Ranking Best Big Ten Football Matchups of Week 12
The Big Ten is the premier conference in college football right now.
At least, that's how the College Football Playoff committee currently sees it, as they've slotted four teams (No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Michigan, No. 7 Wisconsin and No. 8 Penn State) inside the top eight of their rankings.
And while the league is currently in a great position, it's incredibly unclear how this will shake out.
Even though the Buckeyes are in the best standing, they need to win out and have Penn State lose one of its final two games against Rutgers or Michigan State to open the door to the Big Ten Championship Game. And on the other side, the Nittany Lions need Ohio State to beat Michigan in the regular-season finale (or Indiana this weekend) to avoid a three-way tie that would send the Wolverines to Indianapolis.
Michigan is the only team in the East Division that controls its own destiny, though, despite falling to unranked Iowa last weekend. If Jim Harbaugh's squad wins out, it'll have the tiebreaker over Penn State to represent the East in the Big Ten title game.
With just two weeks remaining in the regular season, every game and every snap has the potential to shake up not just the conference picture, but the race for the playoff.
Here's a preview of the top action in the Big Ten this week.
No. 5: Maryland vs. Nebraska
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While the crowded East Division is getting most of the attention, the West is still a tight race with both Nebraska and Wisconsin sporting 5-2 league records.
Despite identical records, Nebraska is essentially a game behind thanks to a 23-17 overtime defeat on the road against the Badgers three weeks ago. With the Badgers holding the tiebreaker, Nebraska needs them to drop one of their final two games to squeak past them into the Big Ten title game.
But before they worry about that, the Cornhuskers have to take care of business down the stretch, and that starts this Saturday against Maryland.
The Terrapins started the season hot, winning their first four games and looking solid under first-year head cocah D.J. Durkin. But the wheels came off of their season when conference play set in, as they've dropped five of their last six games, including a 62-3 rout at the hands of Ohio State last Saturday.
No. 4: Wisconsin vs. Purdue
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While Nebraska stays at home, Wisconsin will try to keep its edge over the Cornhuskers when it hits the road for the final time this season for a showdown against Purdue this Saturday.
The Badgers defense has been consistently great all year, but they're hitting their stride in the home stretch of the season. In the last four games against Iowa, Nebraska, Northwestern and Illinois, T.J. Watt and Co. have surrendered an average of just nine points per game, all of which resulted in a Wisconsin victory.
The Boilermakers have gone in a completely different direction after firing former head coach Darrell Hazell midway through the year. They haven't won since the second weekend of October, when an overtime field goal propelled them to a 34-31 win over Illinois.
No. 3: Penn State vs. Rutgers
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After a 2-2 start that featured a blowout 49-10 loss to Michigan, who would've guessed that Penn State would rip off six straight wins and propel itself into legitimate playoff contention?
That's the reality for the Nittany Lions, who overcame a sluggish start by scoring 24 fourth-quarter points to secure a closer-than-it-looked 45-31 victory over Indiana last weekend. And later that night, their chances of making the Big Ten title game spiked dramatically when Iowa upset Michigan in Iowa City.
Now, the Nittany Lions just need Michigan to drop one game down the stretch (a more likely possibility after losing quarterback Wilton Speight and with Ohio State looming) and win out to punch their ticket to the Big Ten Championship Game and a possible berth in the College Football Playoff.
They'll first have to take care of a 2-8 Rutgers team that hasn't won a Big Ten game since October 2015.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
No. 2: Indiana vs. Michigan
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For the first time all season, Michigan doesn't look indestructible.
Going into their first non-Michigan hostile environment of the season (Rutgers hasn't counted for anything this season), the Wolverines buckled, especially on offense. Wilton Speight couldn't get into a rhythm and completed just 11 of 26 passes for 103 yards, and the running game that looked like it was coming along produced just 98 yards on 35 carries.
Even the defense broke down in the game's most pivotal moment, giving up two crucial first downs that set up the Hawkeyes' game-winning field goal.
Will the Wolverines bounce back against an Indiana team that has given both Ohio State and Penn State fits this year?
If so, they'll have to do it without Speight, who suffered an injury to his collarbone in the waning moments against Iowa. They still boast the nation's No. 1 scoring defense, total defense and pass defense, but they'll need to rally around new quarterback John O'Korn to survive the week before their huge showdown with Ohio State.
No. 1: Ohio State vs. Michigan State
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No game encapsulates this year's wild Big Ten season like the Ohio State-Michigan State showdown this Saturday.
Last year, this was the game that ultimately decided the Big Ten championship and who would represent the league in the College Football Playoff. Many anticipated the same stakes for the 2016 showdown, but the Spartans' epic collapse (3-7) foiled what should've been a prime-time matchup.
Ohio State held up its end of the bargain and enters the week ranked second nationally, looking like one of the few teams who could keep pace with Alabama in the playoff. The Spartans, meanwhile are fresh off their first league victory of the season—a 49-0 pasting of Big Ten doormat Rutgers.
Did Mark Dantonio discover and unleash a new fire in his team? Can they pull another upset win over the Buckeyes and derail their playoff run for a second straight season?
They'll have to do so as enormous underdogs, as Ohio State will invade East Lansing, Michigan, as a 23.5-point favorite, per Odds Shark.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
