BIG TEN POWER RANKINGS: END OF THE REGULAR SEASON

With week 13 marking the end of the regular season and no more win projection simulations for me to run, I figured I would use the power rankings this week to update you on how THOR+ has done with the Big Ten this season. In week 13, THOR+ went 5-2 in the conference, missing on Ohio State and Indiana. That leaves the regular season straight up picks looking like this:

East	Correct	Incorrect	Correct%
Indiana	6	5	54.5%
Maryland	9	3	75.0%
Michigan	10	2	83.3%
Michigan State	10	2	83.3%
Ohio State	10	2	83.3%
Penn State	11	1	91.7%
Rutgers	8	3	72.7%
B1G East Total	64	18	78.0%
West	Correct	Incorrect	Correct%
Iowa	9	2	81.8%
Illinois	9	2	81.8%
Minnesota	10	2	83.3%
Nebraska	9	3	75.0%
Northwestern	6	5	54.5%
Purdue	6	5	54.5%
Wisconsin	9	3	75.0%
B1G West Total	58	22	72.5%
B1G Total	122	40	75.3%

Note: Remember, THOR+ only picks games between FBS teams, so not every team's total adds up to 12 games.

Obviously, THOR+ struggled with Northwestern all season, while likely overrating Purdue (if such a thing is possible) and underrating Indiana. That being said, with the other 11 teams in the conference, THOR+ picked correctly at least 72.7% of the time, and over 80% of the time for half the teams in the conference. As for how THOR+ did picking the Big Ten compared to nationally, the 75.3% in the conference is pretty much right on the 75.4% THOR+ has managed with all 128 teams through 13 weeks. That will likely go down a bit since bowl games are more competitive than the regular season (the majority of bowls are usually somewhere in the 50-70% win probability range). But I'm pretty happy with the season thus far.

Now, to the power rankings!

Rank	Team	Coach	Offense+	Defense+	Special Teams+	THOR+	PPG vs. Avg.	PPGA vs. Avg.	W% vs. Avg.	W vs. Avg.
2	Ohio State	Urban Meyer	141	150	94	143	41.6	17.8	0.849	10.2
10	Michigan	Jim Harbaugh	117	148	101	131	36.0	18.6	0.756	9.1
11	Iowa	Kirk Ferentz	126	140	82	131	38.0	20.5	0.753	9.0
27	Michigan State	Mark Dantonio	125	119	91	121	37.8	25.1	0.679	8.2
31	Wisconsin	Paul Chryst	92	148	122	120	29.6	18.3	0.673	8.1
50	Nebraska	Mike Riley	116	104	115	110	35.7	28.5	0.596	7.1
55	Penn State	James Franklin	93	124	115	109	29.7	23.9	0.585	7.0
60	Northwestern	Pat Fitzgerald	58	149	133	105	21.0	18.2	0.554	6.7
63	Minnesota	Tracy Claeys	86	121	102	103	27.8	24.8	0.543	6.5
72	Illinois	Bill Cubit	72	124	115	99	24.5	24.0	0.510	6.1
74	Maryland	Mike Locksley	100	94	115	98	31.8	30.9	0.502	6.0
84	Indiana	Kevin Wilson	111	75	142	95	34.9	35.0	0.481	5.8
89	Purdue	Darrell Hazell	98	84	69	90	30.2	33.2	0.442	5.3
98	Rutgers	Kyle Flood	97	61	136	82	31.3	38.2	0.379	4.5

1. Ohio State #2, 143 THOR+

Rank	Offense	Coach	Passing+	Rushing+	Turnovers	Blocking+	Offense+	PPG vs. Avg.
13	Ohio State	Urban Meyer	114	123	105	113	141	38.2

Rank	Defense	Coach	Passing+	Rushing+	Turnovers	Pressure+	Defense+	PPGA vs. Avg
4	Ohio State	Urban Meyer	129	121	100	111	150	14.3

Rank	Special Teams	Coach	Off. Special Teams+	PPG vs. Avg.	Def. Special Teams+	PPGA vs. Avg.	Special Teams+
82	Ohio State	Urban Meyer	47	3.4	140	3.5	94

If any team benefited from not winning their division/conference and pretty much being guaranteed to not make the College Football Playoff after week 13, it was Ohio State. Now, that may sound ludicrous, but the Buckeyes needed a Michigan State loss to keep those aforementioned dreams alive and that didn't happen. Thus, the best remaining scenario for the Buckeyes is the Rose Bowl and it looks like they now have a great shot at it after they completely dismantled Michigan.

