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Narrowly edged by Nebraska in a thoroughly entertaining game on Saturday, the Northwestern Wildcats moved down to fourth-place in the Big Ten Legends Division standings through eight weeks of play.
Despite a 14-10 halftime lead and 21-16 advantage heading into the fourth, the Wildcats simply had no answer for Nebraska quarterback Tyler Martinez down the stretch to drop their second game in three weeks. Northwestern remains the only bowl-eligible school in the Legends Division thus far, but now will need to reel off a string of victories in order to make up ground on the division-leading Wolverines.
One of four teams still in search of their first Big Ten win of 2012, the Fighting Illini will aim to use their recent bye week as a jumping point. Illinois has already been outscored 111-21 over just three league games, but should face a much more manageable test against an Indiana team that has dropped five straight contests.
Here are the full Big Ten standings after Week 8:
| Legends | CONF | OVERALL |
| Michigan | 3-0 | 5-2 |
| Nebraska | 2-1 | 5-2 |
| Iowa | 2-1 | 4-3 |
| Northwestern | 2-2 | 6-2 |
| Michigan State | 1-3 | 4-4 |
| Minnesota | 0-3 | 4-3 |
| Leaders | CONF | OVERALL |
| x - Ohio State | 4-0 | 8-0 |
| x - Penn State | 3-0 | 5-2 |
| Wisconsin | 3-1 | 6-2 |
| Purdue | 0-3 | 3-4 |
| Illinois | 0-3 | 2-5 |
| Indiana | 0-3 | 2-5 |