Written by Brian Bennett at ESPN.com
The most-anticipated nonconference week of the season has arrived for the Big Ten. Week 3 brings a trio of high-profile matchups: No. 3 Ohio State at No. 14 Oklahoma; No. 12 Michigan State at No. 18 Notre Dame; and No. 22 Oregon at Nebraska.
Every time this kind of week has rolled around in the recent past, we’ve usually talked about the same thing: The Big Ten needs to win these games to earn respect, blah blah blah.
We’re not going to do that now. The conference has climbed back out of the hole it dug for itself during the early part of this decade. Some solid out-of-league victories, a national championship by Ohio State and the rise to the elite of Michigan State have brought credibility back to the Big Ten.
Just look at this week’s Associated Press poll for proof. The league owns two of the top four spots (Ohio State and No. 4 Michigan), one-third of the top nine positions (Wisconsin is ninth) and five teams in the top 13 (Iowa is 13th). No other conference can say that right now.
An 0-3 showing in this week’s marquee games certainly wouldn’t help that status, but with two of those contests coming on the road and the other featuring an unranked team, such a showing wouldn’t erode all the earned goodwill. Wisconsin’s season-opening win over LSU at least provides one bragging point.
What’s most interesting about this week is the opportunity it provides. Not only could the Big Ten continue to bolster its image with a successful Saturday, it could clear some paths for its teams toward the College Football Playoff.
The Big 12’s playoff hopes already are fraying after two weeks, thanks to Oklahoma’s loss to Houston, TCU going down to Arkansas in overtime and Oklahoma State getting beat by Central Michigan on that wild final zombie play, among the most notable setbacks.
The Buckeyes — who will be a popular pick to win in Norman, which wasn’t the case before the season — could pin a second loss on the Sooners and basically spike their playoff chances. And maybe the Big 12’s too.
To continue reading this article, click here.
