Ranking Big Ten’s Week 13 results: 1. Minnesota, 2. Wisconsin, 5. Iowa

The Big Ten became a 3-team race Saturday. Iowa was eliminated from title-contention. So was Michigan State. And Nebraska.

So we're left with Ohio State, Wisconsin and ... Minnesota?

Yup. It turns out the Gophers didn't need to beat Illinois. As long as they defeat Wisconsin Saturday in Madison, they go to Indianapolis the following week for a rematch with Ohio State. Easier said than done.

Now, ranking the Big Ten's performances in Week 13.

1. Minnesota, W 28-24

at Nebraska

This isn't a league of pretty. The quarterbacks of the two West division contenders, Minnesota and Wisconsin, aren't all-conference candidates or NFL players-in-waiting. Minnesota's Mitch Leidner completed just 8 of 17 passes at Nebraska Saturday. But he rushed 22 times for 111 yards and two touchdowns, and led poised drives after the Gophers fell behind 21-7.

Minnesota cornerback Briean Boddy-Calhoun saved the day when he stripped the ball from Nebraska receiver De'Mornay Pierson-El with 1:17 left in the game.

Pierson-El made a 28-yard catch at the Minnesota 2, but Boddy-Calhoun ripped the ball loose and the Gophers recovered.

'In Little League, my coach taught me that the play isn't over until the ref blows the whistle,” Boddy-Calhoun said. 'So that's been something that's been grounded in me since I was younger, always chasing the ball. I'm always going to try to fight for the ball until the ref blows his whistle.”

The Gophers seemed to be running uphill all game, but they never stopped running. They're 8-3 and have changed the perception of their program with a home rout of Iowa and a road win over Nebraska.

This was Minnesota's first road win over a ranked team since 2000. Jerry Kill, folks.

2. Wisconsin, W 26-24

at Iowa

A lot of teams would have buckled at what Iowa threw at the Badgers in the second half in cutting a 19-3 lead to 19-17. Bucky didn't buckle.

Wisconsin quarterback Joel Stave has gone from the September 'yips” to the November 'yip, yip, yahoos!”

Camp Randall Stadium is going to be cuckoo Saturday when the Gophers show up.

3. Michigan State, W 45-3

vs. Rutgers

The Spartans can't win the East, but they're playing for a spot in a College Football Playoff bowl. This year, that means Fiesta, Cotton, Peach or Orange.

There was no messing around this day. Senior Tony Lippett's home-finale was one for the books. He started at both wide receiver and cornerback, and played well both ways. He had five catches for 72 yards and a touchdown.

Another senior, Jeremy Langford, had a school-record 15th-straight 100-yard rushing game in Big Ten play.

It was Seniors Day at MSU. The Spartan seniors have experienced 40 victories.

4. Northwestern, W 38-14

at Purdue

This was dominant, and it improved the Wildcats to 5-6. They'l close the season at home Saturday against fellow 5-6 team Illinois.

The winner gets a bowl game. Not a good bowl game. Not even a semi-good bowl game. Maybe the Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit. But a bowl game, and a shot at a 7-6 record.

'It makes the game that much more intense,” said Wildcats linebacker Anthony Walker.

Northwestern starting quarterback Trevor Siemian suffered what coach Pat Fitzgerald called 'a pretty serious knee injury.” Football is brutal.

5. Iowa, L 26-24

vs. Wisconsin

I've covered 11 college football games this season, and Jake Rudock was better on Iowa's last three drives in this game as anyone I've seen in a similar stretch all year.

But it wasn't enough.

The Hawkeyes' defense needed one stop on Wisconsin's final two possessions to give the offense a chance to win this game. It never happened, in no small part because Joel Stave equaled Rudock's heroics on the Badgers' last two drives. And because Wisconsin's offensive line is the Big Ten's best.

6. Illinois, W 16-14

vs. Penn State

The Fighting Illini didn't quit after getting routed by Iowa the week before to fall to 4-6.

Illinois had made just two field goals in their first 10 games. David Reisner kicked three of them against the Nittany Lions, including a 36-yarder with eight seconds left to win this game.

'I looked him in the eye, and told him `This is easy for you,' ” Illinois Coach Tim Beckman said.

Illinois vs. Northwestern for a bowl. Why not?

