Big Ten: Five biggest takeaways from Week 4

Sep 26, 2015; Iowa City, IA, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes head coach Kirk Ferentz congratulates quarterback C.J. Beathard (16) and wide receiver Riley McCarron (83) during the second quarter against the North Texas Mean Green at Kinnick Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports

Five things we learned about Big Ten teams in Week 4. 

The Big Ten had a successful first month of the season. They enter October with Ohio State and Michigan State holding the top spots in the AP Poll. Ohio State won their opener in primetime against Virginia Tech but their offense sputtered in three home wins under starting quarterback Cardale Jones.

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Michigan State won their highly anticipated revenge game against Oregon. Just up the road from East Lansing, Jim Harbaugh and Michigan look contend for a Big Ten title this season. They bounced back from an opening week loss and win three games to bring excitement back to Ann Arbor.

Over in the Big Ten West, four teams have a legitimate shot of representing the division in conference championship game. Favorites Wisconsin dropped their opener to Alabama but won their next three games at home while battling some injuries. Nebraska lost two non-conference games in close contests but you can’t count them out to win the division. Iowa and Northwestern are each finished non-conference play 4-0. It will be interesting to see if one or both can continue to keep up their momentum with the conference schedule starting.

Big Ten teams finished 12-2 in Week 4. Purdue lost to Bowling Green and Maryland was routed by West Virginia. The conference finished 5-9 against the spread. Ohio State and Michigan State failed to cover big spreads, and Minnesota and Illinois needed late points to come back and win straight up.

Here are the five biggest things we learned in Week 4 and heading into conference play.

Next: Michigan State