Week 10 gave the Big Ten’s cellar dwellers a rare chance to smile, and both Maryland and Michigan State took it on the road. Neither win changes the bigger picture much, though. If anything, it says more about how far the bottom third of the league has slipped.
Michigan’s offense remains hard to sit through. Maryland and Rutgers are still Maryland and Rutgers.
Purdue’s early momentum has vanished. Michigan State is not suddenly good.
Nebraska, as ever, feels cursed.
At the top, the league’s title picture is starting to narrow, at least for now. UCLA looks like the cleanest path to Indianapolis if Indiana keeps winning, while the Hoosiers are sitting in a spot where one loss could blow everything open.
If USC beats Indiana this week, the second championship-game berth turns into chaos, because Indiana would drop into a crowded mess of two-loss teams. Illinois, USC, Wisconsin, Iowa, Ohio State, and Oregon all sit right behind the Hoosiers with two conference losses, and none of them face each other this week.
UCLA stayed put at No. 1 after a 34-20 win over Minnesota. The Bruins’ schedule is lining up nicely, with Illinois coming to town this week and Michigan on deck after that. The USC game could end up meaning more for pride than for the standings, though it still might be the one that knocks the Trojans out of the Big Ten title race.
Indiana held steady at No. 2 while on bye, and the Hoosiers are in a make-or-break stretch. They’ve become bizarro Nebraska, finding strange new ways to win late while the Huskers do the opposite. Beat USC and they’re probably headed back to Indy.
USC also sat idle this week at No. 3, but the path ahead is anything but simple. Two of the Trojans’ last three games are road trips against top 10 teams, with Maryland mixed in between.
Iowa moved up to No. 4 after a 24-10 win over Northwestern. The Hawkeyes are lurking with a manageable finish that includes Purdue, a trip to Illinois, and Nebraska. They still need help, but they’re in a good spot.
Oregon’s 41-28 win over Ohio State was the loudest statement of the week. The Ducks didn’t just beat the Buckeyes in Columbus; they controlled the game more than the final score suggests. They also have a favorable closing stretch.
Wisconsin climbed after a 31-10 win over Rutgers, and Illinois stayed in the mix after taking down Nebraska 24-13. The Badgers are now Purdue’s last best hope for a win this season, while Illinois would be sitting in second place right now if it had handled Purdue at home. The Illini also have the toughest remaining schedule among the two-loss teams.
Ohio State took a hit in the rankings after the loss to Oregon, and the questions around the Buckeyes are getting louder. When Julian Sayin went down, did that drag everyone else down with him? Either way, the defense gave up 41 at home after all that spending.
Minnesota showed enough in the loss to UCLA to stay dangerous. The Gophers hung around through three quarters and have shown they can play with anybody. A win at Penn State this week would hand them all their trophies at once.
Northwestern’s loss to Iowa knocked the Wildcats out of the title race after they had cracked the top 25. Penn State, meanwhile, picked up a solid road win over Washington, 28-25, on a long trip out west. The Nittany Lions now get Minnesota before finishing with Rutgers and Maryland.
Washington’s home conference struggles continued with that loss, leaving the Huskies winless at home in Big Ten play after falling to Iowa, Minnesota, and Penn State.
Nebraska’s latest collapse came against Illinois, and it had a punchline attached: a punter rushing for 30+ yards on a fake field goal to swing the game. It was another brutal reminder of how bad the Huskers have been in close games.
Michigan’s 15-6 loss to Michigan State kept the Wolverines out of the basement only because of their defense. The offense is so limited that the ultimate test of its futility would be playing Purdue.
Michigan State finally got a win, 15-6 over Michigan, and the game was so ugly it almost didn’t feel like football. The only thing that really matters for the Spartans is that they got it done.
Maryland’s 34-29 win over Purdue was a good one in a lost season, and Purdue learned the hard way that touchdowns beat field goals. The Boilermakers had a chance to change the whole shape of the game if they had tried and made a 50-ish yard field goal before halftime; instead, they settled for too many kicks. Five field goals weren’t enough, but seven would have been.
In Other News...
Purdues Latest Collapse Exposed A Bigger Problem For Barry Odom
Purdues 34-29 loss to Maryland left Barry Odom searching for answers, and the postgame mood around the program reflected just how much this one stung. Odom met with the media alongside Ryan Browne, Charles Correa and DNylon Morrisette, and the coach framed the defeat as a painful step backward for a team that expected more from itself in a game that slipped away in key moments.
The bigger concern for Purdue was how the loss unfolded, with Odom pointing to defensive breakdowns and situational mistakes as the kind of problems that cant keep showing up if the Boilermakers want to stabilize. The result was disappointing on its own, but it also raised a tougher question for Odom and his staff about whether this was simply a bad night or a sign of deeper issues that still need fixing. [Read more 🡒]
Purdue Makes A Late Defensive Change As Barry Odom Tries To Stop Slide
Purdues search for answers on defense took a sharp turn after the Maryland loss, with head coach Barry Odom moving quickly to make a change in the middle of a season that has already been defined by too many breakdowns. Kevin Kane, who was hired after the 2025 season and had previously served as Purdues defensive coordinator in 2023 and 2024, is out effective immediately, a sign of just how urgent the situation has become in West Lafayette.
The Boilermakers have struggled to find any consistency on that side of the ball, and the latest setback left Odom with little room to wait for a turnaround. Bringing Kane back had been an attempt to restore familiarity and stability, but Purdues defensive slide has continued, forcing the program to reset again as it tries to salvage the season. [Read more 🡒]
Purdue Already Faces An Early Test It Cant Afford To Flunk
Purdue is already staring at a tricky early-season checkup as it gets ready for Illinois State, and the timing could hardly be more uncomfortable. The Boilermakers are still trying to settle in after a rough opening stretch, with the most obvious issues showing up where they can least afford them right now: perimeter shooting and defense. Against a team that knows how to stretch the floor, Purdue will need a cleaner offensive rhythm and a sharper edge on the other end than it has shown so far.
One place the Boilermakers do have an answer is size, with Daniel Jacobsen giving them a height advantage they can try to turn into a problem for Illinois State. But that edge only matters if Purdue can make the Redbirds play on its terms, which means forcing turnovers, getting stops and finding some kind of lift from outside. Early-season games can be messy, but this one already feels like the kind Purdue has to handle before the questions around its start get any louder. [Read more 🡒]