B1G Week 13 Recap

The college football regular season has come to close with a good weekend of football games.  We now know for sure that Nebraska will be facing Wisconsin in a rematch game.  The Badgers will be fighting for their third straight Rose Bowl berth, while Nebraska is looking for its first B1G championship.  I will break down the conference championship games later this week. 

The Good:

Le’Veon Bell ended his season, and likely his collegiate career, with 266 yards against Minnesota on Saturday.  He single-handedly put the Spartans in a bowl game, and likely a decent draw with how bad the conference is this season.  Bell has been a work horse for Michigan State all year, and without him Dantonio might be looking for a new job. 

Penn State’s big senior day win.  The Nittany Lions were supposed to be horrible this season, but now looking back they could easily have finished 11-1 on the season.  Matt McGloin accepted Coach O’Brien’s offensive scheme quickly and turned into a decent quarterback.  The defense rallied around star LB Mauti and was one of the best units in the conference.  O’Brien has stated he is staying in Happy Valley, but next year will be a big test for the new coach.  If he can get PSU to 6 wins, he should get a choice at any job in the country.

Montee Ball broke the all time touchdown record on Saturday.  This guy decided to come back to school for one last chance to win the Rose Bowl, and without him the Badgers would barely be bowl eligible.  He is a touchdown machine that should be playing on Sundays next year.

The Bad:

The offenses of the preseason B1G championship game matchup (MSU vs Wisconsin).  If either of them did not have their star running backs it would have been an even longer season.  The quarterbacks just did not develop, which at some point should reflect on the coaching staffs.  Now that we are in bowl season, both Wisconsin and Michigan State will be big underdogs but it will be a chance for Ball and Bell to showcase their talents before heading to the NFL.

The Ugly:

This award has to go to the Nebraska vs Iowa game on Friday. Luckily I was shopping for most of the game and didn’t have to put myself through the pain of watching that garbage.  Yes, some people say the weather affected the outcome, but the Huskers are supposed to be a power football team and rain should not affect them running between the tackles.  Yet, they struggled and should have lost to one of the worst teams in the conference.  Of course it wouldn’t have mattered with Michigan losing the next day to Ohio, but Nebraska might be the worst outright conference champion in recent memory.

Week 11 Power Rankings:

1.       Ohio State (no change)

2.       Nebraska (no change)

3.       Michigan (no change)

4.       Penn State (no change)

5.       Northwestern (up 1)

6.       Wisconsin (down 1)

7.       Michigan State (no change)

8.       Minnesota (no change)        

9.       Purdue (up 1)

10.   Indiana (down 1)

11.   Iowa (no change)

12.   Illinois (no change)