And when I say "dismantled" that may actually be an understatement. This was a game in which Ohio State knew they wanted to run the ball, and they slammed it down Michigan's throat to the tune of 39 carries and 353 yards split between Ezekiel Elliot and J.T. Barrett. Elliot finished the day with 214 yards and 2 touchdowns on the ground, while Barret ran for 139 yards and 3 touchdowns and also threw a touchdown pass. Meanwhile, on defense, the Buckeyes stymied Michigan's run game, allowing just 2.3 yards per carry and forcing Jake Rudock to beat them with his arm. Rudock picked up his yards through the air, but he was only able to lead the Wolverines to one score via the pass.

So after this 42-13 dismemberment, Ohio State has officially put pressure on the teams playing in the Big Ten Championship. If Michigan State loses to Iowa, Ohio State would almost certainly be ranked higher and would make the Rose Bowl ahead of the 2-loss Spartans. If Iowa loses, they would likely need to lose a close game in order to not fall down the rankings and avoid being jumped by the Buckeyes. And even in that scenario, I'm not sure it would be enough to send Iowa to Pasadena. It could, but I'm far from confident in Iowa's chances. Thus, at this point, thanks to their beatdown of their hated rival, Ohio State is currently smelling like roses.

2. Michigan #10, 131 THOR+

Rank	Offense	Coach	Passing+	Rushing+	Turnovers	Blocking+	Offense+	PPG vs. Avg.
35	Michigan	Jim Harbaugh	112	95	113	120	117	31.9

Rank	Defense	Coach	Passing+	Rushing+	Turnovers	Pressure+	Defense+	PPGA vs. Avg
8	Michigan	Jim Harbaugh	132	117	57	129	148	14.7

Rank	Special Teams	Coach	Off. Special Teams+	PPG vs. Avg.	Def. Special Teams+	PPGA vs. Avg.	Special Teams+
61	Michigan	Jim Harbaugh	122	4.1	80	3.9	101

Coming into the weekend, the Michigan/Ohio State had all the promise of being the top billing for the Big Ten in week 13 and then the game happened and it was pretty anticlimactic. Well, it was actually pretty competitive for one half of football, but then the second half saw the Wolverines get outscored 28-3. Their defense struggled with Ohio State's tempo on offense, and their banged up defensive line was no longer able to mask the fact that their linebacking core was a step slow. And when Ezekiel Elliot and J.T. Barrett were on the sideline taking a break from running up and down the field at will, Michigan's offense was never able to answer the onslaught of points scored by their opponent. Jake Rudock moved the ball well through the air before suffering a shoulder injury, but the run game was absolutely stagnant against the Buckeye defense, and they were outdone by Ohio State in every important statistical category. Basically, it was a rout.

Luckily for Michigan fans, the season isn't over and they have a bowl game to get the bad taste out of their mouth from this game. With a 9-3 record and after just getting stomped by Ohio State, Michigan isn't going to get a shot at a New Year's Six bowl. Thus, it would appear that they are likely heading to the Citrus Bowl to play an SEC team. If their opponent ends up being Florida, that is probably good for a Michigan offense that seems pretty one-dimensional and not really explosive enough to put a lot of points on the board against legitimate defenses. In that scenario, THOR+ would currently give Michigan a 60% win probability against the Gators. On the other hand, if the opponent is Ole Miss, then THOR+ actually gives the Rebels a 64% edge. I would probably be hoping for Florida, Michigan fans.

