Hlog Week 14 Big Ten Rank: 1. Iowa, OSU and PSU

Iowa and Penn State hadn't had a No. 1 ranking all season in this feature. Well, that ends today.

Why a three-way tie for No. 1 after no ties at the top in the first 13 weeks? Because three teams won on the road in games with wildly different significance for the winners, but each of the victories was significant indeed.

1A. Iowa W 38-17 at Nebraska. Iowa Nice Guy, aka Scott Siepker, wasted little time putting out this message:

A three-touchdown win at Nebraska isn't common stuff, though UCLA did do it in September.

Is a rematch of the Jan. 1, 2009 Outback Bowl between the Hawkeyes and South Carolina in the cards? The Gamecocks took a 7-5 record to Tampa that year and were flattened by Clemson in their season-finale. This year, USC (that's what they call themselves) is 10-2 and fresh off a win over its highly regarded state-rival.

1B. Penn State W 31-24 at Wisconsin. Penn State was a 24-point underdog playing a team that some said was the best club in the Big Ten. What followed was one of the best Penn State performances in a long time. And that whopping point-spread wasn't ignored by the Nittany Lions.

“It definitely helped fuel our fire,” said PSU senior guard John Urschel. “Twenty-four points I think was a little excessive.”

It was a lot excessive, as it turned out.

“Our guys, I can tell you flat out that they took offense to the fact that they were 24-point underdogs and that nobody even in State College felt they could win the game – except the kids in that locker room," Penn State Coach Bill O'Brien said. "You take those things personally.”

Freshman quarterback Christian Hackenberg finished his first season with his best game, passing for 339 yards and four touchdowns against an excellent defense.

Penn State's next game is next Aug. 30 in Ireland, against Central Florida. The coaches will be named O'Brien and (George) O'Leary. That'll work in Dublin.

1C. Ohio State, W 42-41 at Michigan. So now it appears Ohio State is a win over Michigan State Saturday from a spot in the BCS title game.

Here's a look inside the Buckeyes' team bus as the squad returned to Columbus from Ann Arbor, and watched the finish of Auburn's victory over Alabama:

Lost in the wild finish of OSU's own game was the great effort by Buckeye running back Carlos Hyde, who had 27 carries for 226 yards. This is one of the Big Ten's best running backs of the millennium.

“I have the best offensive line in the country. I'm thankful. That helps me be able to showcase my talents,” Hyde said.

But OSU's pass defense was not good against Michigan, allowing 451 yards through the air. You think Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston can't do likewise against the Buckeyes? Assuming OSU sees Winston, that is.

4. Michigan, L 42-41 vs. Ohio State. Brady Hoke got a lot of credit for going for two points after the Wolverines scored to pull within 42-41. But with the way Michigan's defense was getting gouged by Hyde and his blockers, what choice did Hoke really have but to try to win the game in regulation?

Nonetheless, his team wasn't the offensive misfit it was in losses to Michigan State and Iowa. Quarterback Devin Gardner was nothing short of terrific.

"It doesn't matter what our record is, it doesn't matter what happened the past few years," said Michigan senior offensive tackle Taylor Lewan. "All that matters is we're the winningest program in college football. That's how it is and as long as coach (Brady) Hoke's around, that's how it's going to be. I don't care about the fair-weather fans, the media, I don't care about that. All I care about is the people in that room. I could care less if there was 110,000 Ohio State fans (infiltrating Michigan Stadium.) This team knew what we were going to do today.”

Fine. But you're 7-5, and you were fortunate to beat Akron and Connecticut.

Next: A bowl game, maybe the Gator.

5. Northwestern, W 37-34 at Illinois. Give it up for the Wildcats. This was probably the most-disappointing season in the school's football history. Yet, with seven straight losses and quarterback Kain Colter out because of a shoulder injury, the 'Cats hung in there for a road win.

Trevor Siemian threw for four touchdowns and 414 yards. He'll be back next year.

“You only appreciate the highs when you go through the lows," Siemian said. "The future looks really bright.”

“We'll be back, OK?” Northwestern Coach Pat Fitzgerald said. “As a coaching staff, we have earned and deserve any and all criticism that goes with not being where we belong. We will be back, I promise you that. We will be back.”

The 'Cats open next season at home against California on Aug. 30. Cal went 0-8 in the Pac-12.

6. Indiana, W 56-36 vs. Purdue. The Old Oaken Bucket is Indiana's. The 5-7 Hoosiers lost the previous two Bucket games against the Boilermakers.

“The words, ‘This is the best moment of my life' came out,” said Indiana senior kicker Mitch Ewald. “It just really is. To beat these guys, and have it be our last game here at home with this senior class, is just unbelievable.”

Hoosiers sophomore quarterback Tre Roberson tied a school record with six TD passes. Indiana gained 692 yards.

You can't say this team was dull. It scored 461 points. Alas, it allowed 466. It gained 508 yards per game. Alas, it allowed 528.

Indiana was supposed to be the Big Ten's surprise team. That honor goes to Minnesota instead. But the Hoosiers beat Penn State by 20 points. Wisconsin couldn't do that.

The Hoosiers start next season at home against Indiana State on Aug. 30. Indiana beat the 1-11 Sycamores this year, 73-35.

7. Michigan State, W 14-3 vs. Minnesota. Auburn did Michigan State a solid on Saturday. By opening the door of the BCS title game to Ohio State, MSU might go to the Rose Bowl even if it loses to Ohio State in the Big Ten's title game.

