This upcoming Saturday marks the final slate of regular season games for the Big Ten in 2010. The final week holds extra significance this year, as it will be the final season the Big Ten champion is decided without a conference championship game. Before Nebraska joins the Big Ten next season, we still have one final weekend of action in the current eleven-team conference format. Eight Big Ten teams are bowl-eligible, and three teams have shot to go to the Rose Bowl.
Five matchups are on tap for this Saturday, all but one of which have bowl ramifications. This weekend’s slate of games:
Indiana (4-7) at Purdue (4-7), 11 a.m. CST: Pretty much no one in Indiana cares about this game, especially since basketball season is underway. The Hoosiers are trying to do their best Detroit Lions imitation, as they sit at 0-7 in the Big Ten. Meanwhile, Purdue isn’t much better, having only won two games in conference play. Ben Chappell has had a respectable season leading the Hoosier offense, tossing 21 touchdowns and 9 interceptions, and he’ll play in his final college football game.
No. 10 Michigan State (10-1) at Penn State (7-4), 11 a.m. CST (ESPN2): Sparty can still reach the Rose Bowl, but Ohio State must lose to Michigan for this to occur. Michigan State has the advantage in the head-to-head tiebreaker with Wisconsin, but a three-way tie with Ohio State would give the highest-ranked team (Wisconsin) the Rose Bowl bid. Since the Spartans didn’t play the Buckeyes, a tie with Ohio State would also go to the highest-ranked team (Ohio State). So, for one day, Spartan faithful must cheer for the Maize and Blue. Meanwhile, a win for the Nittany Lions would most likely send JoePa to the Gator Bowl or Insight Bowl.
Michigan (7-4) at No. 8 Ohio State (10-1), 11 a.m. CST (ABC): The Buckeyes have won eight of the last nine games in this rivalry matchup, arguably the greatest in college football. Ohio State can reach Pasadena for the second straight year with a win and a Wisconsin loss to Northwestern, however unlikely the latter may be. A Michigan upset could get the Wolverines to a Jan. 1 bowl game; otherwise, it looks like the Insight Bowl could be the destination for the Wolverines. If Ohio State wins, they are all but guaranteed a BCS bowl bid, even if it is not the Rose Bowl.
No. 24 Iowa (7-4) at Minnesota (2-9), 2:30 p.m. CST: A win against Minnesota all but locks up the Hawkeyes for a berth in the Outback Bowl, their second trip to Tampa in five years. The Golden Gophers had lost nine straight games before miraculously beating Illinois, 38-34, in Week 10. Minnesota will try to finish the season strong at home against Iowa. However, don’t count on a Gopher upset here. Iowa has lost two straight, by a combined four points, to Northwestern and Ohio State. In both games, the Hawkeyes held late leads before losing at the end. They’ll be playing for keeps against a lackluster Minnesota team.
Northwestern (7-4) at No. 7 Wisconsin (10-1), 2:30 p.m. (ABC): Wisconsin comes into this game full of confidence, after unleashing video-game-style poundings in the past two weeks on their opponents. A win gets the Badgers into the Rose Bowl for the first time since 2000. For Northwestern, this season has been a season of “What Ifs.” What if the ‘Cats were able to hang on to fourth-quarter leads against Purdue and Michigan State? What if Northwestern didn’t squander a 21-point lead to Penn State? What if Dan Persa didn’t get hurt? What if Northwestern’s backup quarterback didn’t just resemble Peyton Manning with his height and jersey number, but actually were Peyton Manning? We’ll never know for sure what this season could have been for the Wildcats. For now, it’s most realistic to expect Evan Watkins & Co. to serve as the sacrificial lamb for the Rose Bowl-bound Badgers. See you in Dallas on Jan. 1, Wildcats.