3. Iowa #11, 131 THOR+

Rank	Offense	Coach	Passing+	Rushing+	Turnovers	Blocking+	Offense+	PPG vs. Avg.
23	Iowa	Kirk Ferentz	119	108	139	107	126	34.2

Rank	Defense	Coach	Passing+	Rushing+	Turnovers	Pressure+	Defense+	PPGA vs. Avg
13	Iowa	Kirk Ferentz	127	118	132	94	140	16.6

Rank	Special Teams	Coach	Off. Special Teams+	PPG vs. Avg.	Def. Special Teams+	PPGA vs. Avg.	Special Teams+
99	Iowa	Kirk Ferentz	88	3.8	76	4.0	82

While the win over Nebraska lacked style points for some national pundits, it really was a subtle domination by Iowa. Sure, Iowa only gaining 250 yards on offense and giving up 433 on defense doesn't look good on the surface. But when you realize that Iowa ran just 44 offensive plays to Nebraska's 83, the performance looks much better. What THOR+ saw when it looked at the Nebraska game was Iowa scoring 3 offensive touchdowns on just 44 plays to Nebraska's 2 offensive touchdowns on 83 plays. That rates out to a performance on offense that was 41 percentage points better than the national average and a defensive one that was 53 percentage points better than the national average. Yes, Iowa only won by 8 points, but it was a classic Kirk Ferentz stomping.

As for the Big Ten Championship this Saturday, we finally have the opponent etched in stone. Iowa goes up against a Michigan State team that finally had a dominating win this past Saturday against Penn State. THOR+ thinks Iowa and Michigan State have similar-rated offenses and special teams units, but thinks the difference lies in the Hawkeye defense being better than the Spartan one this season. Nebraska has a terrible secondary, but Iowa didn't really attack it that much due to wind and because the running game was working. But this weekend, playing indoors, C.J. Beathard should be able to take advantage of a young Michigan State secondary. The Spartans run defense has been pretty good this season, but I think the Hawkeyes can open up some room in the box with the pass. My only concern going into this weekend is whether or not the offensive line can keep C.J. Beathard upright when MSU blitzes. Because we all know they are going to blitz.

Up Next: vs. #27 Michigan State

Game Watch Rating: 148

Win Probability: 59%

Projected Score: Iowa 31, Michigan State 25

4. Michigan State #27, 121 THOR+

Rank	Offense	Coach	Passing+	Rushing+	Turnovers	Blocking+	Offense+	PPG vs. Avg.
24	Michigan State	Mark Dantonio	135	90	142	119	125	34.2

Rank	Defense	Coach	Passing+	Rushing+	Turnovers	Pressure+	Defense+	PPGA vs. Avg
39	Michigan State	Mark Dantonio	104	114	141	121	119	21.4

Rank	Special Teams	Coach	Off. Special Teams+	PPG vs. Avg.	Def. Special Teams+	PPGA vs. Avg.	Special Teams+
84	Michigan State	Mark Dantonio	72	3.6	110	3.7	91

After playing nothing but close games this season, Michigan State finally embarrassed someone this weekend, as they hammered Penn State, 55-16. Connor Cook pretty well picked apart the Nittany Lion Secondary, while the Spartan defense also added to the scoreboard by returning an interception and a fumble for a touchdown.

Heading into the championship game, Connor Cook looks like he should be healthier than in previous weeks. That's good news for a Michigan State team that has been below average running the ball this season, and it could mean another opponent that tries to throw the ball more than run it against Iowa's defense. That being said, while Iowa's opponents have, on average, thrown the ball 18 percentage points more often than the Division I norm, Mark Dantonio has actually chosen to run the ball 4 percentage points more often than the norm, despite a less than productive rushing attack this year. That total is skewed from when Cook was injured, of course, but when you take out the offensive plays in which Cook was not on the field this season, MSU was running and passing at right around the FBS average. So, again, will Dantonio stay balanced? Or will the run game prove futile and leave him with no other option than to air it out? I'm curious to see how Iowa's defense does against the best offense they've faced all season.

Up Next: vs. #11 Iowa

Game Watch Rating: 148

Win Probability: 41%

Projected Score: Michigan State 25, Iowa 31

5. Wisconsin #31, 120 THOR+

Rank	Offense	Coach	Passing+	Rushing+	Turnovers	Blocking+	Offense+	PPG vs. Avg.
79	Wisconsin	Paul Chryst	86	85	106	102	92	25.6

Rank	Defense	Coach	Passing+	Rushing+	Turnovers	Pressure+	Defense+	PPGA vs. Avg
9	Wisconsin	Paul Chryst	138	119	120	106	148	14.8

Rank	Special Teams	Coach	Off. Special Teams+	PPG vs. Avg.	Def. Special Teams+	PPGA vs. Avg.	Special Teams+
23	Wisconsin	Paul Chryst	108	4.0	135	3.5	122