"I don't think there's any question we play in a BCS game," Spartans Coach Mark Dantonio said. "I don't think there's any question that we don't at 11-1. But we're not gonna do that. We're gonna risk moving forward, and we're gonna put all our chips on the table and try to go to the Rose Bowl.”

Uh, it's not like there's a choice involved.

The Spartans will need more offense Saturday night in Indianapolis than they showed against the Gophers. But MSU had good opening drives for scores in both halves, and did what it needed to do to win against a team with a good defense. Look for Saturday night's game to be a true contest.

8. Minnesota, L 14-3 at Michigan State. The Gophers are 8-4. They beat Nebraska and Penn State. But for the third time in Big Ten play (Iowa, Wisconsin, MSU), they were held to one score.

Minnesota was in the red zone three times Saturday, but you can tell from the final score how that went.

The Gophers had the ball for 38 minutes and 41 seconds. That's a lot of time without a touchdown.

Now we'll see what kind of clout Minnesota has with the bowls. It's an easy guess: Not much. Look for 7-5 Michigan to go ahead of the 8-4 Gophers.

If Minnesota is matched up with Texas Tech in the Texas Bowl, it could be a rematch of that game from last year when the Red Raiders won, 34-31. Minnesota would have the motivation. The Texas Bowl would have the empty seats.

9. Illinois, L 37-34 vs. Northwestern. So, the Illini improved on last year's Big Ten record. They were 0-8 last season, 1-7 this year.

Some fine offensive talents were, well, squandered. Quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase passed Juice Williams to become Illinois' all-time career yards record with 10,634. That's combined passing and rushing yards.

Senior Steve Hull, moved to receiver from safety, had 993 yards and seven touchdown catches in his only season at that position.

Illinois was more competitive this season than last, but it will have to be better than 1-7 in the league for Coach Tim Beckman to remain there in 2015.

“We've got to win more football games,” Beckman said. “We all understand that. We all know it's about the (wins).”

Illinois starts next season at home on Aug. 30 against Youngstown State. The Penguins were 8-4 this year, but go to Champaign with a 3-game losing streak.

10. Purdue, L 56-36 at Indiana. This game was 49-9 at one point.

It was a dismal season for the 1-11 Boilermakers, whose lone win was a 20-14 squeaker over 1-11 Indiana State. Purdue was outscored 456-179. It gave up 2,825 rushing yards, and allowed 460 total yards per game.

Darrell Hazell walked into a rough situation at Purdue. “Obviously, you'd like to be closer (to success), but we're not,” Hazell said. “We're not as close as we'd like to be.”

As Bob Kravitz of the Indianapolis Star noted in this column, Iowa's Kirk Ferentz and Wisconsin's Barry Alvarez were 1-10 in their first seasons at those jobs.

“The thing about those (coaches), they had a plan and they stuck to the plan,” Hazell said. “They understood things aren't always exactly the way you want it when you go into a situation.”

Purdue starts next season at home against Western Michigan. The Broncos, too, were 1-11 this season. Their lone win was over Massachusetts, which went 1-11. UMass' lone win was over Miami (Ohio), which went 0-12.

11. Nebraska, L 38-17 vs. Iowa. Friday afternoon, Bo Pelini sounded like he knew he was going to get fired and was going to burn every bridge in Nebraska. Saturday, he issued an apology. In a prepared statement, of course. The interesting stuff never comes in prepared statements.

“I apologize for reacting emotionally yesterday and for showing frustration both with the game officials and the media," Pelini's statement said. "I fully understand and respect their difficult jobs, and I regret any and all actions or words which may have shed a negative light on our program and university. Accountability is a core belief throughout our program, and as the head coach, I must set and maintain a high standard."

"Our football staff is hitting recruiting full throttle and looking forward to the upcoming bowl game," Pelini's statement continued. "We are committed to working with (athletic director) Shawn (Eichorst) and our entire department staff to continue to build this program and bring championships back to Nebraska."

Nebraska's last conference title in football was earned in 1999.

Eichorst has a prepared statement of his own. An excerpt: "... given the volume of unfounded speculation and conjecture about our head football coach, I want to reaffirm what I have said many times since I have arrived at the University of Nebraska - that I positively respect, appreciate and support our football student-athletes, coaches and staff, as we do everyone in the Husker family. We very much look forward to our upcoming bowl game and Coach Pelini continuing to lead our program in the future.”

Former Nebraska Coach and AD Tom Osborne was on board, telling the Omaha World-Herald “I think Shawn made the right decision. You just don't make a decision to get rid of a coach after an 8-4 season, and five straight 9- or 10-win seasons, and three division championships. Bo has had a good record.”

So on go the Huskers, probably to the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl, and possibly against Texas. Nebraska isn't big on Texas. Maybe all the Huskers can channel their hard feelings toward the Longhorns instead of each other.

12. Wisconsin, L 31-24 vs. Penn State. Win this game and perhaps go to a BCS bowl. That was the deal.

The Badgers didn't win.

"I don't really know what to tell you," senior tight end Jacob Pedersen said. "I mean, I really have no words for it."

"We don't deserve (a BCS bowl) after that performance," great Wisconsin linebacker Chris Borland said. "It is disappointing. That's really all I can say about it."

"Losing is unacceptable," Wisconsin Gary Andersen said in Jeff Potrykus' story in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.  "And if you're willing to accept it, you're a non-competitor and you don't belong in the University of Wisconsin football program.

"But I believe they'll bounce back and they'll prepare well for the bowl game. If there's somebody on this team that doesn't want to prepare well for the bowl game, then they'll miss the flight."

Wisconsin is headed to the Capital One Bowl to play a very good SEC team, be it Missouri, Auburn or LSU.