Things could not have gotten any worse for the Big Ten. The conference’s teams were projected to barely break .500 with a 7-6 record on Saturday. Instead, the conference erupted with one upset after another to shoot out to a 9-0 start Saturday with a +146 margin of victory.
Iowa and Maryland came up with big upsets of ACC teams (Pitt and Syracuse), and Rutgers and Purdue beat unknown but very good teams in Navy and Southern Illinois (average margin of victory 30 points prior to today’s loss). But the big one was Indiana going into Missouri to shock the defending SEC East champ.
The conference already exceeded their expectations with four games left to play, firmly putting themselves back among the other Power 4. The full conference ratings will be compiled after all games are complete, but the Big Ten is already assured of improving on last week’s low point.
| Rnk | Team | Proj | Actual | %W | Win | Opponent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 87 | Illinois | 13 | 79% | Texas St | ||
| 67 | Indiana | -25 | 4 | 8% | 1 | Missouri |
| 76 | Iowa | -21 | 4 | 8% | 1 | Pittsburgh |
| 63 | Maryland | -12 | 14 | 18% | 1 | Syracuse |
| 71 | Michigan | -6 | 36% | Utah | ||
| 16 | Michigan St | 25 | 25 | 100% | 1 | E Michigan |
| 75 | Minnesota | 4 | 60% | San Jose St | ||
| 36 | Nebraska | 2 | 53% | Miami FL | ||
| 100 | Northwestern | 11 | 17 | 84% | 1 | W Illinois |
| 28 | Ohio St | 0 | 0% | |||
| 58 | Penn St | 25 | 25 | 97% | 1 | Massachusetts |
| 118 | Purdue | -11 | 25 | 20% | 1 | S Illinois |
| 81 | Rutgers | -16 | 7 | 17% | 1 | Navy |
| 25 | Wisconsin | 21 | 25 | 98% | 1 | Bowling Green |
| Big Ten Margin, Wins | 10 | 146 | 6.8 | 9 |
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.