Big Ten football power rankings, Week 13: The Game looms large

Northwestern posted their 10th loss in a row Saturday against Purdue, falling to the Boilermakers 17-9. The Wildcats put up a fight but two fumbles and an interception certainly did not help. Evan Hull recorded his fifth 100 yard rushing game of the season and found the end zone.

The Wildcats only hope now is to play spoiler to rival Illinois’ season as they host them at Ryan Field to conclude the regular season. The Wildcats lone win this season comes out of the country when they defeated Nebraska in Ireland.

Rutgers defense played well for the first quarter, keeping the Penn State offense off the board. However special teams and defensive touchdowns for the Nittany Lions gave them the lead after one. Once Penn State’s offense woke up, it was all over.

Rutgers will miss a bowl game this season unless something strange happens where they can get in with five wins if there are not enough bowl eligible teams. The Scarlet Knights conclude their season at Maryland.

Nebraska held the lead over Wisconsin until less than a minute to go when the Badgers got the go ahead touchdown. Another one possession game where Nebraska cannot close the door, a theme in Lincoln.

The Cornhuskers have lost five in a row. While the team loves Mickey Joseph, he is probably not the guy to get the full time gig moving forward. The best Nebraska can do now is upset rival Iowa to spoil the Hawkeyes West division hopes. The Huskers have lost seven in a row to the Hawkeyes.