. But that would be unwise.

Dan Lanning lost both of his coordinators this offseason, so Oregon is undergoing a few adjustments. But Dante Moore, if he plays to his ceiling, is one of the best quarterbacks in the nation. The Ducks’ defense brings back eight starters from last year’s lockdown crew.

The personnel isn’t lacking at all. But that doesn’t guarantee that Oregon can bounce back. It all comes down to Lanning. Based on his .845 career win percentage – he has just nine losses in five seasons – it’d be ill-advised to say he won’t rally the troops and get the Ducks back on track.

No. 4 Michigan

Sep 12, 2026; Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA; Michigan Wolverines quarterback Bryce Underwood (19) passes the ball against the Oklahoma Sooners during the fourth quarter at Michigan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Wolverines are bewildering. Of course there was the Week 1 debacle – and that set an unsightly precedent for what was to come. Oklahoma was already a tally in the loss column for Michigan before kickoff, as far as any non-Wolverine backer was concerned.

Instead, the defense, which was an established strength, was even stingier than expected. It yielded just one touchdown, bottling up the Sooners’ run game to the tune of 3.4 yards per carry while holding John Mateer to 17-of-33 for 189 yards and that one score.

The Wolverines also forced two turnovers. If it wasn’t for a boneheaded penalty on seemingly every possession at the most inopportune time, Michigan may have held Oklahoma scoreless.

Offensively, sophomore quarterback Bryce Underwood, who desperately needed a huge performance, turned in one of the better showings of his career. Yet he still wound up going just 9-of-17 for 111 yards through the air (did run for 87 yards and a touchdown). Michigan’s ceiling remains tethered to Underwood’s growth as a passer.

No. 3 USC

One of the few Big Ten squads we haven’t learned much about, USC has been in cruise control to a 3-0 start. The defense is once again a mild problem (albeit not to the same extent as a year ago).

Quarterback Jayden Maiava has, unsurprisingly, been superb, throwing for 896 yards and ten touchdowns against one interception while completing 80.7 percent of his passes.

The ground attack has added enough value and kept defenses honest (518 yards as a team on 4.4 yards per carry), but this Trojans squad is, as Lincoln Riley-coached teams always are, a pass-first offense.

The only question: is USC going to be forced to rely on Maiava and Co. to survive shootouts on a weekly basis – or will the defense finally step up? If the defense – which has already yielded 25-plus points in two out of three games – finds a new gear, the Trojans have a chance to find themselves in the CFP despite a dangerous conference slate.

No. 2 Ohio State

It is very tempting to keep Ohio State at No. 1. After three and a half quarters, the Buckeyes looked bored. They had waltzed into Austin to face the then-No. 4 team in the country – Texas – and tossed the Longhorns all over the field en route to a 23-3 lead.

Julian Sayin and Jeremiah Smith had dominated through the air. Ohio State was owning the trenches on both sides of the football. Texas didn’t look like it belonged on the same field as the visitors – until it did.

The Buckeyes crumbled like a stale muffin. Everything that went wrong did. The defense couldn’t stop the run or the pass. The offense was out of whack. Ohio State still could have closed it out with a field goal – but it, of course, missed the 45-yarder.

Still, all losses aren’t created equal. For the vast majority of Saturday night, Ohio State was the better team – and by a Texas mile. Momentum stole the show, though, and the Longhorns rode it all the way home.

But don’t get it twisted: head man Ryan Day made his fair share of mistakes and the Buckeyes’ personnel didn’t rise to the occasion. On the flip side, nothing changed: at its best, Ohio State is the best team in the country. But it isn’t easy to consistently operate at or near the ceiling – although it isn’t impossible as some teams have shown...

No. 1 Indiana

Sep 12, 2026; Bloomington, Indiana, USA; Indiana Hoosiers running back Turbo Richard (1) runs for a touchdown against Howard Bison linebacker Rodney Roane (4) during the first half at Merchants Bank Field at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Goddin-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Similar to USC, we haven’t learned a ton about the Hoosiers. We can read between the lines, though. Holding any team, even an FCS squad, to 57 total yards and just four first downs in a game is simply absurd – especially down two starters in the secondary.

The rushing attack was concerningly bottled up in Week 1. But any questions were swiftly answered in Week 2 with 296 yards on the ground (6.4 yards per carry).

Indiana has firepower and depth at every position group. Quarterback Josh Hoover has mostly been stellar through two weeks, but it’ll all hinge on him come Big Ten play.

For now, we’ll have to trust Cignetti’s track record, the surrounding pieces and Hoover’s own body of work. And until the Hoosiers show us any reason to believe otherwise, the Big Ten runs through Bloomington.

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