College Football

2024 Big Ten Power Rankings: Oregon and Ohio State reign, while Indiana falls

Updated Nov. 25, 2024 5:14 p.m. ET

College Football and College Basketball Writer

The final top-five showdown on the Big Ten calendar was college football's main attraction in Week 13, as No. 5 Indiana and its brash head coach Curt Cignetti traveled to No. 2 Ohio State for a game with major conference championship implications. A victory for the Hoosiers would have all but assured them of an improbable trip to Indianapolis for the Big Ten title game in early December. While a win for the Buckeyes would move them closer to clinching a spot at Lucas Oil Stadium for the first time since 2020.

[Top 25 rankings: Notre Dame, Arizona State rise]

Despite how close these two programs were in the latest College Football Playoff rankings, the on-field product reflected the kind of gulf most fans would expect between Indiana and Ohio State given the vast differences in pedigree.

Head coach Ryan Day and his team outclassed the Hoosiers in all three phases on Saturday with a 38-15 win that allowed the Buckeyes to maintain control of their own destiny entering the rivalry game against Michigan. Indiana, meanwhile, will likely need to hope for an at-large berth to be part of this year's playoff.

Elsewhere around the league, Penn State kept its own CFP hopes alive by narrowly avoiding what would have been a disastrous road loss to Minnesota. And Nebraska pulled away from Wisconsin to reach bowl eligibility for the first time since 2016.

Here's fresh batch of Big Ten Power Rankings following Week 13:

1. Oregon (11-0 overall, 8-0 Big Ten)

Result: Idle

Oregon clinched a spot in the Big Ten Championship game with its hard-fought win at Wisconsin two weeks ago, even though the conference itself didn't realize the Ducks had done so until three days later. Such is life in a league with 18 teams and labyrinthine tiebreaking procedures. But by Tuesday evening, Oregon could revel in what it has achieved during the school's first year in the Big Ten and savor what remained of its bye week. Now head coach Dan Lanning and his team are preparing to host Washington in an old-school Pac-12 rivalry game.

2. Ohio State (10-1, 7-1 Big Ten)

Result: 38-15 home win over No. 5 Indiana

The Buckeyes earned their second victory against a top-five opponent by outclassing Indiana in a game that wasn't as close as the final score indicated. Head coach Ryan Day and his staff should be thrilled with the way Ohio State performed in all three phases on Saturday while disposing of a team that had pummeled everyone but Michigan this season. The offense looked crisp under the steady guidance of quarterback Will Howard, who completed 22 of 26 passes for 201 yards and three total scores. The defense limited a high-flying Indiana offense to just 153 total yards, including a miserly 68 through the air as quarterback Kurtis Rourke was repeatedly under pressure. And the special teams produced a touchdown of its own when safety Caleb Downs returned a punt 79 yards for a score that broke the game open early in the third quarter. Now the Buckeyes can turn their attention to the rivalry with Michigan, which has beaten Ohio State in three consecutive games for the first time since 1995-97.

Highlights: No. 2 Ohio State runs past No. 5 Indiana

3. Penn State (10-1 overall, 7-1 Big Ten)

Result: 26-25 road win over Minnesota

On Saturday afternoon, Penn State's hopes of reaching the College Football Playoff flickered beneath the Midwest sunshine as the Nittany Lions trailed by six in the latter stages of the third quarter. They had no way of knowing, in that moment, about the late-night SEC carnage to come — a car crash of upsets that significantly tipped the balance of at-large berths back toward the Big Ten. Instead, Penn State cobbled together two scoring drives in the span of eight minutes between the third and fourth quarter to climb ahead for good. Head coach James Franklin made a series of gutsy calls on his team's final possession, including a successful fake punt and two more fourth-down conversions that allowed the Nittany Lions to drain the last 5:48 off the clock without giving the ball back to Minnesota. The Penn State defense forced quarterback Max Brosmer to commit two turnovers on an afternoon when it won the turnover battle 2-0 and limited the Gophers to just 282 yards of total offense. All the Nittany Lions must do to reach the CFP for the first time is beat Maryland at home on Saturday.

