The college football season has a few especially dramatic games left on the schedule, and the Big Ten has the biggest of the big games that’s left. You don’t need to guess what it is. It’s obvious. The challenge is finding the other three Big Ten games which also matter a great deal.
Michigan at Ohio State – Week 13
The king-sized game at the end of the college football regular season, one week before the Big Ten Championship Game in Indianapolis, is impossible to miss. Jim Harbaugh and Michigan. Urban Meyer and Ohio State. They met for the first time last year, but Michigan was still in a building phase. Ohio State had a complete team, and it showed. The Buckeyes hammered the Wolverines to earn a Fiesta Bowl bid. Michigan State, though, took the Big Ten because of its upset of Ohio State the week before. This year, Michigan State is out of the picture. The new team in the mix in the Big Ten East Division is Penn State, which upset Ohio State and lost to Michigan. If Ohio State beats Michigan and Penn State wins the rest of its games, there would be a three-way tie, which could make things very complicated. If Ohio State wins, the Big Ten could very easily put both Ohio State and Michigan in the playoff if Washington loses at least one game in the Pac-12. If Michigan wins, it will go to the playoff and the Big Ten will not get a second team in the playoff, period. So much is riding on this one event, but the weeks leading up to the game could potentially change the situation. Don’t bet on it, though.
Penn State at Indiana – Week 11
The Nittany Lions should be able to handle Michigan State and Rutgers. This is the game which could trip up Penn State in its attempt to finish with an 8-1 record in the Big Ten and create that three-way tie. Penn State needs to win out in order to have a chance at a New Year’s Six bowl game. Any loss by Penn State would cede leverage in a New Year’s Six race to Wisconsin or Nebraska, two teams also in the hunt (Wisconsin leading Nebraska right now).
Indiana is not a consistent team, but it is a tough team at home. The Hoosiers are a pesky team, able to confuse opposing defenses and create a chaotic, unpredictable game in which a favored opponent has to work very hard to survive. This is probably not going to be a walk in the park for Penn State.
Minnesota at Nebraska – Week 11
It’s a game both Minnesota and Nebraska have to win in order to have any lingering chance of winning the Big Ten West and meeting Michigan or Ohio State (or maybe even Penn State) in the Big Ten Championship Game. The loser would almost certainly be out, especially if it’s Nebraska, since the Huskers lost to Wisconsin, the team in control of the Big Ten West at this point. Keep in mind that Nebraska has not lost at home this season as they’re 5-0 in front of their own audience. If Minnesota wins, it would set up a likely division-deciding game at Wisconsin on November 26. Speaking of that…
Minnesota at Wisconsin – Week 13
It’s interesting that these are the top team teams in the division. Minnesota is actually in the top spot and comes into the weekend on a four-game winning streak. Many people figured Iowa would repeat as division champs but it’s actually Minnesota and Wisconsin that head down the home stretch in the top spots with Nebraska also tied with the same record but in third place due to tie breaker.
This game will mean something, but for which teams? If Minnesota loses to Nebraska and then at Northwestern, the Golden Gophers would have nothing to play for in this game other than a rivalry-game trophy and bragging rights. It is likely that Wisconsin will be playing for the West, but the Badgers might need to worry more about Nebraska, which closes its regular season at Iowa.
