The B1G 10....

While it’s not impossible, it’s highly unlikely that a Big Ten team will be invited to the four-team college football playoff.  As of now, the Big Ten's only win against a Power Five conference team is the Rutgers road win over Washington State. (Is it too soon to start calling the Big Ten a men’s gymnastics conference or a women’s volleyball conference or a wrestling conference?  Help us Big Ten men’s basketball, you’re our only hope!)

 

The Big Ten now has only two unbeaten teams (Nebraska and Penn State), as many as the four FBS Independents (BYU and Notre Dame) and just one more than the American Athletic (1-0 Cincinnati), Conference USA (3-0 Marshall) and the MAC (3-0 Northern Illinois.) The ACC has seven unbeaten teams; the Big 12 has four; the SEC and Pac 12 each has eight.

 

Having away games at Michigan State, Wisconsin and Iowa makes an unbeaten season for Nebraska very difficult.  Penn State might be lucky in having to play Ohio State, Maryland and Michigan State at home, so they might have a better chance than Nebraska of remaining unbeaten, but after their late 13-10 comeback win on the road against Rutgers, it could be tough for Penn State to remain unbeaten.  (But if Penn State runs the table, then putting them in the playoff would seem like a no-brainer, even considering the circumstances that could have kept them ineligible for any post-season play this season.)

 

You may consider Michigan State and Ohio State to be the Big Ten’s top two teams, but neither of them can finish with just one loss because they still have to play each other, so the winner of their game would have to run the table to earn that playoff bid.

 

BYU has a good chance to remain unbeaten, but none of their opponents are any good, so a one-loss Big Ten team would have a stronger case for making the four team playoff than an unbeaten BYU whose only “signature win” might turn out to be a home win over Virginia if they can beat the Cavaliers next Saturday.

 

Notre Dame has to play at Florida State, at Arizona State and at USC, besides hosting Stanford after what might be a trap game for them next Saturday in New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium against Scott Shafer’s unbeaten Syracuse team.  Their shot at an undefeated season doesn't look too good.

 

Cincinnati and its here-today-gone-tomorrow QB Gunner Kiel plays at Ohio State and at Coral Gables Miami, so they should find it very hard to stay unbeaten.  Marshall has an excellent chance to remain unbeaten, but they play against a very weak schedule; and even if they continue to average 40 points a game for the rest of the season, they’ll probably find it very difficult to be considered among the nation’s top four teams.  Northern Illinois faces its biggest challenge at Arkansas next Saturday, but a win there might keep them unbeaten against a weak schedule.