I think it's safe to say that Paul Chryst learned his lesson from the Northwestern game. After letting Joel Stave throw the ball on well over 50% of the offensive plays against Northwestern, Chryst went with the classic Wisconsin offensive attack, and ran the ball on 62 out of 79 plays against Minnesota. It wasn't a hugely explosive strategy -- Goldy actually outgained Bucky in yards per play -- but it was highly successful in moving the chains and dominating the time of possession, 40 minutes to Minnesota's 20. And that was all the Wisconsin offense needed to do with a ravaging defense on the other side of the ball that harassed Mitch Leidner and the Minnesota offense all day and forced 5 turnovers.

After beating Minnesota and retaining Paul Bunyan's Axe, Wisconsin now awaits its bowl fate. At this point, the Holiday Bowl against a Pac-12 team seems to be the most likely destination for the Badgers. A whole host of possible opponents are being thrown out right now between USC, UCLA, Utah, and Washington State. As it stands right now, THOR+ would have the California schools favored slightly (USC favored more) against Wisconsin, but would have Paul Chryst's squad favored against Utah or Washington State. Honestly, I'd love to see Wisconsin's defense play an Air Raid team like Wazzu. Please make it happen.

6. Nebraska #50, 110 THOR+

Rank	Offense	Coach	Passing+	Rushing+	Turnovers	Blocking+	Offense+	PPG vs. Avg.
36	Nebraska	Mike Riley	103	107	66	116	116	31.6

Rank	Defense	Coach	Passing+	Rushing+	Turnovers	Pressure+	Defense+	PPGA vs. Avg
63	Nebraska	Mike Riley	76	116	69	104	104	24.8

Rank	Special Teams	Coach	Off. Special Teams+	PPG vs. Avg.	Def. Special Teams+	PPGA vs. Avg.	Special Teams+
37	Nebraska	Mike Riley	120	4.1	110	3.7	115

Following Nebraska's loss to Iowa, Husker fans are more than a little annoyed with Mike Riley and his continued insistence on throwing the ball (weather be damned). Granted, Iowa's opponents have been pass-heavy this season, but Riley had Tommy Armstrong Jr. throw the ball 45 times on an afternoon that included a stiff wind. And, as Armstrong is known to do, he transformed into Tommy Armpunt on multiple occasions throughout the game and threw 4 interceptions.

On top of the reliance on the pass in a game that was decided by 8 points, Nebraska's rushing attack ran better out of the shotgun than it did out of power formations (anybody playing Iowa should know this), but Nebraska did not try to exploit this advantage nearly enough. And what summed the day up pretty well from an offensive play calling perspective, was when Nebraska had a 4^th and 1 at Iowa's 19 in the fourth quarter, and instead of running a quarterback sneak or something fairly high-percentage, the Huskers went with a fade route to the end zone that fell incomplete. Not only did they opt to throw deep on 4^th and 1, but they chose one of the lowest-percentage route concepts in football. Pure stupidity.

Even with a 5-7 record, though, Nebraska looks like they are bowl-bound. According to Corn Nation, they look headed for either the Pinstripe Bowl, the Foster Farms Bowl, or the QuickLane Bowl. After seeing how bad the coaching for Nebraska was against Iowa, I find it hard to fault the "fire Mike Riley" segment of the Nebraska fan base. I know it's just one year, but if they continue to get outcoached in this manner in the bowl game, I don't think I could blame them for not giving Riley more time.

7. Penn State #55, 109 THOR+

Rank	Offense	Coach	Passing+	Rushing+	Turnovers	Blocking+	Offense+	PPG vs. Avg.
77	Penn State	James Franklin	101	109	99	75	93	25.7

Rank	Defense	Coach	Passing+	Rushing+	Turnovers	Pressure+	Defense+	PPGA vs. Avg
30	Penn State	James Franklin	130	105	117	141	124	20.3

Rank	Special Teams	Coach	Off. Special Teams+	PPG vs. Avg.	Def. Special Teams+	PPGA vs. Avg.	Special Teams+
38	Penn State	James Franklin	104	4.0	125	3.6	115

Penn State took a pretty huge fall this week after getting blown away by Michigan State. The defense didn't have its best game, but the blame for the loss can be placed mostly on the offense, yet again. Penn State moved the ball fairly well against Michigan State, but couldn't seem to finish drives. If you look at points scored by each offense on drives inside their opponent's 40 yard line, Michigan State averaged 6.8 points per drive inside the 40, while Penn State finished with a meager 2.7. On top of not finishing their drives, the Nittany Lions' offense gave the ball away 3 times and the special teams unit contributed with a fumble of their own. It was just a bad day for Penn State.

