Beasts of the East dominate Joe Christensen's Big Ten football rankings

1. Ohio State (3-0): J.T. Barrett & Co. handed Oklahoma its ninth loss in 106 home games under Bob Stoops.

2. Michigan (3-0): Jabrill Peppers vs. Colorado: 9 tackles, 3.5 TFL, 1 sack, 2 QB hurries, 204 all-purpose yards.

3. Michigan State (2-0): The Spartans fell to No. 6 in these rankings last week and took it out on Notre Dame.

4. Wisconsin (3-0): Hill-Murray grad Jack Cichy leads a stout Badgers defense in tackles with 5.7 per game.

5. Nebraska (3-0): The Huskers are plus-six in turnover margin after being minus-12 in difficult 2015 campaign.

6. Iowa (2-1): Hawkeyes play at Rutgers, then home against Northwestern before Oct. 8 game at Minnesota.

7. Gophers (2-0): Red-zone offense: nine trips, nine TDs. But the red-zone defense: six opponent trips, six TDs.

8. Penn State (2-1): Nittany Lions' 106 points through three games is their most since 11-2 season in 2008.

9. Indiana (2-0): Sneaky tough test this week vs. 3-0 Wake Forest, which ranks 13th in scoring defense (12.7).

10. Maryland (3-0): Took two overtimes to top UCF squad that went 0-12 last year before hiring Scott Frost.

11. Northwestern (1-2): Beat Duke, but Blue Devils didn't look like the team that won 27 games previous three years.

12. Rutgers (2-1): Scarlet Knights trailed New Mexico 21-0 and Howard 14-0 before rallying to win both games.

13. Illinois (1-2): Among Lovie Smith's concerns: Illini rank 12th in Big Ten in third-down conversion rate (.342).

14. Purdue (1-1): Boilers had bye week to get over deflating loss to Cincinnati. Next up: Nevada and Maryland.