4. Indiana (10-1 overall, 7-1 Big Ten)

Result: 38-15 road loss to No. 2 Ohio State

There are two lenses through which the Indiana faithful can view what unfolded on Saturday. The first is that head coach Curt Cignetti and his team were thoroughly beaten and thoroughly outcoached by a program that is far more experienced in high-level, highly ranked matchups. Almost nothing the Hoosiers tried on offense generated any success beyond the first possession, with quarterback Kurtis Rourke only throwing for 68 yards and the rushing attack limited to just 2.1 yards per carry. Two gaffes by the Indiana punting unit gifted Ohio State what amounted to 14 points — seven on the punt return touchdown by Caleb Downs, seven more on the botched snap that gave the Buckeyes the ball within a few feet of the goal line. The other lens is far more positive: Upsets across the Big 12 and SEC rendered Indiana's defeat far less impactful than it otherwise might have been when it comes to qualifying for the College Football Playoff. As long as the Hoosiers beat Indiana this weekend, they should find themselves included in the 12-team field.

Ohio State takes care of business. Is Indiana a playoff team?

5. Illinois (8-3 overall, 5-3 Big Ten)

Result: 38-31 road win over Rutgers

Illinois head coach Bret Bielema can add his counterpart from Rutgers, Greg Schiano, to the list of people he's thankful for this week after the manner in which Saturday's game ended. The Illini trailed by a point in the final seconds when Bielema sent his kicker onto the field for what would have been a 58-yard attempt into swirling winds. But Schiano called timeout milliseconds before the snap, with the referees whistle coming so late that Illinois did, in fact, snap the ball on an attempt that sailed wide left. The reprieve afforded Bielema another chance, and this time he sent his offense back onto the field. That's when quarterback Luke Altmyer fired a strike over the middle to wideout Pat Bryant (seven catches, 197 yards, 1 TD), who galloped down the right sideline for a game-winning score with four seconds remaining. The victory pushed Illinois to eight regular season wins for just the third time in the last 20 years. Counting postseason play, they'll have a chance to reach 10 wins for the first time since 2001. The Illini travel to Northwestern this weekend.

6. Iowa (7-4 overall, 5-3 Big Ten)

Result: 29-13 road win over Maryland

No scholarship quarterback, no problem as the Hawkeyes earned their third win in the last four games. With starter Cade McNamara still recovering from a concussion and backup Brendan Sullivan out for the season with an ankle injury, Iowa turned to former Colorado State transfer Jackson Stratton under center. But offensive coordinator Tim Lester hardly asked much of Stratton, who completed 10 of 14 passes for 76 yards, and leaned instead on the running back tandem of Kaleb Johnson and Kamari Moulton. The former carried 35 times for 164 yards and a touchdown to notch his eighth 100-yard game of the season, while the latter carried 12 times for a career-high 114 yards and a touchdown. Iowa outrushed the Terrapins 273-98 and outgained them 349-227 overall in a wire-to-wire victory. The Hawkeyes host Nebraska on Friday night as head coach Kirk Ferentz seeks an eighth consecutive eight-win season outside of the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign.

7. Michigan (6-5 overall, 4-4 Big Ten)

Result: 50-6 home win over Northwestern

Michigan punctuated one of the biggest weeks in recent program history by throttling Northwestern to reach bowl eligibility under first-year coach Sherrone Moore. Buoyed by the news that the Wolverines had successfully flipped quarterback Bryce Underwood, the No. 1 overall player in the 2025 recruiting cycle, Moore's team turned in its most complete performance of the season against the struggling Wildcats. Tailbacks Kalel Mullings, Donovan Edwards and Tavierre Dunlap combined for five rushing touchdowns as Michigan's offense outgained Northwestern 396-128 overall. Even quarterback Davis Warren set a new personal best in conference play by throwing for 195 yards and one touchdown with completions to 11 different receivers. A terrific defensive effort limited the Wildcats to 11 rushing yards on 24 carries as Michigan did not surrender an offensive touchdown for the first time all season. Next for the Wolverines is a trip to Ohio Stadium for the rivalry game against Ohio State.

