After Week 9 the rankings are starting to stabilize a bit. Top teams are defeating top teams, and rising to the top. And the bottom continues to drop out for some other teams. Here is how I rank the teams after Week 9.

Big Ten East

#1 Michigan Wolverines (LW #1)

The Spartans made this a tougher game than many may have thought, but Michigan did what they needed to do to keep the season ending showdown against the Buckeyes relevant. Maryland comes to the Big House this week. This is gonna get ugly.

#2 Ohio State Buckeyes (LW#2)

Northwestern almost came into the shoe and upset the Buckeyes. Ohio State has not looked great the last few weeks...are they overrated? We probably won’t find out until The Big Game. Though, with Nebraska coming in for a prime time game Saturday night, we could find out sooner.

#3 Penn State Nittany Lions (LW #3)

Purdue made this one hell of a game for two quarters. Then this got ugly fast. Penn State sure doesn’t seem like that good of a team, but they might be heading for 10-2 on the year. Iowa heads to Happy Valley this weekend for a prime time tilt on BTN.

#4 Indiana Hoosiers (LW #4)

So I’ll be honest...i thought Maryland beat the Hoosiers until I looked at the score this morning. Sitting at 4-4, Indiana can still make a bowl game if it can win two of its last four. One of those two pretty much needs to happen this week when the Hoosiers go to Jersey.

#5 Maryland Terrapins (LW #5)

Maryland almost got past Indiana, but just not quite. Sitting at 5-3 they need one more win to make a bowl game. I think thats going to have to be Rutgers to end the season since the Terps next three games are at Michigan, and home for Ohio State and Nebraska.

#6 Michigan State Spartans (LW #7)

Sparty will miss a bowl game this year for the first time in a very long time, but they did show up and compete against Michigan last week. Just doing that gets them a bump above an idle Rutgers. Michigan State goes to Illinois this week in what should be an ugly slap fight.

#7 Rutgers Scarlet Knights (LW #6)

A bye gets them dropped since MSU actually looked like they knew how to play football last week. Indiana comes to town this week and the Scarlet Knights will look to play spoiler for their bowl hopes.

Big Ten West

#1 Wisconsin Badgers (LW #1)

Wisconsin claimed the superiority of the west by beating Nebraska in overtime with the possible help of the referees. The Badgers get their last real test of the regular season this week at tarpwestern. Northwestern has killed Bucky’s postseason aspirations before, can they do it again Saturday?

#2 Nebraska Cornhuskers (LW #2)

Nebraska played the Badgers tough, but just not enough to get the win. They get another brutal game this week at Ohio State before Minnesota comes to town next weekend.

#3 Northwestern Wildcats (LW #3)

Northwestern played the Buckeyes tough, but just couldn’t pull out the W in Columbus. They can still make a statement this week by ruining Wisconsin’s NY^ Bowl hopes with a win.

#4 Minnesota Gophers (LW #5)

The Gophers took care of business against a bad Illinois team last weekend. Can they do it again against a bad Purdue team this week. Lets hope so.

#5 Iowa Hawkeyes (LW # 4)

Iowa drops a slot due to a bye. Sucks to be them. But they can move back with a win at Penn State Saturday night.

#6 Purdue Boilermakers (LW #6)

Purdue looked good for a half. Unfortunately in football they play two halves. Here’s to hoping they forget this part again Saturday at TCF.

#7 Illinois Fighting Illini (LW #6)

Illinois is not good. Michigan State is not good. Something has to give on Saturday somehow.

My Rank 1-14

1. Michigan Wolverines (LW #1)
2. Ohio State Buckeyes (LW #2)
3. Wisconsin Badgers (LW #3)
4. Nebraska Cornhuskers (LW #4)
5. Penn State Nittany Lions (LW #5)
6. Northwestern Wildcats (LW #6)
7. Minnesota Gophers (LW #9)
8. Iowa Hawkeyes (LW #7)
9. Indiana Hoosiers (LW #8)
10. Maryland Terrapins (LW #10)
11. Purdue Boilermakers (LW #11)
12. Michigan State Spartans (LW # 14)
13. Illinois Fighting Illini (LW #12)
14. Rutgers Scarlet Knights (LW #13)