The State of the Big Ten

I haven’t posted anything in awhile, so I thought I would come out with a bang on this post. I’ve watched college football for awhile and every season there is surprises and turns, this season is no different. This season though has done it in a different way than most, in that usually there is a team that comes from nowhere to be great, like Clemson looked like they could be this year, but more important this season has been different from teams changing conferences and completely changing the landscape of college football. Last year the Big 10 was a player in this game, while this year they have sat idle. I thought about doing a post about all the changes, but instead I’ll focus on what I focus on every weekend and what I know the best, the state of the Big Ten.

To start, I’ll look at my Alma maters’ division of Leaders. Preseason if you ask anyone, they would all say that Wisconsin would run away with this division since Russell Wilson transferred in. That was how it looked for the beginning of the season, until they ran into two thrilling games where they were upset on two late Hail Mary throws, first by Michigan State and then by Ohio State. They now find themselves 2-2, 1-1 in the division. They still are in the thick of things, with four conference games to end their year, 3 of which are in the division and with the final game being against the team that is in the lead of the division right now, Penn St.

I’ll talk about them next, Penn St. They have sole control of the division being the only team who has not lost a conference game yet. Actually, Penn St. hasn’t lost a game since they played Alabama. They are sitting at 5-0 right now in conference play and 3 of which are games from teams in their division. They haven’t been putting up the greatest games on offense, but their defense is shutting teams down and giving themselves a chance to win every week. They are running into the strongest part of their schedule though now too, with a bye week this week they then have to play Nebraska at home, then traveling to Ohio State and Wisconsin. They have their destiny in their hands, but that is a brutal schedule.

To look at next I’ll talk about my team, the Ohio State Buckeyes. When this season seemed all, but lost, some of the suspended players returned and we saw what the team could of been if they would of received the same treatment as other major schools got. They find themselves back in the Big Ten title hunt after they beat two ranked opponents back-to-back in Illinois and Wisconsin. They are 2-2 in conference, but more importantly 2-0 in their division. They have to play Indiana, travel to Purdue before hosting Penn St. and then that all important game to end the regular season, going up to Ann Arbor to Michigan.

These three teams all have legitimate shots at winning the division and it will make for some great football to see who will come out in the end.

Now on to Legends division, at the beginning of the year everyone thought that it would come down to Michigan St. or Nebraska, with most giving the nod to Nebraska, but there has been a surprise team here, the University of Michigan, who I will start with. They have been known for their offense in the last few years and this year though, it has actually been down compared to last year. Robinson has had more turnovers and statistically it has been worse, but that hasn’t been what has won their games lately, it has been their defense. They have been using a ‘bend-not break’ style that has forced many key turnovers in big situations which has been a big reason why they’ve been winning. Their schedule has been favorable for them, but they do have some important games coming up that will decide their season. This week they go to Iowa, who was a contender for the division until they were upset by Minnesota this last week, they then go to Illinois before they host Nebraska and Ohio State. So sitting at 2-1 right now in the division with 2 more games to go, they have some work to do, but if they win, they could find themselves there.

Next I’ll go to the team that handed Michigan their only loss this year thus far, Michigan St. They were on top of the world during their brutal schedule, having beat Ohio State, Michigan and Wisconsin in consecutive games, before they were finally thumped by Nebraska. Despite that loss, they find themselves tied at the top and sitting at 1-1 in the division with three divisional games to go. They do find themselves now in the easiest part of the schedule and by winning out, as they host Minnesota, go to Iowa, host Indiana and then travel to Northwestern. They need a little bit of help to still win the division, we will see when everything is played out.

Finally the team that really controls its own destiny for this division is Nebraska. They were thumped by Wisconsin, they had an amazing comeback over Ohio State and then they just put a hurting on Michigan St. They now find themselves tied at the top of the division, but really they control it as they are undefeated in the divisional play, sitting at 2-0. Their remaining schedule is tough where they host Northwestern, go to Penn St., travel to Michigan and then play Iowa at home. As long as they keep winning, they’ll be in Indianapolis at the end.

The Big Ten is shaping up to have a great finale with some key match-ups coming up. This conference won’t decide who will be playing for the National Championship, but this football is exciting and in a down year for the conference, we still have a shot at winning our BCS game and bringing home the Rose Bowl championship, depending on who wins the conference championship game.

Your opinion?