The Northwestern Wildcats' upset of the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Saturday has left the Penn State Nittany Lions at the top of the Big Ten conference this season, although they're still only No. 12 in this week's AP poll results.
Released on Sunday, there isn't a single Big Ten team until you get to Penn State at 12, although four teams are ranked in the top-20: No. 13 Michigan State, No. 16 Wisconsin and No. 19 Nebraska all join the Nittany Lions there. It does a pretty good job of summarizing how elite-level Big Ten football has gone this season. There are some pretty good teams, and only a couple of truly bad teams, but there's a discernible difference between the conference's best teams and the nation's best teams.
Penn State has won seven games in a row and is unbeaten in conference games this season, currently leading the Big Ten Leaders Division. If the standings don't change before the end of the season, they'll face Michigan State in the Big Ten's first conference championship game.
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