2018 Big Ten football power rankings: Let’s play a game to rank the top tier Posted Jul 16, 2018 Bill C’s Big Ten power rankings - Tier 1: 1. Ohio State 2. Wisconsin 3. Michigan 4. Penn State 5. Michigan State. I waffled on this a lot, and in two different ways: Is Ohio State superior enough to warrant a top tier to itself? And ... how in the heck do I separate the other four teams? To help myself out, I went with an old-school unit-by-unit ranking. (SB Nation)