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This was a rough weekend for the B1G on many levels.
Just from a bowl standpoint, the number of teams vying for bowl eligibility seems to be shrinking. Sure, Illinois is the only conference team that’s technically out of the picture with seven losses, but with so many 4-5 teams having tough schedules in the final stretch, it’s unlikely the B1G sends more than half of the 14 teams to the postseason.
No, that’s not a joke.
Most of this season we’ve predicted the B1G having nine to 11 teams eligible for a bowl berth by the end of the season. Now, we’ve got just seven teams in the projections.
College Football Playoff aspirations took a massive shot too, as both N0. 6 Ohio State and No. 7 Penn State both suffered devastating losses. Sure, Week 10 might’ve been extremely entertaining, but it came with a price tag for the B1G.
Here are some other notes from the B1G last week:
- Michigan State has reached the B1G Championship Game every odd numbered year (2011, 2013 and 2015). After beating Penn State 27-24, the Spartans would essentially clinch the East division with a win over Ohio State on Saturday. It’s looking more and more like Mark Dantonio will be in Indianapolis in 2017, as well.
- With a perfect 9-0 record, Wisconsin is the B1G’s last hope to reach the College Football Playoff this season, assuming something crazy doesn’t transpire over the next three weeks on the national stage. The Badgers do lack a quality win though, and that could be costly for the Badgers, even if they do end the year unbeaten.
- Five teams in the B1G are sitting at 4-5 with three games remaining, all of which could make a final push for bowl eligibility. But when you look at the remaining schedule for Minnesota, Nebraska, Purdue, Maryland and Rutgers, it’s hard to imagine any of those teams can win two of those final games. Maybe one team can put together a run to close out the year, but it just doesn’t seem too likely.
- Maybe Northwestern should try to get every game into overtime? The Wildcats have now won three-straight games in an extra period, knocking off Iowa, Michigan State and Nebraska. It’s been a weird phenomenon, but it’s working in Evanston.
- What has happened to Indiana? Sure, the Hoosiers have been decimated by injury, but this could’ve been a turning point in Bloomington. Instead, IU sits at 3-6 after a lopsided loss to Wisconsin and is just waiting to be knocked out of the postseason picture.
- This weekend has kind of turned the 2017 season into a major disappointment. This was suppose to be the time when the B1G flexed its muscle and proved to the college football world that there was a new king atop the mountain. But now, with only half the conference looking at bowl eligibility and almost completely out of the Playoff picture, the B1G looks like an imposter in the national landscape.
If the B1G wants to save its image, it better hope Wisconsin finishes the year unbeaten and one or two of those 4-5 teams make a run in the final three weeks of the season.
Here are the bowl projections for the B1G following Week 10:
Bowl Conferences Teams Foster Farms Bowl B1G vs. Pac-12 Northwestern vs. Oregon Holiday Bowl B1G vs. Pac-12 Michigan vs. Arizona Music City Bowl B1G vs. SEC Iowa vs. Kentucky Outback Bowl B1G vs. SEC Penn State vs. LSU Citrus Bowl B1G vs. SEC Ohio State vs. Auburn Orange Bowl ACC vs. B1G Michigan State vs. Miami (FL) CFP Semis: Rose Bowl AL vs. AL* (4) Wisconsin vs. (1) Georgia
*Denotes at-large bid
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB