Big Ten Football & Basketball Blog

The Iowa Hawkeyes pulled out another miracle with an amazing comeback over Indiana. Iowa trailed 21-7 at halftime before out scoring the Hoosiers 35-3 in the 2nd half. QB Ricky Stanzi threw 5 interceptions on the day but finally settled down to guide Iowa to the victory. The Hawkeyes host Northwestern on November 7th. The Nittany Lions moved up from #12 to #11 in the Top 25 rankings after a big 34-13 victory over Northwestern. Penn State will face #16 Ohio State on November 7th in what could go a long way in deciding the Big Ten Championship. The Buckeyes moved up one slot after stepping out of conference to face New Mexico State. Terrelle Pryor lit up the Aggie defense in the 45-0 victory. The Buckeyes will face a white out when they travel to Happy Valley to face the Nittany Lions. The 6-2 Badgers of Wisconsin jumped in

The #4 Iowa Hawkeyes pulled out another big road victory, this time in dramatic fashion. Iowa scored on the last play of the game to pull out a stunning 15-13 victory at Michigan State as the 2009 Iowa Hawkeyes closely resemble the 2002 Ohio State Buckeyes who received little recognition but won the BCS Championship Bowl game. Iowa’s defense is playing at a championship level and QB Ricky Stanzi continues to make big plays. Iowa hosts Indiana on October 31st. Penn State moved up one slot from #13 to #12 with an impressive 35-10 thrashing of Michigan. Penn State travels to Northwestern on October 31st. Ohio State moved up two slots to #17 in the Top 25 rankings with 38-7 drubbing of Minnesota. QB Terrelle Pryor was extremely impressive in the victory, but the Buckeyes step out of conference to host New Mexico State on October 31st.
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The Big Ten Conference continues it’s lackluster play and now has its hopes placed on undefeated Iowa. The Big Ten has only one team in the top 10 as the Hawkeyes enter the BCS at #6. Their 7-0 record includes big road victories at Penn State and Wisconsin, and Iowa will face another stiff road test at Michigan State on October 24th. The Nittany Lions debut at #13. Penn State, 6-1, will have their hands full at Michigan on October 24th. Ohio State debuts with an inauspicious #19 ranking after the Buckeyes were horrible in a loss at Purdue. The Boilermakers were on a 5 game losing streak coming into the game, nowhere near a sniff of college football’s Top 25. The Buckeyes host Minnesota on October 24th. The 5-2 Badgers of Wisconsin are on a 2 game losing streak with losses to Ohio State and Iowa. Wisconsin will have a bye week before hosting Purdue on October 31st. Nine Big Ten teams seem poised for postseason bowl games in the latest bowl projections at Football-Bowl.com as the key will be keeping the four 4-3 Big Ten teams bowl eligible.

The Buckeyes maintained their #9 ranking with their thrashing of Indiana on Saturday night. Ohio State dominated the game on the ground and on the defensive side of the ball. The Buckeyes will host undefeated Wisconsin on October 10th. Iowa escaped with a 24-21 victory over lowly Arkansas State, but the #12 Hawkeyes will host a dangerous Michigan team led by freshmen QB sensation Tate Forcier. Penn State moved up three spots to #14 with their 35-17 victory at Illinois. The Nittany Lions will step out of the conference when they host Eastern Illinois on October 10th. The Michigan Wolverines dropped out of the top 25 with their overtime loss to Michigan State in East Lansing, but a win over Iowa will catapult the Wolverines back into the top 25. Wisconsin is on the cusp of the top 25 at #26 in the voting, but a victory in Columbus would definitely move the Badgers into the poll. In all, 7 Big Ten teams are listed in the latest of the 2009 bowl projections.

The game of the week featured Iowa traveling to Penn State. The Nittany Lions were heavy favorites and looked for vengeance against the Hawkeyes. In 2008 Iowa upset Penn State dashing their National Championship dreams. In 09, in front of well over 100,000 fans clad in white, the Hawkeyes did it again with a physical 21-10 victory. The win moved Iowa from 31st to 13th and dropped Penn State from 5th to 15th. The Hawkeyes will thump Arkansas State on October 3rd while Penn State will look to bounce back at Illinois. The Buckeyes of Ohio State pitched their 2nd consecutive shutout demoralizing Illinois 30-0. With the win, OSU moved from 13th to 9th. Ohio State will travel to surprisingly tough Indiana. The Michigan Wolverines moved up from 23rd to 22nd with a narrow escape over Indiana, 36-33. Next up for UM is a trip to East Lansing to face in-state and bitter rival, Michigan State. Wisconsin also received votes in this week’s Top 25 rankings.

Penn State remained at #5 with their victory over Temple. The Nittany Lions will host Iowa on the 26th. Inexplicably, Ohio State dropped from 11th to 13th with a thrashing of high scoring Toledo. The Sooners of Oklahoma jumped the Buckeyes despite losing earlier in the season to BYU. Ohio State will open the Big Ten Season against Illinois. Michigan moved up from 25 to 23 with a victory over Eastern Michigan. The Wolverines will open their Big Ten schedule with Indiana. Iowa was the only other Big Ten receiving votes for the top 25 this week. The Hawkeyes defeated Arizona and will face Penn State to open the Big Ten season.

The Ohio State Buckeyes fell three spots from 8th to 11th after a tough home loss to USC. Penn State moved up two spots from 7th to 5th after walloping Syracuse 28-7. After an exciting win vs. Notre Dame, the Michigan Wolverines finally resurfaced in the Top 25 at #25.

Ok, #2 West Virginia has lost. #9 Oklahoma is up 28-17 on #1 Missouri and about to add to their lead. #7 LSU beat #14 Tennessee 21-14, #8 USC beat UCLA, #6 Virginia Tech beat #11 Boston College.

So here is my Top 10:
1 - Ohio State - The nation’s best team? No. But the nation’s top-ranked team.
2 - USC - Playing great at the end of the season - may be the best team in the nation right now.
3 - Oklahoma - Dominating win over Missouri proves that had QB Sam Bradford not been knocked out in Texas Tech loss, OU would be playing in the BCS National Championship.
4 - Kansas - As one of two 1-loss teams it’s hard to keep Kansas out of the Top 2, but not only did Kansas not win their Conference, they didn’t even win their Division in the Big 12.
5 - Virginia Tech - Strong win over Boston College proves Virginia Tech should move up.
6 - LSU - Are they the 2nd-best team in the nation? Does 2 losses in Triple Overtime means LSU should be higher? This is a tough, tough call.
7 - Georgia - Sorry Georgia fans, but like Kansas, the Bulldogs didn’t win the SEC and came in 2nd in the SEC East.
8 - West Virginia - Big East Champs or not, WVU fumbled away their chance multiple times against a weak Pitt team.
9 - Florida - Tim Tebow gets the Heisman and Florida will be the highest-ranked SEC team NOT in a BCS Bowl game.
10 - Hawaii - Assuming they win in their late game tonight against Washington, Hawaii would be the nation’s only undefeated team. There is no respect or justice in Football Bowl Subdivision if you’re not in a BCS Conference.