The Whistlestop Tour: Week 10 of Big Ten Football

It was a banner week for the dregs of the Big Ten. Both Maryland and Michigan State, previously winless in conference play, pulled off a win this week, and on the road no less. It is more likely a sign that the bottom third of the league has really regressed. Consider:

• Michigan’s offense is utterly unwatchable.

• Maryland and Rutgers are still Maryland and Rutgers.

• All the momentum Purdue had earlier is gone.

• Michigan State isn’t exactly good.

• Nebraska is cursed.

Right now it looks as if the Big Ten championship game will be UCLA against Indiana as long as the Hoosiers hold serve in the last three weeks. If USC beats Indiana this week, however, the second spot will be chaos, as the Hoosiers would fall into a bag of rabid weasels that is all the two-loss teams in conference. Illinois, USC, Wisconsin, Iowa, Ohio State, and Oregon are all just behind IU with two losses each in conference play, and none of them play any of the others this week.

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Post Week 10 Rankings

1. UCLA (Last Week: 1, 9-0, 6-0) – Beat Minnesota 34-20 – The schedule is extremely favorable to make it to Indy, as they host Illinois this week and go to Michigan after. The USC game may end up being for pride and to knock the Trojans out of the Big Ten title game.

2. Indiana (Last Week: 2, 8-1, 5-1) – On Bye – It is a make-or-break week for an Indiana team that has become bizarro Nebraska. They are finding weird and new ways to win games in the end while the Huskers are the opposite. Beat USC and they are probably returning to Indy.

3. USC (Last Week: 3, 7-2, 4-2) – On Bye –Will the real USC stand up? Two of their three remaining games are against top 10 teams on the road, but at least they get Maryland between them.

4. Iowa (Last Week: 5, 7-2, 4-2) – Beat Northwestern 24-10 – Iowa is officially lurking with a very manageable finishing kicks of Purdue, at Illinois, and Nebraska. They still need some help, but they are in a good spot.

5. Oregon (Last Week: 8, 6-3, 4-2) – Beat Ohio State 41-28 – This game was not as close as the final score suggests. The Ducks blew out Ohio State in Columbus and also have a favorable finishing kick.

6. Wisconsin (Last Week: 9, 6-3, 4-2) – beat Rutgers 31-10 – This is Purdue’s last best hope for a win this season, and we all know the history of our series with the Badgers.

7. Illinois (Last Week: 11, 6-3, 4-2) – Beat Nebraska 24-13 – Had the Illini taken care of business at home against Purdue they would be in second place right now. They have the toughest remaining schedule of all the two-loss teams.

8. Ohio State (Last Week: 4, 6-3, 4-2) – Lost to Oregon 41-28 – When Julian Sayin went down did that make everyone else on Ohio State worse? They spent all that money to give up 41 points at home!

9. Minnesota (Last Week: 7, 5-4, 3-3) – Lost to UCLA 34-20 – The Gophers have the ability to play with anybody and they were tight there with the Bruins through three quarters. A win at Penn State this week gives them all of their trophies at once.

10. Northwestern (Last Week: 6, 6-3, 3-3) – Lost to Iowa 24-10 – The Wildcats have dropped two in a row after cracking the top 25, knocking them out of the title race. Can they add to Ohio State’s misery this week?

11. Penn State (Last Week: 12, 5-4, 2-4) – Beat Washington 28-25 – The Nittany Lions get a very nice road win on their long trip out west. This week they get Minnesota before closing with Rutgers and Maryland.

12. Washington (Last Week: 10, 5-4, 2-4) – Lost to Penn State 28-25 – The Huskies are winless at home in conference play this year, falling to Iowa, Minnesota, and Penn State.

13. Nebraska (Last Week: 14, 5-4, 2-4) – Lost to Illinois 24-13 – This week’s hilarious undoing was a punter rushing for 30+ yards on a fake field goal to flip the game. It is honestly astonishing how bad this team is in close games.

14. Michigan (Last Week: 14, 5*-4, 2-4) – Lost to Michigan State 15-6 – The only thing keeping Michigan out of the basement is a really good defense. The ultimate test of their offensive futility would be playing Purdue.

15. Michigan State (Last Week: 17, 3-6, 1-5) – Beat Michigan 15-6 – I like to think Saturday’s game in Ann Arbor was quarantined on Peacock, because that was not football.

16. Maryland (Last Week: 18, 3-6, 1-5) – Beat Purdue 34-29 – Purdue learned the hard way that touchdowns > field goals. A good win for the Terps in a lost season.

17. Purdue (Last Week: 15, 3-6, 2-4) – Lost to Maryland 34-29 – If Purdue attempts and converts a 50-ish yard field goal before halftime it is down just two at the Terrapin 11-yard line with 5 seconds left. 5 field goals wasn’t enough, but 7 would have been.

18. Rutgers (Last Week: 16, 2-7, 1-5) Lost to Wisconsin 31-10 – Does Greg Schiano survive the season? It is not looking great.

Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com