The Big Ten conference had a representatively strong Week 1, with an overall record of 12-2. Of the losses, one was understandable (Northwestern at Stanford) and one was downright strange (Purdue losing to Nevada on the road, on a last-second, 56-yard field goal kicked by a freshman walk-on).
Here is the first set of Big Ten Power Rankings for the 2019 season. To level set, I’ll be sharing with you some ground rules for how to handle these rankings:
1) Rankings are created using a combination of past results (weighted for strength of schedule), mostly using the eye test but with some input from ESPN’s S&P+ efficiency ratings.