The Big Ten West race is over, thanks to Iowa’s 40-10 win over Nebraska on Friday. The Hawkeyes’ win clinches the West race for Wisconsin, who will now face the Big Ten East winner (whoever it may be) next Saturday in Indianapolis (8 p.m. ET, FOX).
Iowa beats Nebraska and puts Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship Game
The Huskers came out flat, and Iowa put Wisconsin in the title game.
Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports
Wisconsin and Nebraska entered the weekend with dueling 6-2 conference records. But Wisconsin’s head-to-head win over the Huskers gives the Badgers a tiebreaker, and now even a UW upset loss against Minnesota on Saturday won’t keep the Badgers out of the championship game. At worst, they’ll get there via a tiebreaker.
Nebraska came out incredibly flat for a team with a chance to win its division, however slim it was. The Huskers hit a literal 5-yard punt in the first quarter, which felt like a metaphor for how boring their play was. They gave up two 75-yard-plus touchdown runs in the first 12 minutes of the game and never looked ready to counterpunch. A brief second-half surge didn’t amount to anything important.
It’s an impressive way to close the year for Iowa. The Hawkeyes looked pretty dreary a month ago, but they’ve won their last three games to close the regular season. An upset against Michigan two weeks ago kicked it off, and Kirk Ferentz’s team has only kept churning. Iowa’s going to be in a pretty decent bowl game, and it could even win it. An 8-4 record isn’t last year’s 12-0, but things could be a lot worse.
Wisconsin’s game against Minnesota on Saturday (3:30 p.m ET, Big Ten Network) isn’t totally inconsequential. Paul Bunyan’s Axe is always a coveted prize, for one thing, but Wisconsin also should try really hard to avoid picking up a third loss.
As it stands now, whoever wins the Big Ten championship has a nearly automatic Playoff ticket. But if that champion winds up being a three-loss champion instead of a one- or two-loss champion, it could be problematic come selection day. UW is best served steering clear of that dilemma. But even if it doesn’t, “Big Ten West champs” is a good title.
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