cidsports: Ranking the Big Ten and Beyond heading into Week 2

The Big Ten went 9-2 in Week 1 in OOC play. Here's how we would rank the Big Ten, heading into Week 2 of the 2010 College Football season.

#2 Ohio State (1-0) - the defending Big Ten champions will host #11 Miami-FL (1-0) in the Horseshoe in one of many top games of Week 2. The game will showcase junior QB Terrelle Pryor for the Buckeyes vs. junior QB Jacory Harris for the Hurricane. Buckeyes won opener 45-7 over Marshall.
#4 Iowa (1-0) - the darkhorse of the Big Ten will host in-state rival, Iowa State (1-0) in the Cy-Hawk Trophy game, which resumed in 1977. Iowa leads the series 38-17. Iowa won opener 37-7 over Eastern Illinois, a sharp contrast from last year's 17-16 win over Northern Iowa for Hawkeyes. Look for fans on both sides to hit the tailgates heavy before kickoff in this one.
#10 Wisconsin (1-0) - the Badgers hit the road in Week 1 and brought back a win over UNLV 41-21. The Badgers open in Madison in Week 2 vs. San Jose State (0-1), another opportunity to unload a trio of running backs in Clay - Ball - White on the Spartans from the WAC.
#20 Penn State (1-0) - Joe Paterno and the Nittany Lions will hit the road and travel to #1 Alabama (1-0), in a game that will likely provide some wonderful reflection for the head coach in his 45Th season. It will be a tough test for a true freshman QB Rob Bolden, so early in his career. The Nittany Lions will have to reload quickly and a 9-0 win in Tuscaloosa, like the last one in '90 is highly unlikely. The Nittany Lions won the opener over Youngstown State 44-14.
Michigan State (1-0) - the Spartans could very well be the sleeper in the conference in '10. The Spartans travel to Detroit for a game in Ford Field vs. Florida Atlantic (1-0). The Spartans won the opener 38-14 over Western Michigan.
Michigan (1-0) - Wow, when you have no running back, coach Rich Rodriguez has the answer for the Wolverines... start sophomore QB Denard Robinson, who lead the offense to a 30-10 victory over UConn in the season opener in Ann Arbor. The Wolverines will travel to South Bend for a rivalry game @ Notre Dame (1-0) in Week 2.
Northwestern (1-0) - the Wildcats pulled out a 23-21 road win @ Vanderbilt to take the first Big Ten-SEC match up of the season. The Wildcats have a lot of rebuilding to accomplish, but a nice win none the less. The home opener in Week 2 will be vs. Illinois State (1-0), who beat the Mules of Central Missouri State in Redbirds' opener.
Minnesota (1-0) - it was nice to see the Golden Gophers senior Jon Hoese play well, despite the news at home of his father's failing health. Hoese brought back memories of former Gopher FB David Puk of the mid 1980s, who was from Cedar Rapids. The Golden Gophers picked up a solid road win 24-17 @ Middle Tennessee in Week 1. The Golden Gophers open at home in Week 2 vs. South Dakota (0-1), who lost 7-38 @ Central Florida in the Coyotes opener.
Purdue (0-1) - the Boilermakers looked very undisciplined in the 12-23 road loss @ Notre Dame in Week 1. Junior Miami-FL transfer Robert Marve at QB brings some talent, but will he develop the consistency needed to win in the Big Ten, against teams they should? In Week 2, the Boilermakers will host Western Illinois (1-0) in Ross-Aid Stadium.
Illinois (0-1) - the Illinois-Missouri game was very positive for the Fighting Illini at halftime, but redshirt freshman QB Nathan Scheelhaase had a tough second half. The Illini fell to Missouri for the sixth straight time in St. Louis 13-23, after leading 13-3 at halftime.
Indiana (1-0) - The Hooisers take 16 days off, with a bye between Week 1 and Week 3. Not the ideal way to start a season. The Hoosiers took down Towson in the opener 51-17. In Week 3, the Hoosiers will travel on the road to face a Sun Belt opponent @ Western Kentucky (0-1). When is the last time two Big Ten programs traveled to Sun Belt programs for an OOC game. Only Minnesota and IU.

What about other conference teams?

The SEC - 1. #1 Alabama (1-0), 2. #6 Florida (1-0), 3. #14 Georgia (1-0), 4. #17 LSU (1-0), 5. Arkansas (1-0), 6. South Carolina (1-0), 7. Auburn (1-0), 8. Tennessee (1-0), 9. Kentucky (1-0), 10. Mississippi State (1-0), 11. Vanderbilt (0-1), Mississippi (0-1). SEC Week 2 games, which include three conference openers, plus South Florida @ #6 Florida is an interesting Big East-SEC match up for the first time ever in this series.

