Penn State Football: What Are the Odds That the Nittany Lions Win the Big Ten?

The Penn State football team showed a lot of resolve this past weekend by making the trip out to Columbus and coming away with a much-needed victory, as the tragic sex abuse scandal that rocked the campus a few weeks ago continues to dominate headlines nationwide.

The Nittany Lions needed a win against Ohio State to stay atop the Big Ten Leaders Division, and they got just that by beating the Buckeyes 20-14 and improving their record to 9-2 on the year.

The victory now sets up a winner-take-all showdown with division foe Wisconsin on Saturday.

The matchup with the Badgers will ultimately decide the winner of the Leaders Division, as the two teams will be fighting for the right to take the trip to Indianapolis to battle it out with Michigan State in the first ever Big Ten Championship Game.

That means that Penn State is now just two steps away from a berth in the Rose Bowl, however, all it takes is one look at Wisconsin to see that this week’s hurdle certainly won’t be an easy one to get over.

Even though the Badgers have suffered two heartbreaking losses this year, this is still a team that has one of the most potent offenses in the country, one which averages 45 points and 479 yards per game.

It’s also a team that’s lost just three home games during Bret Bielema’s six-year coaching tenure.

That’s not good news for a Penn State team that will be heading out on the road to play in a tough environment for the second week in a row.

The last time Penn State went out to Wisconsin, the Nittany Lions came away with a dominant 48-7 win, but this year’s circumstances are much different.

The players have had a lot to deal with these past two weeks, as they try to keep their focus on their goal of winning a conference crown while the scandal and media fallout continues to swirl all around them.

Interim head coach Tom Bradley has done a great job so far of handling the tough situation he was thrust into, but Bradley’s going to need to find a little luck along the way if he hopes to finish off the year with wins over arguably the two best teams in the Big Ten this year.

The Penn State offense hasn’t exactly looked stellar in recent weeks, and if QB Matt McGloin can’t get more out of the offense against Wisconsin, the Nittany Lions won’t stand much of a chance going toe-to-toe with QB Russell Wilson, RB Montee Ball and the rest of the Badgers' high-powered offensive attack.

So while you have to commend Bradley for the job he’s done, the chances of this team actually winning out, hoisting the Stagg Championship Trophy and making it to the Rose Bowl don’t look all that promising right now.

Still, it would surely make for a heck of a story if Penn State somehow found a way to make it to Pasadena in the wake of such a horrific scandal.