With a 7-5 record, though, James Franklin and Co. are going bowling. Probably not the bowl they or fans wanted/expected when the season started, but a bowl game, nonetheless. They will also be doing so without their much-maligned offensive coordinator, John Donovan. I'm not sure who will be doing the play calling for the bowl game, but I'm curious to see if the offense even looks a tiny bit better now that Donovan has been relieved of his duties.

8. Northwestern #60, 105 THOR+

Rank	Offense	Coach	Passing+	Rushing+	Turnovers	Blocking+	Offense+	PPG vs. Avg.
118	Northwestern	Pat Fitzgerald	63	97	119	102	58	16.7

Rank	Defense	Coach	Passing+	Rushing+	Turnovers	Pressure+	Defense+	PPGA vs. Avg
7	Northwestern	Pat Fitzgerald	132	122	110	119	149	14.6

Rank	Special Teams	Coach	Off. Special Teams+	PPG vs. Avg.	Def. Special Teams+	PPGA vs. Avg.	Special Teams+
14	Northwestern	Pat Fitzgerald	135	4.3	130	3.6	133

Northwestern's incredible and incredibly odd season continued on Saturday, as they notched their 10^th victory of the season. Despite being a 10-win team, advanced stats are not all that high on the Wildcats. THOR+ has them at #60, S&P+ has them at #51, and FEI has them the highest at #39. For a 10-win team, even being ranked #39 in the country is low. Now, whether this is extremely good luck, Northwestern being severely underrated, or the most likely scenario of a combination of both, it doesn't take away from the fact that they have 10 wins. It doesn't make any sense with the terrible offense that they possess, but that makes it all the more fun. Cherish this season, Wildcat fans. Seriously.

Northwestern capped off their amazing regular season by beating in-state rival Illinois in week 13. It was a classic 2015 Northwestern game, in that it was dominated by Justin Jackson and Northwestern's tough defense. Jackson rushed for 172 yards and a touchdown, while Clayton Thorson did just enough not to put the game in too much jeopardy. Meanwhile, the defense only allowed one touchdown (the other TD came on a Thorson interception) on a drive inside their own 40 all day. The other four drives in their territory ended in an interception, two missed field goals, and a turnover on downs. That's domination.

So what's next? Well, either the Citrus Bowl or the Outback Bowl. As I already linked above, Michigan fans seem pretty confident they will get picked above Northwestern for the Citrus Bowl, and it's hard to argue they won't. So if it is the Outback Bowl, that means the SEC team that gets left out of the Citrus will be the one that falls to Northwestern in the Outback (assuming I have my bowls right). That could be Florida or Ole Miss, but it could also potentially be LSU or Georgia if the other two are already selected. You will probably all be extremely shocked when I tell you that all those teams are ranked ahead of Northwestern according to THOR+ and pretty much every other advanced statistic out there(SEC bias!). The thing is, Northwestern has been the team that has given advanced statistics headaches all year. They've been waiting on them to lose, but they just keep winning. So why stop now?

9. Minnesota #63, 103 THOR+

Rank	Offense	Coach	Passing+	Rushing+	Turnovers	Blocking+	Offense+	PPG vs. Avg.
84	Minnesota	Tracy Claeys	98	101	83	131	86	23.9

Rank	Defense	Coach	Passing+	Rushing+	Turnovers	Pressure+	Defense+	PPGA vs. Avg
37	Minnesota	Tracy Claeys	108	116	87	105	121	21.1

Rank	Special Teams	Coach	Off. Special Teams+	PPG vs. Avg.	Def. Special Teams+	PPGA vs. Avg.	Special Teams+
59	Minnesota	Tracy Claeys	96	3.9	108	3.7	102

