11/14/2022
With just two 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 7-0 Big Ten records, while Penn State is third at 5-2 in conference play. Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and Purdue all tie for the West Division lead with 4-3 Big Ten records, followed by Wisconsin in fifth at 3-4.
• Two of the nation’s four remaining undefeated FBS teams call the Big Ten home, as Michigan and Ohio State are both 10-0. The Buckeyes have won 29 straight games against unranked teams, the longest active streak nationally, while the Wolverines are 10-0 for the third time since 1975.
• Three Big Ten teams appear in the AP Poll this week, highlighted by two of the top three teams. Ohio State leads the conference at No. 2, followed by No. 3 Michigan and No. 11 Penn State, while Illinois and Minnesota are each receiving votes. The College Football Playoff will release its latest top 25 rankings on Tuesday, Nov. 15. The Big Ten boasted four teams included in the CFP’s second rankings of the season, which were released on Nov. 8.
• Michigan and Ohio State are two of only three FBS teams in the country with top-10 rankings in both scoring offense and scoring defense. The Wolverines lead the nation defensively (11.2 points per game) and rank fifth offensively (41.4 points per game), while the Buckeyes rank second offensively (46.8 points per game) and seventh defensively (15.6 points per game). The only other team to appear in the top 10 of both categories is Georgia.
• Four additional Big Ten teams rank in the top 25 in terms of scoring defense: Illinois (3rd, 12.5 points per game), Minnesota (4th, 13.1 points per game), Iowa (5th, 13.9 points per game) and Penn State (16th, 19.0 points per game).
• Saturday’s 34-3 victory against Nebraska marked the Wolverines’ fifth win of the season by 30 points or more and the sixth time they have held their opponent to 10 points or fewer. It also marked the third time this season that Michigan has limited its opponent to eight first downs or less and for the third straight week, U-M kept its opponent to one first down or fewer in the third quarter.
• Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud threw for 297 yards on 17-of-28 efficiency and five touchdowns in Ohio State’s 56-14 win over Indiana. The sophomore QB recorded his ninth career game, and fourth this season, with at least five touchdown passes to become the first player in Big Ten history to have consecutive seasons with 30 touchdown passes. His 297 yards put him over 7,000 passing yards for his career, only the fourth Buckeye signal-caller to reach that mark (Bobby Hoying, Art Schlichter, J.T. Barrett).
• Illini running back Chase Brown leads the nation with 1,442 rushing yards this season, with 803 of those yards coming after contact. He also leads the nation in all-purpose yards (1,615) without having return duties. With 98 rushing yards against Purdue on Saturday, Brown moved to second on Illinois’ all-time rushing list with 3,005 yards.
• Eight Big Ten schools – Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio State, Penn State and Purdue – 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. The full list of Big Ten postseason awards candidates can be found on page three.
• 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 (110,220 fans per game), No. 2 Penn State (107,749), No. 3 Ohio State (104,359), No. 11 Nebraska (86,732), No. 17 Wisconsin (73,898), No. 20 Michigan State (71,199) 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 11 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.
• 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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