Michigan runs past Northwestern to become bowl-eligible

8. Minnesota (6-5 overall, 4-4 Big Ten)

Result: 26-25 home loss to No. 4 Penn State

The Gophers have now dropped two in a row following their four-game winning streak in the middle of the season. Head coach P.J. Fleck's team has lost five games this season by an average of just 7.5 points per game, including defeats by three points or fewer to North Carolina (19-17), then-No. 12 Michigan (27-24) and now Penn State (26-25). Two turnovers from quarterback Max Brosmer (one interception, one fumble) proved costly in a game where Minnesota significantly out-performed the Nittany Lions on third down and finished with a time-of-possession advantage that measured nearly 10 minutes. It was Brosmer's first interception in his last six games following a stretch of four INTs in three games to end September. He didn't receive much support from a rushing attack that only averaged 3.1 yards per carry on 35 attempts and has fallen to 121st nationally after ranking 66th last season. Minnesota, which has already clinched bowl eligibility, can still finish above .500 with a win at Wisconsin on Friday.

9. Washington (6-5 overall, 4-4 Big Ten)

Result: Idle

The Huskies still haven't strung together consecutive victories since opening the season with wins over Weber State and Eastern Michigan to begin the Jedd Fisch era. But an emphatic win over UCLA two weeks ago gives Washington the chance to match that feat if it can upset No. 1 Oregon in a rivalry game at Autzen Stadium. The biggest question facing Fisch and his staff is whether to stick with starting quarterback Will Rogers, who was benched against the Bruins, or hand the keys to true freshman Demond Williams Jr., a dual-threat player and a bright spot for the program's future.

10. USC (6-5 overall, 4-5 Big Ten)

Result: 19-13 road win over UCLA

The Trojans assured themselves of reaching a third consecutive bowl game under head coach Lincoln Riley by coming from behind to defeat UCLA on Saturday night. USC has now won two games in a row since Riley benched starting quarterback Miller Moss in favor of Jayden Maiava, a transfer from UNLV. Maiava completed 19 of 35 passes (54.3%) for 221 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions while orchestrating two fourth-quarter scoring drives to upend the Bruins. He scrambled away from pressure brilliantly and reversed field to find wide receiver Ja'Kobi Lane for what proved to be the winning touchdown with 6:55 remaining and then oversaw an eight-play, 21-yard drive that tacked on a field goal in the final minutes. It was also just the second time this season that the Trojans avoided turning the ball over against a Big Ten opponent. USC faces a difficult regular-season finale when it hosts No. 6 Notre Dame this weekend.

11. Nebraska (6-5 overall, 3-5 Big Ten)

Result: 44-25 home win over Wisconsin

There's a reason fans at Memorial Stadium rushed the field following a seemingly nondescript win over unranked Wisconsin on Saturday: For the first time since 2016, the Cornhuskers are eligible for a bowl game. The victory snapped an unthinkable stretch of eight straight losses in games when Nebraska had a chance to clinch bowl eligibility under second-year coach Matt Rhule, an unsavory run that dates to last season. This was a veritable offensive explosion for a team that averaged 15.6 points per game over its last five games and demoted offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield in the process. Quarterback Dylan Raiola completed 28 of 38 passes for 293 yards and a touchdown in his finest showing since an overtime loss to Illinois on Sept. 20. Tailbacks Emmett Johnson and Dante Dowdell combined to carry 26 times for 154 yards and three touchdowns. The Cornhuskers racked up 478 yards of total offense and converted four of nine times on third down to sustain drives. They'll finish the regular season at Iowa on Friday night.

12. Rutgers (6-5 overall, 3-5 Big Ten)

Result: 38-31 home loss to No. 25 Illinois

What a disappointing ending this was for Rutgers, which had bounced back from a four-game losing streak in the middle of the season to win two straight prior to Saturday's date the Illini. The last-second decision from head coach Greg Schiano to "ice" the Illinois kicker on what turned out to be a missed 58-yard field goal was the Scarlet Knights' undoing as the timeout afforded his opponent the chance to change tactics. Head coach Bret Bielema sent his offense back onto the field, and quarterback Luke Altmyer promptly connected with wideout Pat Bryant for a 40-yard touchdown with :04 remaining that stunned the crowd at SHI Stadium. Rutgers, which already clinched bowl eligibility with a win over Maryland earlier this month, will end the regular season by traveling to Michigan State. Schiano and his team have a good chance to earn a seventh victory in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2011-12.

