Wild, whacky and fun.

Those are three words that can appropriately describe Week 7 in college football. Three top 10 teams from last week’s Associated Press Poll tumbled this past weekend, really shaking things up in the rankings and adding a little intrigue to the College Football Playoff discussion.

The B1G reaped the benefits of the crazy weekend, as now three teams – Penn State, Wisconsin and Ohio State — are ranked in the top six spots. Michigan and Michigan State still remain in the top 25 as well.

A half a season of football still remains, but the postseason picture is starting to get a little clearer with each passing week. Here are a few key takeaways from the past weekend in the B1G:

  • This really has nothing to do with bowl eligibility, but Rutgers finally got its first B1G win of the Chris Ash era, beating Illinois 35-24. The Scarlet Knights don’t have the talent to get to the postseason, but it was a step in the right direction.
  • Forget all that “J.T. Barrett needs to be benched” talk. Since the loss to Oklahoma, Barrett has completed 73 percent of his passes with 18 touchdowns and no interceptions as the Buckeyes have trounced every opponent in their path. He had five touchdown passes against Nebraska in Ohio State’s 56-14 victory. Barrett should get plenty of credit for the tremendous season he’s having.
  • Minnesota is having trouble getting over the hump. P.J. Fleck has his team competing every single week but closing out games is an issue. Saturday night’s home loss to Michigan State was another example of the Gophers coming up just short in a hard-fought contest. There’s still plenty of season left, but this isn’t the start many expected to see from Fleck and Minnesota.
  • Speaking of getting over the hump, Indiana had its opportunities again but couldn’t defeat Michigan. The Hoosiers fell 27-20 in overtime and the Wolverines’ win streak over IU will extend to a 31st season. Can Tom Allen eventually get this team to break through?
  • Wisconsin and Michigan State played sloppy games on Saturday, but still found a way to win. The Badgers edged out Purdue 17-9 while Spartans escaped an upset by beating Minnesota 30-27. Why is that significant? It speaks to the depth and the talent on both rosters. Both teams can make a serious run at that B1G title.
  • There’s such a talent disparity between the East and the West. Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan State are all unbeaten in B1G play in the East, while Michigan sits with just one loss. In the West, Wisconsin is a perfect 3-0 while everyone else has at least two conference losses. So much for division parity.
  • The real fun starts next week. We’re entering that stretch where Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State and Penn State will start playing each other with more frequency. It’s where the division, and possibly conference champion will be determined. Sit back, relax and enjoy the second half of the season.

Now that we’re creeping into the second half of the season — it’s still hard to believe we’ve reached the midway point — let’s take a look at some postseason destinations.

Here are the B1G bowl projections following Week 7 action:

Bowl Conferences Teams
Heart of Dallas Bowl      B1G vs. Big XII     Indiana vs. Iowa State
Pinstripe Bowl      B1G vs. ACC     Iowa vs. Louisville
Foster Farms Bowl      B1G vs. Pac-12     Northwestern vs. Stanford
Holiday Bowl      B1G vs. Pac-12     Michigan vs. Arizona
Music City Bowl      B1G vs. SEC     Maryland vs. Kentucky
Outback Bowl      B1G vs. SEC     Purdue vs. LSU
Citrus Bowl      B1G vs. SEC     Michigan State vs. Texas A&M
Fiesta Bowl      at-large vs. at-large     Wisconsin vs. Washington
Orange Bowl      ACC vs. B1G/SEC      Ohio State vs. Miami (FL)
CFP Semifinal: Rose Bowl      at-large vs. at-large     (2) Penn State vs. (3) Georgia