B1G Week 10 Recap

I started this with the B1G standings, and it is really sad that Michigan remains at number 4 after getting completely and utterly dominated in every phase of the game last weekend. This year the conference is the big 3 and little 9.  I can only cringe when thinking about this bowl season.  It might be worse than last year, which is something I didn’t think I would ever say.

Good surprise:
Minnesota’s offense is better than Indiana’s defense. I didn’t expect that to happen. The Gophers accumulated 573 yards of offense, and looked dominant for the majority of the game.  While the Gophers will likely struggle to move the ball against Wisconsin and Michigan State, they will have a good chance to get to 8 wins this week and be completely overmatched in a New Year’s Day bowl.

While Iowa is far from an elite team, Wisconsin was able to completely stifle the Hawkeye attack without their best defender. A Wisconsin/ Michigan State matchup would be one of the most intriguing games of the season. Too bad we won’t get to see it this year.

Bad surprise:
Yes, the good surprises were non-existent last week. Luckily there were enough terrible performances to make a post. Let’s start with the entire Nebraska/Northwestern game. The Huskers moved the ball at will against the Wildcats, even without Taylor Martinez. However, the backup quarterbacks managed to turn the ball over 4 times.   Nebraska’s defense barely fared better against the depleted Northwestern offense. The game was a complete mess for all 60 minutes, finally ending with a Hail Mary that should have been knocked down by the Wildcats. And that folks is the last team that can really challenge Michigan State for an Indianapolis trip. If I were a Spartan fan I would book my trip now.

Purdue continues their march towards being the worst B1G team EVER. They failed to score for the 2^nd straight game, and haven’t run a single play in the red zone since September. They did however manage to get to 50 before Ohio State. The Buckeyes finished with 56 points, but Purdue moved the ball at will for 116 yards. That deserves a giant drum beat.  I don’t know about you, but I cannot contain my excitement for that Purdue/ Illinois showdown. 

I could throw in the Indiana defense here, but c’mon were you really surprised they gave up 42 points to one of the worst offenses in the country? Yeah, me either. Maybe the bad surprise should be that the offense couldn’t score 50 on the Gophers.

Finally, I will add the entire Penn State/Illinois game. Luckily for us Michigan fans, the Wolverines got curb stomped all afternoon Saturday because if they managed to win, the loss to Penn State would be even more frustrating and embarrassing than it already is. The Nittany Lions managed to escape, at home, against an Illini team that has one of the longest conference losing streaks in the modern era. Penn State is a terrible team that just got out-terribled. Words cannot begin to explain the gut-wrenching awfulness of this conference, when Penn State rounds out the top half. So I decided to make up my own word, but even that puts the B1G in a better light than deserved. Thankfully it is basketball season!

Week 10 conference rankings:
1. Ohio State (no change)
2. Wisconsin (no change)
3. Michigan State (no change)
4. Michigan (no change)
5. Nebraska (up 1)
6. Penn State (down 1)
7. Iowa (up 1)
8. Minnesota (up 1)
9. Indiana (down 2)
10. Northwestern (no change)
11. Illinois (no change)
12. Purdue (no change)