Big Ten Notebook: Buckeyes Back in Control in Title Race

One little loss to Northwestern can change everything. Iowa looked like the team to beat in the Big Ten title race, but now that it has fallen to the Wildcats and Ohio State has beaten Penn State, all the momentum has moved back to Columbus. Technically, both the Hawkeyes and Buckeyes control their own destiny. Whichever team wins Saturday's game is the presumptive conference champion.

Now go try to figure the odds that Iowa can win in the Horseshoe with a redshirt freshman quarterback making his first career start with no run support to speak of.

At any rate, it will be one of those teams that will go to Pasadena. Neither Penn State nor Wisconsin can do anything better than to tie with Ohio State or Iowa. The Nits and the Badgers lost to both those teams, so they'd lose the tiebreaker.

Here's a quick look at what else is going on around the conference.

Illinois has picked a strange time to peak, but then again, all the pressure is off the Illini. With back-to-back wins over Michigan and Minnesota the Illini's bowl hopes are still alive, but barely. They will have to win out to finish 6-6, and that will require beating Fresno State and Cincinnati. If Illinois should win out, then, you could argue that it would be the best 6-6 in the country and possible the best ever.

Indiana travels to Penn State this weekend right after the Nits laid an egg against Ohio State. Joe Paterno's teams usually bounce back hard after a big disappointment, but if IU loses there will be no bowl game for the Hoosiers. It's a shame. Indiana has never beaten Penn State.

Iowa quarterback Ricky Stanzi had surgery on his ankle this week and is out for the last two games of the regular season. He is expected to be available for Iowa's bowl game. James Vandenberg will start in his place. Vandenberg was Iowa's 3A football player of the year in 2007 and holds many of the state's all-division passing records. Vandenberg picked Iowa over Nebraska and Northern Illinois and has probably heard all your Dawson's Creek crackbacks before.

Michigan's retiring athletic director Bill Martin came under fire this week when reports surfaced that he had pushed one student and grabbed the jacket of another during football games at the Big House. Martin refused to show passes to enter VIP areas when the students requested them. This shows just how hard it is for Michigan to get flagged for pass interference at home. It also represents the most contact any Wolverine defender has managed since September.

Michigan State, with 53 underclassmen on the roster, needs the extra practice for a bowl game as much as it needs the bowl game itself. A win at Purdue this Saturday would likely secure at least a bid to the Little Caesar's Pizza Bowl.

Ohio State, believe it or not, has not been to the Rose Bowl in more than a decade.

Wisconsin's former defensive lineman Erasmus James faces felony battery charges for a Nov. 5 incident at a Madison bar in which he punched one of his friends. James was suspended by the NFL in September for undisclosed reasons.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

11-11-2009 @ 4:17PM

hafttwo said...

sad to see michigan suck so bad hope they get there act together soon

11-11-2009 @ 6:22PM

jaxprime1 said...

GOSH ! !

This article was posted over 6 hours ago and so far, there was only one other comment other than the one I am about to make.

Obviously NO ONE cares about who wins the Big Ten Title since it again will not have a chance to win the National Title game - even if Ohio State managed to get into it once again. We are all tired of seeing the Buckeyes get killed by other quality teams come bowl championship time.

Do you think the real Rose Bowl is going to be thrilled having at least two teams with two losses already coming to play in their granddaddy game ? Boy - how the mighty have fallen into mediocrity.

At least the Rose Bowl field will however host the National Championship Game so at least two quality teams will play there this year.

11-12-2009 @ 7:58PM

kmgolf said...

Easy answer to the one question about them being thrilled...if they get OSU they will be. Do you realize how many people will be traveling west from Ohio for that? OSU already travels better than about any other school out there...add to this the Rose Bowl and a 13 year drought, and you've got a big money maker.

Of course, they still need to beat Iowa for that to happen.

11-11-2009 @ 11:50PM

I hate to burst your bubble Kmgolf - but the Rose Bowl prides itself on being a great National audience center of attraction.

Ohio State could have all 100,000 tickets and bring that many fans to the game.

