There were five Big Ten match-ups this past weekend - two of which were solid football games and the other three I and many others wish had never been played.
Illinois and Purdue continued to prove that they're the two worst teams in the conference, with the Illini getting trampled by unbeaten Ohio State, 52-22, and Purdue falling to 3-6 after losing to 6-3 Penn State, 34-9. Michigan beat up on 5-4 Minnesota by the final score of 35-13 to improve their record to 6-3.
In the two solid football games, one presented two teams which may not become bowl eligible by season's end, as Indiana came back to defeat Iowa by the final of 24-21 to send both teams to 4-5 on the season. In the best and biggest game of the weekend, 20th ranked Nebraska went to East Lansing and beat the now 5-5 Michigan State Spartans, 28-24, on a last-minute scoring drive to improve the Huskers to 7-2. Northwestern and Wisconsin had the week off.
For the time being, four teams are bowl eligible (Nebraska, Michigan, Northwestern and Wisconsin) and three teams are bowl ineligible (Ohio State, Penn State and Illinois). Next week will present some interesting match-ups. Wisconsin comes off their bye week to play pesky Indiana on the road. If the Hoosiers upset the Badgers, that would place the two teams in a tie atop the Leaders division (excluding bowl ineligible Ohio State and Penn State), with Indiana having the head-to-head tie-breaker advantage. Indiana's only 4-5. If they win next week, we'll have a 5-5 team which will be positioned to control its own destiny en route to the Big Ten Championship game. Yes, the Big Ten is that bad this year. Northwestern comes off their bye week to face Michigan in Ann Arbor. We'll see if Michigan's starting quarterback, Denard Robinson, will be able to play in that game. Purdue and Iowa will square off in Iowa City to battle for their bowl eligible lives. With a loss, Purdue would become bowl ineligible and if Iowa loses, they'd fall to 4-6, with Nebraska still left on the schedule - making it very unlikely they'd go bowling at season's end. Speaking of Nebraska, they'll play host to Penn State, who will try to play the role of spoiler in upsetting the Huskers and potentially ending their run at a possible Big Ten Championship game berth. Lastly, 5-4 Minnesota, with Nebraska and Michigan State left on the schedule, may need to beat the struggling Illini on the road if they want to participate in a bowl game.
Besides the Big Ten being extremely mediocre this year (and that's being kind), the only other thing that's for certain is that at season's end, either Nebraska or Michigan will represent the Legends division in the conference title game and either Wisconsin or Indiana will represent the Leaders division. Only one of these four teams is ranked in the BCS top 25 - Nebraska at #16. Yeah, like I said - the Big Ten really is that bad this year.
http://espn.go.com/college-football/standings
Illinois and Purdue continued to prove that they're the two worst teams in the conference, with the Illini getting trampled by unbeaten Ohio State, 52-22, and Purdue falling to 3-6 after losing to 6-3 Penn State, 34-9. Michigan beat up on 5-4 Minnesota by the final score of 35-13 to improve their record to 6-3.
In the two solid football games, one presented two teams which may not become bowl eligible by season's end, as Indiana came back to defeat Iowa by the final of 24-21 to send both teams to 4-5 on the season. In the best and biggest game of the weekend, 20th ranked Nebraska went to East Lansing and beat the now 5-5 Michigan State Spartans, 28-24, on a last-minute scoring drive to improve the Huskers to 7-2. Northwestern and Wisconsin had the week off.
For the time being, four teams are bowl eligible (Nebraska, Michigan, Northwestern and Wisconsin) and three teams are bowl ineligible (Ohio State, Penn State and Illinois). Next week will present some interesting match-ups. Wisconsin comes off their bye week to play pesky Indiana on the road. If the Hoosiers upset the Badgers, that would place the two teams in a tie atop the Leaders division (excluding bowl ineligible Ohio State and Penn State), with Indiana having the head-to-head tie-breaker advantage. Indiana's only 4-5. If they win next week, we'll have a 5-5 team which will be positioned to control its own destiny en route to the Big Ten Championship game. Yes, the Big Ten is that bad this year. Northwestern comes off their bye week to face Michigan in Ann Arbor. We'll see if Michigan's starting quarterback, Denard Robinson, will be able to play in that game. Purdue and Iowa will square off in Iowa City to battle for their bowl eligible lives. With a loss, Purdue would become bowl ineligible and if Iowa loses, they'd fall to 4-6, with Nebraska still left on the schedule - making it very unlikely they'd go bowling at season's end. Speaking of Nebraska, they'll play host to Penn State, who will try to play the role of spoiler in upsetting the Huskers and potentially ending their run at a possible Big Ten Championship game berth. Lastly, 5-4 Minnesota, with Nebraska and Michigan State left on the schedule, may need to beat the struggling Illini on the road if they want to participate in a bowl game.
Besides the Big Ten being extremely mediocre this year (and that's being kind), the only other thing that's for certain is that at season's end, either Nebraska or Michigan will represent the Legends division in the conference title game and either Wisconsin or Indiana will represent the Leaders division. Only one of these four teams is ranked in the BCS top 25 - Nebraska at #16. Yeah, like I said - the Big Ten really is that bad this year.
http://espn.go.com/college-football/standings
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