Big Ten football this season was a thrilling ride characterized by numerous heartbreaks and triumphs for everyone. After this past month's exciting championship game, Michigan State University is left standing as the champion of the Big Ten. Arguably one of college football's best conferences this year, if not the best, the Big Ten had a season to remember.
In the preseason, it appeared that Ohio State had a strong case to cruise to a 12-0 record and return to the playoff. The Big Ten East was stacked with teams that would compete for the crown in the Big Ten's toughest division. The emergence of Michigan and Iowa added more teams into the mix. In October, Ohio State, Michigan State, Iowa and Michigan all looked like they were in good shape to make it to the conference championship game. After the conference season, Michigan State won the Big Ten East through a tiebreaker and Iowa stood as the only unblemished team in the conference cruising to an outright Big Ten West Title. Both teams played close games and Michigan State even came out on the short end with a controversial last-second play against Nebraska. Michigan State once again found a way to win late in the fourth quarter of the most previous game and punched their ticket to the second College Football Playoff.
There were some amazing performances all year from players across the Big Ten. Connor Cook led a Michigan State offense that struggled at times this season, and the defense came up big in the biggest moments. Ezekiel Elliot had another great season for the Ohio State Buckeyes who lost a heart breaker to Michigan State in Columbus. Had Ohio State won that game, they would have been in prime position to repeat as Big Ten champions and possibly national champions. University of Michigan's defense played dominant for a long stretch and the Wolverines raised a lot of eyebrows in the Big Ten this year. Indiana raced out to a 4-0 start only to go 0-6 over their next six games. They rallied and won their last two to gain bowl eligibility, which is certainly a good sign for them moving forward.
The latest on the Big Ten season now is conference champ Michigan State and the national semifinal match up with Alabama. Last year it was Ohio State that upset the tide in the semifinal. Michigan State will try to repeat the Big Ten's success in the playoff once again. Alabama has a behemoth in running back Derrick Henry and a nasty, stingy defense. Michigan State's front seven has smothered opposing rushing attacks and this match up figures to center around the Michigan State front seven versus Derrick Henry and the Alabama rushing attack that has been a well-oiled machine all season. If Michigan State can limit Derrick Henry's production and force the tide to throw the ball, then this could be a game that Michigan State makes a big statement to the rest of the country.
The Big Ten was a ton of fun this year. The emergence of some programs who had been dormant recently added depth to an already strong conference. Moving forward, the Big Ten is only going to get better. Go Green.
