In what has become a recurring trend in college football the past few weeks, the No. 2 team in the nation came up on the wrong end of a final score. This time it was the Ohio State Buckeyes who are looking to recover from what could be a season-altering result against USC.
USC took it to an Ohio State team playing a true freshman at quarterback as the Trojans overpowered the Buckeyes on a rare rainy night in the Los Angeles Coliseum. USC had a 26-9 lead on Ohio State at one point in the second half as Lincoln Riley went on to record a big win that had eluded him for so long. The loss knocks Ohio State out of a driver's seat to a spot in the Big Ten championship game, and the rest of the schedule is not full of easy rebound opportunities for Ryan
Day's program.
Ohio State's loss is good news for an Indiana team that has not been lighting things up on the scoreboard but getting by on its defense. The Hoosiers were on the brink of a major upset at home against Minnesota when the Gophers hit a 60-yard field goal in the final minute of the fourth quarter to take a 16-13 lead, but Indiana hit a 60-yard field goal of its own to set up what would be an overtime victory to remain once-beaten.
And a pair of ranked Big Ten teams were humbled on the road this weekend. Northwestern lost a close game at Oregon, and Wisconsin was dominated by Iowa. Nebraska may have had its playoff hopes all but eliminated after coughing up another fourth-quarter lead in a tough loss at home to Washington.
Here's a quick look at the Big Ten scoreboard for Week 9.
Week 9 Big Ten Scoreboard
Here are the updated Big Ten football standings following the results of Week 9.
Big Ten Football Standings
Big Ten Bowl Eligibility Tracker
Now that we are entering the final month of the regular season, here is an updated look at the conference's bowl tracker. Teams with six wins or more are officially eligible for postseason play. Teams with five wins are on-deck for bowl eligibility. We are also getting close to putting some teams on the chopping block for postseason eligibility. Here is how things are looking right now after Week 9.
- ELIGIBLE (6+ wins): Indiana, Iowa, Northwestern, Ohio State, UCLA, USC
- ON DECK (5 wins): Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oregon, Wisconsin
- ON THE RADAR: Penn State, Purdue, Washington
- ON THE EDGE (6 losses): Maryland, Michigan State, Rutgers
Week 10 Big Ten Schedule
Here is a look ahead to next week's Big Ten schedule as the month of November gets started. All games are scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 7 unless noted otherwise. Home teams are listed first.
- Illinois vs. Nebraska - Friday, Nov. 6
- Minnesota vs. UCLA
- Northwestern vs. Iowa
- Michigan vs. Michigan State
- Washington vs. Penn State
- Wisconsin vs. Rutgers
- Purdue vs. Maryland
- Ohio State vs. Oregon
This article originally appeared on Nittany Lions Wire: Big Ten recap: Week 9 scores, updated standings, bowl eligibility
