I am sorry to report that the ‘Wisconsin can still win the Big Ten West’ content needs to continue. Even though the Badgers just lost 20-14 to a terrible Indiana team, falling to 5-4 on the season and 3-3 in Big Ten play.
The West standings became a bit more clear on Saturday. Iowa is in first place alone at 4-2, Wisconsin, Nebraska and Minnesota are tied at 3-3, Northwestern and Illinois are alive at 2-4 and Purdue is dead at 1-5.
Of note: Iowa has the tiebreaker over Wisconsin, Minnesota has the tiebreaker over Iowa and Nebraska closes its season against Iowa. It’s likely a tiebreaker decides the division.
Related: Big Ten Power Rankings after Week 10: A final ode to the Big Ten West
If you’re checked out of the season because the Badgers aren’t good and just lost to Indiana, look away. ESPN FPI still gives the team the second-best chance to win the Big Ten West:
Big Ten West title probabilities, according to ESPN's Football Power Index:#Hawkeyes: 71.3%
Wisconsin: 13.8%
Nebraska: 8.6%
Minnesota: 5.0%
Illinois: 1.1%
Northwestern: 0.1%
Purdue: 0.0%— John Steppe (@JSteppe1) November 5, 2023
Wisconsin will obviously need to run the table against Northwestern, Nebraska and Minnesota to make that happen, plus get a lot of help from the Hawkeyes.