Two weeks into the college football season, the Big Ten faces an uphill climb. This past Saturday was a disaster for the conference.
In three marquee games in the early evening and at night, the conference laid an egg. Instead of making a statement that the Big Ten would be a playoff contender, the conference raised questions about any of its teams being in the first four-team playoff.
Michigan State started slow against Oregon but battled back to take a nine-point lead before giving up 28 unanswered points in its effort. Michigan lost 31-0 to Notre Dame in the final game—for the foreseeable future—between the programs.
Ohio State was down 14 points before battling back to tie the game and finally falling by 14 points. Add Wisconsin's loss to LSU and Northwestern's loss to California at the beginning of the season, and the conference only has one win against the Power Five—new member Rutgers against Washington State.
Michigan State, Wisconsin and Ohio State aren't dead yet for the playoffs but can't have another loss. Nebraska needed to escape McNeese State but is still undefeated and have name power.
Rutgers and Maryland have name power and a perfect record but would have to run roughshod through the conference to get a playoff bid. Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa and Indiana are all undefeated as well, but don't expect them to stay that way.
The perception going into the season was the Big Ten was weaker than the other Power Five conferences, and the first two weeks of the season didn't change anything. The conference has zero margin for error for the rest of this season.
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