The Big 12 - 1. #5 Texas (1-0), 2. #15 Nebraska (1-0), 3. #16 Texas Tech (1-0), 4. #18 Oklahoma (1-0), 5. Missouri (1-0), 6. Texas A&M (1-0), 7. Kansas State (1-0), 8. Oklahoma State (1-0), 9. Iowa State (1-0), 10. Colorado (1-0), 11. Baylor (1-0), Kansas (0-1). Big 12 Week 2 games, which includes an outstanding OOC match up with #21 Florida State @ #18 Oklahoma.

The ACC - 1. #9 Virginia Tech (0-1), 2. #11 Miami-FL (1-0), 3. #19 Georgia Tech (1-0), 4. #21 Florida State (1-0), 5. Boston College (1-0), 6. Maryland (1-0), 7. North Carolina (0-1), 8. Clemson (1-0), 9. Wake Forest (1-0), 10. North Carolina State (1-0), 11. Virginia (1-0), 12. Duke (1-0). ACC Week 2 games, which includes ACC-Big 12 match up of #19 Georgia Tech @ Kansas, where the Jayhawks suffered an upset loss in coach Turner Gill's debut vs. FCS opponent, North Dakota State.

The Pac 10 - 1. #9 Oregon (1-0), 2. #22 USC (1-0), 3. #23 Arizona (1-0), 4. Oregon State (0-1), 5. Stanford (1-0), 6. California (1-0), 7. Arizona State, 8. Washington (0-1), 9. UCLA (0-1), 10. Washington State (0-1). Pac 10 Week 2 games, which includes the Pac 10 opener of Stanford @ UCLA.

The Big East - 1. #24 West Virginia (1-0), 2. Pittsburgh (0-1), 3. Cincinnati (0-1), 4. UConn (0-1), 5. South Florida (1-0), 6. Rutgers (1-0), 7. Syracuse (1-0), 8. Louisville (0-1). Big East Week 2 games, which includes #24 West Virginia @ Marshall for an in-state rivalry game facing Big East vs. C-USA foes. WVU is 9-0 in the "Friends of the Coal Bowl" Trophy game.

The MWC - 1. #7 TCU (1-0), 2. #12 Utah (1-0), 3. #13 BYU (1-0), 4. Air Force (1-0), 5. San Diego State (1-0), 6. Wyoming (1-0), 7. UNLV (0-1), 8. Colorado State (0-1), 9. New Mexico (0-1). MWC Week 2 games, which include two conference openers, plus Wyoming @ #5 Texas, which didn't turn out well in '09.

The C-USA - 1. #25 Houston (1-0), 2. East Carolina (1-0, 1-0 C-USA), 3. Central Florida (1-0), 4. SMU (0-1), 5. Tulsa (0-1, 0-1 C-USA), 6. Southern Miss (0-1), 7. UTEP (1-0), 8. UAB (0-1), 9. Marshall (0-1), 10. Rice (0-1), 11. Tulane (1-0), 12. Memphis (1-0). C-USA Week 2 games, which includes four conference games, including UTEP @ #25 Houston.

The WAC - 1. #3 Boise State (1-0), 2. Fresno State (1-0), 3. Nevada (1-0), 4. Idaho (1-0), 5. Louisiana Tech (1-0), 6. Hawai'i (0-1), 7. Utah State (0-1), 8. New Mexico State (0-0), 9. San Jose State (0-1). WAC Week 2 games, with Idaho @ #15 Nebraska and San Jose State and of course top non-BCS rated team, Boise State is idle in Week 2. The Broncos have won 15 straight game, since the 2008 season bowl loss to TCU 16-17 in the Poinsettia Bowl.

The MAC - 1. Central Michigan (1-0), 2. Ohio U (1-0), 3. Temple (1-0), 4. Kent State (1-0), 5. Northern Illinois (0-1), 6. Western Michigan (0-1), 7. Bowling Green (0-1), 8. Buffalo (1-0), 9. Ball State (1-0), 10. Toledo (0-1), 11. Akron (0-1), 12. Miami-OH (0-1), 13. Eastern Michigan (0-1). MAC Game 2 games, which includes three conference openers, plus Kent State @ Boston College in a non-BCS-BCS match up for the MAC.

The Sun Belt - 1. Troy (0-1), 2. Middle Tennessee (0-1), 3. Florida Atlantic (1-0), 4. North Texas (0-1), 5. Arkansas State (0-1), 6. UL-Lafayette (0-1), 7. Florida International (0-0), 8. UL-Monroe (0-0), 9. Western Kentucky (0-1). Sun Belt Week 2 games, including four BCS games with UL-Monroe @ Arkansas and Troy @ Oklahoma State. One conference match up occurs in Week 1, as well in the Sun Belt.

The Independents - 1. Notre Dame (1-0), 2. Navy (0-1), 3. Army (1-0). Week 2 games, include Hawai'i traveling to Army for a West Coast-East Coast match up.

Top 10 Winners of Week 1