After looking much-improved over the past few weeks or so, Minnesota came into this game against Wisconsin looking like they had a real shot to win. Unfortunately for Gopher fans, reality kicked in and from the second quarter on, and it was pretty clear that Goldy had no chance. Even without Corey Clement, his less-than-spectacular backups were able to run for a respectable 4.5 yards per carry (55 carries and 245 yards) against Minnesota's defense. Minnesota didn't give up a lot of big plays on the day, but they did give up enough yards on the ground (thanks to their replacement defensive tackles) that their offense barely saw the field for most of the game. However, some of the blame does need to go to the offense, too. The Gopher offense also had trouble staying on the field because they turned the ball over five times. They actually outgained Wisconsin in yards per play and weren't far behind in success rate, but the big problem was that they had five fewer scoring opportunities than WIsconsin thanks to turnovers. It was a disappointing end to a disappointing regular season.

But, if you thought Gopher football was finished because of their 5-7 record, not so fast. Minnesota could be another 5-7 Big Ten team that gets a bowl invite this year. ESPN has them in the Quick Lane Bowl against either Central Michigan or Cal, while SBNation has them in the Foster Farms Bowl against USC. Out of those three teams, you probably won't be surprised to know that THOR+ thinks their best shot at a win is against Central Michigan. Of course, It's not a given that Minnesota will get a bowl bid or accept one if it is offered to them. However, now that Tracy Claeys had shaken up his coaching staff by firing Matt Limegrover, I'm curious to see if Minnesota's offense looks any different given another month of practice.

10. Illinois #72, 99 THOR+

Rank	Offense	Coach	Passing+	Rushing+	Turnovers	Blocking+	Offense+	PPG vs. Avg.
108	Illinois	Bill Cubit	87	101	116	116	72	20.4

Rank	Defense	Coach	Passing+	Rushing+	Turnovers	Pressure+	Defense+	PPGA vs. Avg
31	Illinois	Bill Cubit	119	112	107	121	124	20.3

Rank	Special Teams	Coach	Off. Special Teams+	PPG vs. Avg.	Def. Special Teams+	PPGA vs. Avg.	Special Teams+
39	Illinois	Bill Cubit	121	4.1	108	3.7	115

Very little went right for Illinois in the final week of the regular season. The defense (the strength of this team) gave up 3 touchdowns to one of the worst offenses in that nation, while the offense (the problem all year long) continued to do absolutely nothing. The funny thing about this Illinois team and their offense being so horrendous is that Bill Cubit - the guy Illinois just took the "interim" tag off of - is supposed to be an offensive-minded coach. Sure, Mike Dudek missed the entire 2015 season and that hurt. But with Wes Lunt, Josh Ferguson, Geronimo Allison, and some other guys sprinkled here and there, it's hard to understand how they can be so bad on this side of the ball. I'm not saying they should look like Baylor, but their offense finished the regular season ranked just 10 spots above Northwestern's, according to THOR+. That shouldn't happen.

To make matters worse, on top being a job that no good coach wants to take in a climate where Georgia, South Carolina, etc. are open, Cubit just lost his best recruiter to Iowa State and their new head guy, Matt Campbell. This program is a mess right now. But even with all of that, they could still make a bowl game this season.*

*All-defense Illinois against all-offense Western Michigan? Yes please.

11. Maryland #74, 98 THOR+

Rank	Offense	Coach	Passing+	Rushing+	Turnovers	Blocking+	Offense+	PPG vs. Avg.
63	Maryland	Mike Locksley	42	140	5	100	100	27.6

Rank	Defense	Coach	Passing+	Rushing+	Turnovers	Pressure+	Defense+	PPGA vs. Avg
78	Maryland	Mike Locksley	60	122	87	125	94	27.2

Rank	Special Teams	Coach	Off. Special Teams+	PPG vs. Avg.	Def. Special Teams+	PPGA vs. Avg.	Special Teams+
35	Maryland	Mike Locksley	119	4.1	111	3.7	115

The Terps narrowly avoided rock bottom in an already dismal season by scoring 19 points in the fourth quarter to beat Rutgers by a mere 5 points. For whatever reason, it took until the second half for Maryland to realize they were playing against Rutgers and score 33 second half points, after just managing 13 before halftime. Caleb Rowe did about as good a job through the air as you can ask him to, considering he didn't throw an interception. But the real story for Maryland's offense was the 401 yards, 6 touchdowns, and 9.5 yards per carry they put up on the ground. Surprisingly, Perry Hills didn't contribute positively to that total, as running back, Brandon Ross, and the pocket passing quarterback, Rowe, had the bulk of the carries and yards. In the end, that was enough to overcome Rutgers and Leonte Carroo exploiting the Maryland defense's weakness with the deep ball.

