There are four teams from the Big Ten in the newest AP Top 25 rankings and only one is from the West division: Minnesota.
The Golden Gophers moved into the top 25 for the first time this season, entering the poll at No. 21. Ohio State (3), Michigan (4) and Penn State (11) are all in the loaded East division.
Minnesota (4-0) pounded Michigan State 34-7 Saturday in East Lansing, showing a balanced offense and stifling defense that is ranked No. 2 in the nation entering Week 5 of the college football season. The Gophers have outscored opponents 183 to 24.
Minnesota’s dominance through four weeks gives a good argument for them to be higher in the rankings. In fact, there are five one-loss teams directly ahead of the Gophers in spots 20 through 16.
- 20. Arkansas – lost this week 23-21 at Texas A&M
- 19. BYU – lost 41-20 at Oregon two weeks ago
- 18. Oklahoma – lost 41-34 at home to Kansas State this week
- 17. Texas A&M – lost in Week 2 17-14 at home to Appalachian State
- 16. Baylor – lost 26-20 at BYU in Week 2
There’s a case to made for the Gophers to be ranked ahead of all of them since they’re undefeated, but Minnesota doesn’t have a win over a ranked opponent like Arkansas, BYU and Texas A&M.
Arkansas beat No. 23 Cincinnati in Week 1. BYU beat Baylor when the Bears were ranked 9th. Texas A&M just beat Arkansas, who fell to 20 from No. 10.
The only thing that appears to be keeping Oklahoma and Baylor ahead of Minnesota might be the fact that they were each ranked in the top 10 after Week 1.
The Gophers have another prove-it game this Saturday when they host Purdue. The Boilermakers gave Penn State all they could handle in Week 1. Their second loss was a nail biter at Syracuse, and the Orange are solid at worst and off to a 4-0 start. Purdue’s two wins, however, came against Indiana State in Week 2 and Florida Atlantic, whom they barely beat at home on Saturday.
Related: 5 things that stood out in the. Gophers’ win over Michigan State