13. Wisconsin (5-6 overall, 3-5 Big Ten)

Result: 44-25 road loss to Nebraska

Things continue to go south for Wisconsin, which suffered a fourth straight loss on Saturday. Almost none of the fight and spirit the Badgers showed in their narrow three-point loss to No. 1 Oregon two weeks ago carried over to the rivalry game at Memorial Stadium. Head coach Luke Fickell's team allowed a season-high 44 points to an offense that hadn't topped 20 points since beating Purdue on Sept. 28. Wisconsin allowed more than 475 yards of total offense, including 180 rushing yards and four touchdowns on the ground. Despite parting ways with offensive coordinator Phil Longo last weekend, the Badgers' offense still only converted three of 10 times on third down and turned the ball over twice. Quarterback Braedyn Locke tossed an interception for the eighth straight game. Wisconsin must beat Minnesota on Friday to avoid missing a bowl game for the first time since 2001.

14. Michigan State (5-6 overall, 3-5 Big Ten)

Result: 24-17 home win over Purdue

Michigan State pulled within one victory of reaching bowl eligibility in its first season under Jonathan Smith by racing to a 21-point halftime on Friday and then holding off the Boilermakers in the fourth quarter. The Spartans produced points on each of their first four drives behind an interception-free effort from quarterback Aidan Chiles, who completed 15 of 31 passes for 159 yards and two scores. Chiles has now gone back-to-back games without an interception for the first time all season and has only tossed three INTs in his last six games. Linebacker Jordan Turner made a critical fourth-quarter interception when Purdue had an opportunity to tie the game, and the Spartans forced a turnover on downs during the next Boilermakers' drive. A win over Rutgers on Saturday would send Michigan State to the postseason.

Highlights: Michigan State takes down Purdue

15. UCLA (4-7 overall, 3-6 Big Ten)

Result: 19-13 home loss to USC

The Bruins led 13-9 entering the fourth quarter on Saturday night and had yet to allow a touchdown to their cross-town rivals before everything crumbled in the final eight minutes. Back-to-back offensive possessions ended with UCLA turning the ball over on downs as it was unable to answer the late-game playmaking from USC quarterback Jayden Maiava, who tossed what proved to be the winning score with 6:55 remaining. Head coach DeShaun Foster's offense only converted three of 11 times on third down and failed on all three fourth-down attempts to squander just its third turnover-free outing of the year. UCLA will complete its season with a non-conference matchup against Fresno State (6-5 overall, 4-3 Mountain West) this weekend.

16. Northwestern (4-7 overall, 2-6 Big Ten)

Result: 50-6 road loss to Michigan

This was an embarrassing result for Northwestern, as second-year head coach David Braun limps toward the finish line of a disappointing campaign. The Wildcats have now dropped four of their last five games by an average of 28.5 points per game, only one of which came against a ranked opponent. They allowed a Michigan offense that still ranks 128th overall to convert 12 of 17 times on third and fourth down combined. The rushing defense surrendered 201 yards and a season-high five touchdowns on 35 attempts. Northwestern will now miss a bowl game for the third time in the last four years after last year's impressive 8-5 mark during Braun's first season. They host No. 25 Illinois on Saturday.

17. Maryland (4-7 overall, 1-7 Big Ten)

Result: 29-13 home loss to Iowa

All the Terrapins needed to do on Saturday to keep their hopes of reaching a fourth straight bowl game alive was beat an unranked Iowa team forced to start a walk-on transfer at quarterback. Simple enough, right? It certainly didn't play out that way. Maryland's run defense crumbled by allowing the Hawkeyes to rush for 273 yards and two touchdowns, with tailbacks Kaleb Johnson and Kamari Moulton both topping 100 yards. Even a quarterback change from Billy Edwards Jr. to MJ Morris, the former NC State transfer, proved disastrous as the latter tossed two interceptions and only completed 52.2% of his passes. The Terrapins will finish below .500 for the first time since 2020.

18. Purdue (1-10 overall, 0-8 Big Ten)

Result: 24-17 road loss to Michigan State

In what seemed like the most winnable game remaining on Purdue's schedule, the Boilermakers fell behind 24-3 in the second quarter en route to a 10th consecutive loss. Two second-half touchdowns made the final margin more respectable, but this was another lackluster performance from head coach Ryan Walters' team. Unless Purdue can upset No. 5 Indiana on Saturday — on the road, no less — the Boilermakers will finish winless in Big Ten play for the first time since 2013 and only the third time ever.

Michael Cohen covers college football and basketball for FOX Sports with an emphasis on the Big Ten. Follow him at @Michael_Cohen13.