Big Ten winners and losers: Despite not playing Michigan football, Ohio State still won

While Michigan football and Ohio State didn’t play this weekend for the first time in 103 years, the Buckeyes still managed to reaffirm their supremacy in the Big Ten.

The power emanating from Columbus has never been felt like it was this past week.

For that reason, the Buckeyes are included in this edition of the conference’s winners and losers.

Winners: Rutgers

When Greg Schiano returned to lead Rutgers for the second time, there was hope he’d revitalize the program. But many feared the Scarlet Knights would endure a long slog back to respectability. After all, they began his second stint in Piscataway on a 21-game conference losing streak.

[ Why Michigan football canceled the Ohio State game ]

But the prospects look much better now. Rutgers has won three times this season, prevailing again in a 27-24 overtime game against Maryland on Saturday.

In a short time, Schiano has elevated the Big Ten’s perennial cellar-dweller and made it competitive. A program once left for dead has been resurrected to the point that it now holds the same record as Penn State.

No one could have anticipated such a rapid rise.

Minnesota

A year after P.J. Fleck was hailed as an expert coxswain, the rowboat he led hit a few rocks. Early losses to Michigan and Maryland sank the Golden Gophers to an 0-2 record. Repeated issues containing COVID-19 outbreaks also sidetracked Minnesota. But despite all the adversity, Fleck and Minnesota are floating along with a 3-3 record.

Without 33 of their players due to virus protocols and injuries, Minnesota managed to defeat Nebraska, 24-17, on Saturday. Now, the Gophers have a chance to finish the Big Ten season with a winning record if they defeat rival Wisconsin on Saturday. That would be quite the feat considering where they were not long ago.

[ Michigan football hurting recruiting with Jim Harbaugh contract limbo ]

Ohio State

Sure, the Buckeyes didn’t get a chance to beat Michigan for the ninth consecutive time. And yeah, they didn’t have the opportunity to enhance their resume for the College Football Playoff committee with a convincing victory. But Ohio State came out of the week on the winning side, thanks to the Big Ten's waiving of the six-game requirement just so the Buckeyes could play in the conference championship game. The league’s adjustment provided more affirmation of Ohio State’s clout — and its status as the top program in the north.

Even Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel had to kneel at Ohio State’s altar.

“I think Ohio State is one of the top four teams in the country,” he said.

For Manuel, it was painful acknowledgment of Ohio State’s superiority.

[ Big Ten football misery index: Bring on the title game ]

Losers: Big Ten

Since the summer, the Big Ten has looked like a bumbling organization. The league amended its schedule twice while postponing its season and then reinstating it. This week brought more shifts. After mandating all teams needed to play six games to qualify for the Big Ten championship, it changed the rule to allow Ohio State passage to Indianapolis. Then, it corrupted its own crossover week by setting divisional matchups like Wisconsin-Minnesota and Michigan State-Maryland for next Saturday and moving away from a model where a team from the East plays its equal from the West.

Almost at every turn, the conference has looked foolish. Before the season started in late October, it became clear the Big Ten needed to restore its image after enduring substantial backlash — including protests, a lawsuit and pressure from the President Donald Trump — during its five-week freeze. But it has only been further damaged as time has passed.

Illinois

An 18-point loss to Northwestern was the final episode in Lovie Smith’s unremarkable tenure in Champaign. The former NFL coach was fired Sunday after five seasons. It seemed Smith had turned the corner with the Illini last season, when he led them to an appearance in the Redbox Bowl. But Illinois regressed in the last two months, stumbling to a 2-5 record.

Smith finished his tenure with a 17-39 overall mark, becoming the latest man to fail in Champaign. It has been almost a decade since Illinois finished a season above. .500, and the school has cycled through three coaches since. The fourth will be charged with building a winning culture, which could prove even more challenging now that West division foe Minnesota has been stabilized.

In short, this isn’t a great job.

[ Only Jim Harbaugh's future could upstage historic Ohio State cancellation ]

Indiana

Last season, after Indiana won eight games for the first time since 1993, Tom Allen’s staff was raided. Alabama came for Indiana’s strength and conditioning coaches. Fresno State hired Allen’s offensive coordinator, who then took the Hoosiers’ special teams assistant with him. Texas grabbed Allen's defensive line coach.

Allen responded by leading his team to a 6-1 record and a top-10 ranking in both the AP and Amway Coaches Poll. Much of the Hoosiers’ success can be attributed to his opportunistic defense. Indiana has forced more turnovers — 20 — than any team in the Big Ten.

The man coordinating this attack-minded unit is Kane Wommack, who was just hired as South Alabama’s new coach.

Wommack’s departure will sting the Hoosiers. But somehow, some way, there is a good chance Allen and Indiana will stay the course in 2021.

Contact Rainer Sabin at rsabin@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @RainerSabin. Read more on the Michigan Wolverines, Michigan State Spartans and sign up for our Big Ten newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Big Ten winners, losers: Despite missing Michigan football, OSU won