November 11 brings the Big 10 Finals Day to Notre Dame, but there's plenty to be figured out before those eight teams convene in South Bend.
Right now Ohio State leads the Big 10 East with a 2-0 record, having won one of those games (against the Fighting Irish) 16-14 on a last-second penalty kick. OSU also beat Michigan 24-10 and really the Buckeyes' coaches have to be shaking their heads as how close several of their games have been. Are they poised for a place in the final regardless? Maybe, although this past weekend they lost to Indiana 40-19 and that was a bit sobering.
(Games between East and West teams are not counted in the East or West standings). Still, for Ohio State it all comes down to this coming weekend. If they beat Michigan State, they guarantee a home playoff game against the West #2. Lose that game and it's all up in the air.
For their part, Michigan State, win or lose, will have another important game to play a week later when they host rivals Michigan. The Spartans have already beaten Notre Dame, but that won't be enough to vault themselves into 2nd in the East and get a semifinal spot.
Michigan kept themselves strongly in that conversation about the semifinals. Down 14-0 against Notre Dame with 15 minutes to go, the Wolverines mounted a wild comeback. A long period of pressure forced a yellow card to Notre Dame and, eventually, a try for Michigan to make it 14-5. Moments later, scrumhalf Max Rector scampered over in the corner and converted to make it 14-12.
Notre Dame responded with a penalty goal and then as the game was coming to a close fullback Joe Ounsley (back in the lineup after suffering a broken finger earlier in the season) sliced through from 30 meters out to score and tie the game. Rector converted, and Michigan had a somewhat improbable victory. Notre Dame is now 0-3 and two of those losses came as the result of kicks with time expired, and they have to be shaking their heads about how they can close out a game.
It certainly was a wild one for the Wolverines, and as a result they can still play for 2nd in the East.
In the West, Indiana has been very good, although they actually only have the one in-division game. That was a 28-14 defeat of a vastly improved Wisconsin team. The Hoosiers have turned their early-season losses to Trinity and Navy into lessons learned and they are still the favorite to win the West with games against Illinois and Purdue.
