Big Ten News: Week 11 Football Release

With just three weekends remaining in the regular season, all 14 Big Ten teams will take the field this week. The action opens on Saturday at noon ET and features seven conference games and six divisional matchups. The complete schedule can be found to the right.

• Michigan and Ohio State sit atop the East Division standings with matching 6-0 Big Ten records, while Penn State is third at 4-2 in conference play. Illinois leads the West Division with a 4-2 Big Ten record, followed by Iowa, Minnesota, Purdue and Wisconsin in second at 3-3.

• Two of the nation’s four remaining undefeated FBS teams call the Big Ten home, as Michigan and Ohio State are both 9-0. The Buckeyes have won 28 straight games against unranked teams, the longest active streak nationally, while the Wolverines are 9-0 for the first time since 2016.

• Four Big Ten teams appear in the AP Poll this week, highlighted by two of the top four teams. Ohio State leads the conference at No. 2, followed by No. 3 Michigan, No. 14 Penn State and No. 21 Illinois. The College Football Playoff will release its latest top 25 rankings on Tuesday, Nov. 8. The Big Ten boasted four teams included in the CFP’s first rankings of the season, which were released on Nov. 1.

• Michigan and Ohio State are the only two FBS teams in the country with top-10 rankings in both scoring offense and scoring defense. The Wolverines rank third defensively (12.1 points per game) and fifth offensively (42.2 points per game), while the Buckeyes lead the nation offensively (45.8 points per game) and rank eighth defensively (15.8 points per game).

• Three additional Big Ten teams rank in the top 25 in terms of scoring defense: Illinois (1st, 10.4 points per game), Minnesota (4th, 14.2 points per game), Iowa (5th, 15.8 points per game) and Wisconsin (24th, 20.6 points per game).

• Ohio State’s 21-7 victory against Northwestern on Saturday marked the program’s 70th consecutive game with at least 20 points, marking a new all-time FBS record. The Buckeyes have won 28 straight games against unranked teams, which is the longest active streak nationally and improve to 43-4 in road games in the last 10 years, the best record nationally.

• Michigan shut out Rutgers 38-0 in the second half, allowing a single first down in the final two frames, en route to the Wolverines’ 52-17 victory on Saturday. The Wolverines’ 52 points marked the third-most on the road for the program this century.

• Wolverine quarterback J.J. McCarthy won his eighth straight start to begin his career, becoming the first Michigan quarterback to begin his career 8-0 since Wilton Speight in 2016. Running back Blake Corum recorded his sixth consecutive 100-yard rushing game, the third-longest streak by a Wolverine since 2000.

• The Illinois defense remains one of the most elite units in the nation, leading the FBS in scoring defense (10.44 points allowed per game), total defense (232.2 yards allowed per game), passing defense (152.6 yards allowed per game), and interceptions (16).

• Illini running back Chase Brown leads the nation with 1,344 rushing yards this season, with 756 of those yards coming after contact. He also leads the nation in all-purpose yards (1,485) without having return duties. Brown recorded his 10th-straight 100-yard rushing game on Saturday against Michigan State.

• Six Big Ten schools – Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio State and Penn State – have clinched bowl berths by reaching six victories on the season. The Big Ten will continue to feature the largest bowl lineup in conference history, and the full list of Big Ten postseason destinations can be found on page five.

• Iowa’s Jack Campbell was named a finalist for the 2022 William V. Campbell Trophy on Oct. 26. Now in its 33rd year, the Campbell Trophy is presented annually to the nation’s top football scholar-athlete. The finalists will travel to the 64th NFF Annual Awards Dinner Presented by Las Vegas on Dec. 6, where one member of the class will be declared as the winner of the 33rd Campbell Trophy and have his postgraduate scholarship increased to $25,000.

• Seven Big Ten Conference programs appear in the top 25 of the latest NCAA attendance rankings, including the nation’s top three schools: No. 1 Michigan (110,224 fans per game), No. 2 Penn State (107,540), No. 3 Ohio State (104,438), No. 11 Nebraska (86,732), No. 17 Wisconsin (73,898), No. 20 Michigan State (72,786) and No. 21 Iowa (69,250). Additionally, Big Ten teams own 14 of the top 15 single-game attendance highs this season, including the top nine spots. Week-by-week attendance details can be found on page five.

• The 2022 Big Ten Football Championship Game will be played at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday, Dec. 3, at Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium and will be televised nationally on FOX. The winner will earn the Amos Alonzo Stagg Championship Trophy and a chance to play in one of the six bowls that comprise the College Football Playoff, including the Rose Bowl Game.

• The 2022 campaign features 94 All-Big Ten honorees (first-, second-, third-team or honorable mention) selected by either the coaches or the media last season. Ohio State leads the way, welcoming back 17 All-Big Ten honorees this season. Each team has at least one All-Big Ten performer returning this season, with 56 of the 94 returning All-Big Ten players coming from the East Division.

• This season’s Playoff Semifinals will take place Saturday, December 31, 2022, at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl and Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. The Los Angeles region will host the College Football Playoff National Championship on Monday, January 9, 2023, at SoFi Stadium. The College Football Playoff matches the No. 1 ranked team vs. No. 4, and No. 2 vs. No. 3 in semifinal games that rotate annually among six bowl games – the Goodyear Cotton Bowl, Vrbo Fiesta Bowl, Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, Capital One Orange Bowl, Allstate Sugar Bowl and Rose Bowl Game.

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