Northwestern received 21 votes in the Week 10 AP Poll, up from 10 votes a week ago.
The 21 votes gave the Wildcats a ranking of 29th, three spots behind Week 12 opponent Wisconsin and two spots ahead of their Week 10 opponent, Penn State.
The Big Ten was represented in the poll by Ohio State (1), Michigan State, Iowa (10), and Michigan (16).
Here's the complete poll, combined with the Week 10 Coaches Poll:
| AP | Coaches | |
| 1 | Ohio State (39) | Ohio State (48) |
| 2 | Baylor (6) | Baylor (9) |
| 3 | Clemson (6) | TCU (4) |
| 4 | LSU (5) | LSU (1) |
| 5 | TCU (4) | Clemson (2) |
| 6 | Michigan State | Michigan State |
| 7 | Alabama (1) | Alabama |
| 8 | Notre Dame | Stanford |
| 9 | Stanford | Notre Dame |
| 10 | Iowa | Oklahoma State |
| 11 | Florida | Iowa |
| 12 | Oklahoma State | Florida |
| 13 | Utah | Oklahoma |
| 14 | Oklahoma | Utah |
| 15 | Memphis | Florida State |
| 16 | Michigan | Memphis |
| 17 | Florida State | Michigan |
| 18 | Houston | Houston |
| 19 | Ole Miss | Ole Miss |
| 20 | Toledo | Toledo |
| 21 | North Carolina | North Carolina |
| 22 | UCLA | UCLA |
| 23 | Temple | Temple |
| 24 | Mississippi State | Texas A&M |
| 25 | Texas A&M | Mississippi State |
Northwestern also received 15 votes in the Week 10 Coaches Poll, which placed them 31st.