But now the season is over. Unlike pretty much everyone else in the Big Ten, Maryland has no shot at a bowl game. Of course, with basketball season underway, the football season has been done for about a month now. So business can resume as usual.

12. Indiana #84, 95 THOR+

Rank	Offense	Coach	Passing+	Rushing+	Turnovers	Blocking+	Offense+	PPG vs. Avg.
43	Indiana	Kevin Wilson	141	99	148	125	111	30.4

Rank	Defense	Coach	Passing+	Rushing+	Turnovers	Pressure+	Defense+	PPGA vs. Avg
99	Indiana	Kevin Wilson	70	93	87	100	75	31.5

Rank	Special Teams	Coach	Off. Special Teams+	PPG vs. Avg.	Def. Special Teams+	PPGA vs. Avg.	Special Teams+
8	Indiana	Kevin Wilson	154	4.5	130	3.6	142

Even without Jordan Howard, Indiana's offense still managed 7 touchdowns and 54 total points en route to the Old Oaken Bucket. Nate Sudfeld threw for 350 yards and 4 touchdowns on 12 yards per attempt against Purdue's secondary. And Howard's backup, Devine Redding, added 144 yards and 1 touchdown on 6.5 yards per carry on the day. The defense, per usual, had its share of issues, but ultimately forced 4 Purdue turnovers that made it so the Boilers never really had a chance of keeping up with IU's offense.

With wins in their final two games of the regular season, Indiana is now bowl-eligible. If you are curious as to where the Hoosiers could end up, Crimson Quarry has an extensive breakdown of the seven potential bowls in play.

13. Purdue #89, 90 THOR+

Rank	Offense	Coach	Passing+	Rushing+	Turnovers	Blocking+	Offense+	PPG vs. Avg.
67	Purdue	Darrell Hazell	76	97	73	123	98	26.9

Rank	Defense	Coach	Passing+	Rushing+	Turnovers	Pressure+	Defense+	PPGA vs. Avg
94	Purdue	Darrell Hazell	79	97	102	103	84	29.4

Rank	Special Teams	Coach	Off. Special Teams+	PPG vs. Avg.	Def. Special Teams+	PPGA vs. Avg.	Special Teams+
112	Purdue	Darrell Hazell	34	3.2	103	3.8	69

With Thanksgiving being less than a week in the past, Purdue fans are still giving thanks. They are thankful for their brutal 2-win season finally ending and they are even more thankful that it was enough to give their coordinators the boot. We will have to wait and see if it pays dividends next season. If it doesn't, Darell Hazell is the next to go.

On a side note: I just realized how sad it is that Purdue and Rutgers never got to duke it out for the title of "Worst Team in the Big Ten." I know Rutgers has more wins, but I would really have liked to see this happen. Sort of like an anti-championship game, no?

14. Rutgers #98, 82 THOR+

Rank	Offense	Coach	Passing+	Rushing+	Turnovers	Blocking+	Offense+	PPG vs. Avg.
68	Rutgers	Kyle Flood	99	105	100	104	97	26.9

Rank	Defense	Coach	Passing+	Rushing+	Turnovers	Pressure+	Defense+	PPGA vs. Avg
115	Rutgers	Kyle Flood	57	97	86	103	61	34.6

Rank	Special Teams	Coach	Off. Special Teams+	PPG vs. Avg.	Def. Special Teams+	PPGA vs. Avg.	Special Teams+
10	Rutgers	Kyle Flood	146	4.4	125	3.6	136

Even getting 7 catches and 183 yards out of Leonte Carroo wasn't enough to overcome Rutgers' god-awful defense against Maryland. And with only 4 wins on the season, Rutgers is staying home for the holidays -- and no I am not talking about the Pinstripe Bowl. With a new athletic director at the helm and a new head coach yet to be named, Rutgers fans can ponder pipedreams of a brighter future. Maybe next year, guys.