However, that does absolutely nothing for National television rankings and sales of commercial television advertisement time. That is where the real money is - not in individual ticket sales to people attending the game.

I am sorry to say it, but outside of Columbus and whoever they might play from the Pac-10, I seriously doubt there are going to be millions of fans across the nation sitting in front of their television sets to see that game.

That was my point about the Rose Bowl not being thrilled with the participants to gather more national television interest.

11-12-2009 @ 8:18PM

Do you not realize that OSU has one of the largest fan bases in the nation? Do you realize that, for the most part, the advertising is decided previous to the participants are? Also, in terms of the committee members of bowls, much of their decision is based on who will travel the best and who has the largest fan bases (this equals huge revenue for the area, which is severely in debt right now). Trust me, I have relatives on both the Fiesta Bowl and Orange Bowl committees. I've spoken with them many times about the process. There was a reason last year the Fiesta Bowl threw a party the night they got to invite a two loss OSU last year. Also, keep in mind that the Rose Bowl was the second highest viewed bowl last year with PSU in it, a team that gets less attention across the nation than OSU. And are you going to tell me that Illinois garners more national attention than OSU? Relative to the Big 10, OSU is an upgrade for the Rose Bowl. The Rose Bowl may not be thrilled to have two (or three) loss teams, but relative to bringing in OSU, I'm sure they are happy.

11-12-2009 @ 12:13AM

fgs1010 said...

The Little 10 has fallen so far and now the conference champion will have two losses. Losses to a Pac-10 so-so and Purdue? Let's face it folks, Ohio State would finish behind Arkansas if it were in the SEC.

The icy cold north is no longer the place for smart top prospects to live for 4 years. Speed kills and speed goes South now. A bowl may make some money from the Big 10 traveler, the problem is that the rest of America is tired of the Little 10 and no longer wants to watch.

Let the Little 10 and it's fans watch old videos of the good old days. The rest of America wants to watch speed and the teams from the sunshine states, not slow motion football please. You will get more responses by writing about TCU and Boise State. Either one would clobber Ohio State or Iowa. Cincinnati is the Best Team in Ohio anyway.

11-12-2009 @ 6:26AM

Steve said...

fgs1010
" Not so fast my friend" ...the Big Ten is down but not lifeless. You do remember that Michigan led by Chad Henne beat Florida and Tebow in a Bowl game . Also , Iowa is 3-1 against the SEC in Bowl games in the last six years with wins over Florida, LSU and South Carolina.

11-12-2009 @ 11:19AM

Dude - the Big Ten had ONE win in the 2008 Bowl games versus SIX losses. That one win was Iowa beating South Carolina.

If you are going to have to go back years and years ago to pull out " Exciting wins for the Big Ten in Bowl Games ", why not go ahead and extract some old replays of Woody Hayes and Bo if it is getting that difficult.

11-12-2009 @ 11:47AM

Mike said...

Ohio State beats Iowa, then Michigan and then ANY team from the Pac 10. Then they are ranked #1 out of the gate next year and romp to the title. And by the way SEC fans, how is your "powerhouse" Mississippi doing? lol at Arkansas over OSU. Bama couldn't score on Ohio State and when your best team,,Florida,,has it's best play, a run up the middle by there QB who can't pass at all as it's most exciting play, they are nothing to look at either. Florida had better beat SC first. The SEC is terrible, Vandy, Miss. St., Miss., Tenn., SC, you have Bama and no QB and Fla. with an over rated guy whos best play is the run up the middle. Yep, real tough.

11-12-2009 @ 9:17PM

You must have eaten some Buckeyes and it has affected your brain. That is a poisonous nut right? Like Jax said 1-8 in Bowls man! Get real.

11-13-2009 @ 7:18AM

hi said...

Mike you are the joke of the day. Go back to munchin you buckeye nuts cause thats all ohio has is nuts. Too bad Florida or Alabama won't have the chance to play ohio state.......... Oh thats right ohio state has 2 losses to nobody schools and Florida and Alabama have ZERO losses. You and you shuckeyes go play in your little pussy bowl game while the SEC plays for the real deal......