Michigan Monday: A Down Big Ten?

Coming into the year many expected a down year for the Big Ten with two brand names on NCAA probation with Penn State and Ohio State.   It was a safe bet to pencil in Wisconsin to the Big Ten Championship game in Indy.   Who was going to beat them in the Leaders division?  Illinois, Indiana or Purdue?  Not likely.  

Then Michigan preformed the way they did against Alabama in week 1 and then during Week 2 the sky fell on the rest of the Big Ten.  Here are the results from Saturday:

Winners
Michigan beat Air Force
Ohio State beat Central Florida
MSU beat Central Michigan
Northwestern beat Vandy
Indiana beat UMass
Minnesota beat New Hampshire


Losers
Wisconsin lost to Oregon State
Nebraska lost to UCLA
Illinois lost to Arizona State
Purdue lost to ND
Iowa lost to Iowa State
Penn State lost to Virgina


The Big Ten beat two MAC schools (yes UMass is in the MAC now), one service academy from the Mt. West, one team from the SEC, one team from Conference USA and one FCS school.

The losses were to 3 teams from the PAC 12, ND, Big 12 and the ACC.   Not good, not good at all.

-Wisconsin scored one touchdown against Oregon State who won 3 games last year.
- Iowa scored 6 points in a field goal battle with ISU.  (6-9 final)
- Illinois got blown out by ASU
- Nebraska and UCLA played a good game and UCLA is a program on the rise. 
- Penn State missed a field goal to beat Virgina with a few seconds left in the game.  Former Michigan verbal commit and former PSU 1st string kicker Anthony Fera transferred to Texas before the season started.

Seriously, why can't the Big Ten play on the West Coast?  If it's jet lag other teams better consider leaving a day earlier.

I think the most promising news for the Big Ten was the solid play by Purdue at ND.   That game was on during the Michigan game but it seemed Purdue played pretty well against ND.

The current AP rankings have MSU #10, OSU #12 and Michigan #17.  Wisconsin dropped out completely. 

How good is that Michigan State - ND game going to be this week in East Lansing?  The good news for Wolverines fans is someone has to lose this game.   It will also be a good scouting opportunity as Michigan plays ND in two weeks and MSU in 5 weeks.

• After scoring seven points last weekend, Wisconsin has fired their offensive line coach after two games.   The Badgers rushed 23 times for 35 yards against the Beavers.

Update:  Denard is the Offensive Big 10 player of the week and Devin Funchess is the Big 10 Freshman of the week. 

Funchess caught four passes for 106 yards, with a 30-yard TD reception, in Michigan's 31-25 win over Air Force on Saturday. He is the first U-M tight end with 100 or more yards receiving in a game since Jerame Tuman in 1997.

Robinson had 218 yards passing and 208 rushing against the Falcons. He is the only player in FBS history to run and pass for 200 or more yards in the same game three times.