7. Maryland, W 23-16

at Michigan

Maryland is 4-3 in the Big Ten. It has beaten Penn State and now Michigan on the road. Never mind that Penn State isn't quite Penn State and Michigan really isn't quite Michigan. The Terrapins have done it, and at 7-4 will try to beat Rutgers on Saturday to go to a decent bowl.

'I told our guys we needed to come out here and make some memories so that we could have a reunion 30 years from now and reminisce about the good things,” Maryland Coach Randy Edsall said. 'To beat Penn State on the road, and beat Michigan on the road, and go 5-1 on the road in our first year in the league is special.”

8. Ohio State, W 42-27

vs. Indiana

The newly minted East Division champs had to work for it against Indiana.

Freshman quarterback J.T. Barrett had (ho hum) four touchdown passes and 302 passing yards, and rushed for 78 more.

But this wasn't the kind of effort that earned playoff points, if there are such things.

'I'm not happy about the win,” Buckeye safety Tyvis Powell said. 'A win is a win in the books, but everybody in the locker room feels sick about the win. We know we have room to get better, and that's what we need to do, especially since we have the rivalry game coming up” (against Michigan on Saturday).

9. Indiana, L 42-27

at Ohio State

Indiana led 21-20 with three minutes left in the third quarter. Eventually, the vulnerable Hoosiers defense caved, but the team didn't come to Columbus to get rolled over.

It's a crime if Indiana running back Tevin Coleman doesn't get an invite to New York as a Heisman Trophy finalist. I have a vote, and as I've been saying for weeks, he's got me in his corner. Coleman had 27 rushes for 228 yards and three touchdowns, and broke the school's single-season rushing record (1,821 yards). When Anthony Thompson rushed for 1,789 yards for Indiana in 1989, he finished second in the Heisman voting.

The 90-yard run was the longest Ohio State has allowed since 1960 and was the longest run in Ohio Stadium history.

10. Nebraska, L 28-24

vs. Minnesota

Some Husker fans may say this should be ranked lower. Maybe this is tender mercy.

'We lost because we didn't deserve to win,” Nebraska Coach Bo Pelini said. 'We didn't play well enough. We had too many busts. Our execution was subpar. Our tackling was horrendous.”

Minnesota rushed for 281 yards.

'We don't play very smart for one,” Pelini said. 'Inconsistency will kill you. Some of the plays we ran that they got on us, we ran two, three, four and five times in practice. It wasn't anything new. We ran a couple of new things, but most of them were things that we covered, went over and executed. And we got into the game, and it was like we never saw it before.”

That sounds like ... coaching.

11. Penn State, L 16-14

at Illinois

Penn State, which finishes the season at home Saturday against Michigan State, looks like it's headed to the Pinstripe Bowl with a 6-6 record.

Losing to Illinois put the official stamp of mediocrity on this season. Losing at home to Northwestern and Maryland, and losing at Michigan certainly didn't help.

12. Purdue, L 38-14

vs. Northwestern

The announced crowd for this mess at Ross-Ade Stadium was 30,117. The Chicago Tribune's Teddy Greenstein covered the game and wrote he wasn't sure if 10,000 people showed up.

13. Michigan, L 23-16

vs. Maryland

There will be no meaningless bowl for the Wolverines this year. They fell to 5-6 with this loss, and if you think they're winning at Ohio State Saturday ...

'I'm hurting after the game emotionally because I've been with these (seniors) going on three years,” said Michigan running back Drake Johnson. He had 94 of Michigan's 292 rushing yards Saturday, and the team still only scored 16 points and lost.

'You see how much the game means to them, how much the game influences their lives. You see how much work they put into it. It hurts seeing something like that happen and having it end this way. It sucks to watch and sucks to have happen.”

These are human beings playing these games.

14. Rutgers, L 45-3

at Michigan State

'Yeah, they're good,” Rutgers quarterback Gary Nova said about the Spartans. 'But every team is vulnerable. They had some vulnerable areas. I missed a lot of throws and didn't take advantage of it. We made them look a lot better than they were.”

Rutgers apparently made Ohio State, Nebraska and Wisconsin look a lot better than they were, too. The Scarlet Knights lost to those three teams and Michigan State by a combined score of 178-44.