Four games into the Big Ten football season, the only thing we know about the conference is that we know nothing at all.
Last week, this very paper said that the Capital One Bowl could be a best-case scenario for Ohio State after the loss to Penn State. The Nittany Lions had a game and a tiebreaker in hand, meaning that if they and OSU finished tied for the conference title, Penn State would be champions.
In a week, one inexplicable Buckeye win and one shocking Nittany Lion loss later, it isn't so unlikely anymore.
Somehow, with teams having played only three or four games apiece, the last of the unbeatens fell with Penn State's loss. The Buckeyes are now back in the thick of a Big Ten race that could end with OSU going to a third Bowl Championship Series game in four years.
Who could have imagined that Iowa, Penn State and Wisconsin would be tied at 3-1 four games in, and the Buckeyes would be tied with Northwestern at 2-1? How about Minnesota and Michigan at 2-2? And Purdue - everyone's surprise national title contender - has been on the receiving end of four straight losses, three of which are of the embarrassing variety.
Things that seemed impossible even a few weeks ago are now reality. Northwestern looked like a lost cause after a drubbing by Arizona State and a heartbreaking loss to Penn State. Now the Wildcats have posted two straight wins, quarterback Brett Basanez looks like the next Zak Kustok and Tyrell Sutton the newest incarnation of Damien Anderson or Darnell Autry.
It was hard to take Penn State too seriously after season-opening wins over South Florida, Cincinnati and Central Michigan. Before the season, a fellow media member saw that Nittany Lion quarterback Michael Robinson was on a preseason award watch list and said "Doesn't this make you feel like you could be on a preseason award list?" Now Robinson has channeled Craig Krenzel with a dynamic drive to take the lead Saturday against Michigan, only to have Chad Henne one-up him. The Lions did more to prove themselves in Ann Arbor than at home against OSU.
Michigan State looked like a Big Ten title contender with an unstoppable offense at the start of the season, and quarterback Drew Stanton looked like a Heisman Trophy candidate. Now the Spartans find themselves out of the conference race after tough losses to Michigan and OSU.
At the same time, the season has seen its share of improbable and dramatic games. Just this weekend, Michigan beat Penn State on the final play and Wisconsin beat Minnesota with a blocked punt in the final minute. The week before, Minnesota knocked off Michigan on a field goal in the final seconds and Northwestern scored 41 second-half points to beat a previously unbeaten Wisconsin squad.
With five Big Ten games left, the Buckeyes have numerous chances to fall prey to the unpredictable conference slate if they hope to achieve their goal of a title. Even a game like Indiana, which in the past was an easy win, gets a little tough the way the Hoosiers have been playing. Only the Illinois game - at home against an Illini team that has a large lack of talent - looks like a game that could comfortably be thought of as a win.
Any chance of a National Championship is obviously gone for this Buckeye team, but time and again the players have stated that their remaining goal is the conference title. In this year's wacky Big Ten, the Buckeyes have five more chances to get into classic games, but better bring their best every game.
Lantern sports editor Jeff Svoboda has two televisions in his living room to watch Big Ten games. He can be reached for comment at svoboda.16@osu.edu.
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