Below Rutgers in the Massey, at #56 is Purdue. I think Purdue is hard to get a read on, I suppose beating Miami was a good win, but losing to Ohio University and even St. John's are not "good" losses. UConn and South Carolina are ok losses, of course, but I'm just not sure how good they really might be.
Northwestern and Nebraska are ranked together at #67 and #68. I can't find much to say about Northwestern; I think 2 of their losses (Kansas and Pittsburgh) are troubling; the other losses are ok and a couple of wins are passable, but there just isn't any sign of strength there. And Nebraska, at 5-6 has a couple of very doubtful losses (especially Washington State) and maybe Kansas as their best win (oddly, Northwestern and Nebraska split with Kansas and Arkansas, beating one and losing to the other, but oppositely).
Ohio State is 4-5; beat North Carolina which was a bit of a surprise; losing to Butler and Washington are very suggestive that this season will be a struggle.
Wisconsin doesn't look as bad as Penn State, to me. Wisconsin has one so-so win and their 3 losses are also "so-so", not inexplicable, but not to great teams. How will they do when tested? Penn State, OTH, has a perfectly awful loss to Stony Brook - awful in the sense it shouldn't be - and also they lost to Duquesne. And absolutely no good wins - accounts for their 99 Massey ranking.
Illinois brings up the rear. They have one really, really bad loss - Sacramento State - absolutely no good wins and it is difficult to say that losing to Clemson or Missouri is "good".
Of all these teams, the only ones that could shape up are probably Purdue and Northwestern, at least based on their seasons so far.
We will see . . .
Northwestern and Nebraska are ranked together at #67 and #68. I can't find much to say about Northwestern; I think 2 of their losses (Kansas and Pittsburgh) are troubling; the other losses are ok and a couple of wins are passable, but there just isn't any sign of strength there. And Nebraska, at 5-6 has a couple of very doubtful losses (especially Washington State) and maybe Kansas as their best win (oddly, Northwestern and Nebraska split with Kansas and Arkansas, beating one and losing to the other, but oppositely).
Ohio State is 4-5; beat North Carolina which was a bit of a surprise; losing to Butler and Washington are very suggestive that this season will be a struggle.
Wisconsin doesn't look as bad as Penn State, to me. Wisconsin has one so-so win and their 3 losses are also "so-so", not inexplicable, but not to great teams. How will they do when tested? Penn State, OTH, has a perfectly awful loss to Stony Brook - awful in the sense it shouldn't be - and also they lost to Duquesne. And absolutely no good wins - accounts for their 99 Massey ranking.
Illinois brings up the rear. They have one really, really bad loss - Sacramento State - absolutely no good wins and it is difficult to say that losing to Clemson or Missouri is "good".
Of all these teams, the only ones that could shape up are probably Purdue and Northwestern, at least based on their seasons so far.
We will see . . .
