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2012 Big Ten Football Standings: Wisconsin likely Legends Division winner by default

Wisconsin seems to have an easy path to the Big Ten Championship game as the only eligible Leaders Division team to have won a game in conference.

Eric Francis - Getty Images

Wisconsin appears primed to appear in the Big Ten Championship game by default, as they're the only eligible team in the Leaders Division to have won a conference game.

Penn State and Ohio State are each undefeated in Big Ten play, with the Buckeyes moving to 3-0 this week with a surprisingly close win over Indiana. Meanwhile, Purdue, Indiana, and Illinois are a combined 0-8. That leaves Wisconsin. After non-conference played, it appeared this week's matchup between the Badgers and a surprising Boilermakers team would be a de facto battle to play in Indianapolis. However, Purdue dropped its second straight, losing 38-14 to Wisconsin, leaving the Badgers in control of the division with five games to play.

The Legends Division is slightly more respectable: Michigan and Iowa are each 4-2 with both losses out of conference play, Michigan losing only to No. 1 Alabama and now-No. 5 Notre Dame. Both won this week, Michigan stomping Illinois, 45-0 while the Hawkeyes dropped a struggling Michigan State team 19-16 in double overtime. Northwestern is the first bowl eligible team in the conference, earning its sixth win by taking down Minnesota 21-13.

Ohio State would probably be highly ranked in the BCS standings were they eligible, instead, the conference failed to place any of its 12 teams.

Here's a full look at the Big Ten standings:


Big 10 Conference Standings

(updated 10.7.2012 at 2:49 AM CDT)

Leaders Division Conf Overall
W L W L
Ohio St. Buckeyes 2 0 6 0
Penn St. Nittany Lions 2 0 4 2
Wisconsin Badgers 1 1 4 2
Purdue Boilermakers 0 1 3 2
Indiana Hoosiers 0 2 2 3
Illinois Fighting Illini 0 2 2 4
Legends Division Conf Overall
W L W L
Michigan Wolverines 1 0 3 2
Iowa Hawkeyes 1 0 3 2
Northwestern Wildcats 1 1 5 1
Nebraska Cornhuskers 1 1 4 2
Michigan St. Spartans 1 1 4 2
Minnesota Golden Gophers 0 1 4 1


Photographs by dizfunk used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.