Wisconsin clinched a share of the West Division title and a berth in the 2017 Big Ten Football Championship Game presented by Discover with its 38-14 win over Iowa last Saturday. The Badgers, who lead the West Division with a 7-0 Big Ten record, can secure the outright division championship this weekend with either a victory over Michigan or a Minnesota win over Northwestern...
Ohio State sits atop the East Division standings with a 6-1 record, one game ahead of Michigan, Michigan State and Penn State, which each have 5-2 Big Ten records. The Buckeyes can clinch a share of the East Division title this weekend with a win over Illinois, or with losses by Michigan (at Wisconsin), Michigan State (vs. Maryland) and Penn State (vs. Nebraska). Ohio State can lock up a berth in the Big Ten Football Championship Game with a win and a Wisconsin win over Michigan...
Wisconsin is off to a school-record 10-0 start this season (previous bests were 9-0 debuts in 1998 and 2004) and the Badgers are one of four remaining undefeated programs in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). Paul Chryst also became the third coach in Big Ten history to win at least 10 games in each of his first three seasons at a conference school, joining Michigan’s Fielding Yost (1901-03) and Ohio State’s Urban Meyer (2012-14)...
Wisconsin’s defense surrendered just 66 total yards to Iowa, the fewest yards the Badgers have ever allowed to a Big Ten opponent and the second-lowest opponent yardage total in school history (Temple had 45 in 2005). The previous low yardage total by a Big Ten foe was 78 yards by Illinois on Oct. 8, 1977...
With its victory over Purdue, Northwestern has now won five straight conference games for the first time since 1995-96. The team won 13 consecutive Big Ten contests during the 1995 and 1996 seasons, going 8-0 in conference play in 1995 before winning its first five conference tilts in 1996...
Iowa’s Josh Jackson tied a Big Ten record by returning two interceptions for touchdowns against Wisconsin last weekend. Jackson is the third conference student ever to accomplish that feat, joining Northwestern’s Colin Ellis (vs. California on Aug. 31, 2013) and another Hawkeye, B.J. Lowery (vs. Western Michigan on Sept. 21, 2013)...
Penn State’s Saquon Barkley became the school’s career leader with 5,055 all-purpose yards, passing Larry Johnson (5,045) and Curt Warner (4,982) during the Nittany Lions’ win over Rutgers last Saturday...
Iowa’s Josey Jewell, and Ohio State J.T. Barrett and Billy Price are among 10 FBS seniors selected as finalists for the Senior CLASS Award. The honor has been presented annually since 2008 to a student who has made notable achievements in the award’s four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition. Five Big Ten students have earned the award, including Michigan’s Jake Butt last season...