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Wisconsin football: Purdue joins the rankings and the Big Ten West is wide open

The new AP and Coaches Polls are out and, while the Badgers are still unranked, there are a bunch of Big Ten teams in the top-25s.

By jakedicker
Purdue v Iowa Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images

The lights were on at Camp Randall Stadium on Saturday night as the Badgers hosted Army and played one of the slowest paced games you’ll ever see. The game featured 21 TOTAL passing attempts. The Badgers came away with a 20-14 win to even their overall record at 3-3.

A win over Army doesn’t do much to impress voters, and in this week’s polls the Badgers remained unranked and received no votes.

The B1G

  • Ohio State —> No. 5 Coaches Poll, No. 5 AP Poll
  • Michigan —> No. 6 Coaches Poll, No. 6 AP Poll
  • Michigan State —> No. 7 Coaches Poll, No. 9 AP Poll
  • Penn State —> No. 8 Coaches Poll, No. 7 AP Poll
  • Iowa —> No. 11 Coaches Poll, No. 11 AP Poll
  • Purdue —> Unranked Coaches Poll, No. 25 AP Poll
  • Wisconsin —> Unranked Coaches Poll, Unranked AP Poll

Nationwide musings

  • Iowa’s defense couldn’t carry them forever. The No. 2 team in the country fell to unranked Purdue at home, effectively eliminating themselves from the College Football Playoff picture. The loss opens the door for the Badgers. If UW wins out, they’ll be heading to Indy to play for the Big Ten championship.
  • Does the Big Ten miss out on the playoff entirely? Despite having five teams ranked in the top 11, the conference lacks that “standout team” that deserves a spot in the playoff. If Georgia, Cincinnati and Oklahoma all win out, they’re in. That leaves one spot. If Michigan runs the table and beats Ohio State, they’re in as the undefeated Big Ten champ. If Michigan falters and Alabama beats Georgia in the SEC Championship game, they’re in. This will be a great race to the end.
  • Cincinnati keeps rising in the polls. The Bearcats are now the No. 2 team in the AP Poll and it’s becoming more and more likely that they will become the first Group of 5 program to ever make the College Football Playoff.
  • Oklahoma’s QB change seems to be a great move. In Caleb Williams’ first start as a Sooner, he threw for 295 yards and 4 touchdowns with a 96.5 QBR in a 52-31 win over TCU. Spencer Rattler to the transfer portal???

Newcomers

AP Top-25: No. 19 Auburn, No. 20 Baylor, No. 23 Pittsburgh, No. 24 UTSA, No. 25 Purdue

Coaches Poll: No. 20 Baylor, No. 22 Auburn, No. 23 Pittsburgh, No. 25 UTSA

Drop outs

AP Top-25: No. 17 Arkansas, No. 18 Arizona State, No. 19. BYU, No. 20 Florida, No. 25 Texas

Coaches Poll: No. 17 Florida, No. 19 Arkansas, No. 20 BYU, No. 22 Arizona State

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