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The Little Ten's Big Failure of a Weekend

From Nebraska, to Michigan, to Ohio, I seem to always be in Big Ten country. Similar to other parts of the country with regard to their respective conferences, there are a lot of Big Ten homers in the area. I don't know how that can be the case after this past weekend's results.

- Then unbeaten Illinois allowed 18 4th quarter points to blow a lead against South Florida, losing to the Bulls 25-19.

- Unbeaten Maryland got pounded by winless Temple, 35-14.

- Nebraska fell to Troy in Lincoln, 24-19.

- Akron came back on the road to defeat Northwestern by the final of 39-34.

- Purdue lost to Missouri at home, 40-37.

- Rutgers got blown out by Kansas, yes, Kansas, 55-14.

- The fighting Mormons, BYU, beat playoff sleeper Wisconsin 24-21.

- Michigan State was off a week after dropping one in Temple against Arizona State (who lost to San Diego State this past Saturday night).

- Michigan struggled in a win against SMU; Ohio State came THIS close to losing to TCU; Iowa defeated FCS Northern Iowa; Penn State dominated sad Kent State; Minnesota beat Miami (Ohio); and Indiana defeated Ball State.

Breaking things down, the Big Ten finished 6-7 this weekend, losing to 7, count them 7 unranked teams. I don't know why ESPN analysts are being so hard on the Pac-12 this year. While the SEC is currently head-and-shoulders above the rest of the power 5, the Big XII, Pac-12, and ACC all appear to be superior to the Big Ten. There's a lot of season left to be played and the Big Ten could very well turn things around, especially during bowl season, but it's going to take a lot of work.

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