Save for a few near misses, the Big Ten was safe from the calamitous week of upsets that plagued the rest of college football.
Beware of the weeks that appear dull. Week 7 didn’t feature any games between two ranked teams, and was mostly a tune-up for the bigger conference matchups we’ll see later this season. But what separates the contenders from the truly elite teams are how they approached this week. Those that looked ahead to bigger games rightly lost, while those that know how to not slip up kept their foot on the gas pedal.
While none of the top teams went down in the Big Ten, we got a better sense of who those elite teams are this year. Ohio State scored five touchdowns in the first half against Nebraska and didn’t look back, while teams like Wisconsin, Michigan and Michigan State all struggled against lower-level opposition.
There was hardly any movement in this week’s power rankings, but that’s sure to change when the top teams face off starting next week.
Illinois is now one of three teams left with a winless Big Ten record. But that will change next week when they take on the Golden Gophers. We all knew that Illinois’ 2-0 start was fools’ gold, but this was one of the few winnable games on their schedule. But with a loss to Rutgers cementing their status as the worst in the conference, expect them to finish the season 2-10 now.
This game was the college football equivalent of Jets vs. Browns. No one would blame you if you shut this off partway through, or didn’t watch at all — especially if you’re a fan of either team. Winning this game was paramount for a Rutgers team trying to pick up what was left of their dignity following their shutout loss to Ohio State. But the teams they’ve beat have a combined 3-9 record, which means this is the last time this season we’ll see Rutgers in the win column.