Big Ten bowl picture crowded at the top, very murky in middle

With four weeks to go in conference play, the Big Ten’s three

highest-ranked teams remain in pursuit of a

spot in the College Football Playoff.

The races in both divisions are tight, with half of the league harboring goals of reaching the conference championship. In the

middle and back of the pack, even for the handful of longshots,

bowl eligibility is still on the table.

But postseason projections, while fodder for fans and analysts,

are hardly part of a team’s regular game plan.

“If you don’t win the next one, you are going to go from being first to fifth or whatever it may be,” said Minnesota quarterback Tanner Morgan, whose team is in first place in the West Division. “Any team can beat you any week, so you have to be at your best. We’re humble

enough to know that anybody can beat us on any Saturday.”

There’s no program more committed to the art of staying present in the moment than the Gophers under coach P.J. Fleck, whose limits to looking beyond the current opponent — as

publicly stated, at least — are the offseason and the bye week.

“I know you guys probably laugh when we say, ‘one-game championship season’

or whatever, but that’s really our mantra, our

mentality. This game is all we’ve got,” Morgan said. “If we don’t win this week, who

knows what next week holds?”

The Gophers (6-2, 4-1) host Illinois (3-6, 2-4) on Saturday in the

epitome of a trap game, given that the Illini

beat Penn State on Oct. 23 in that Ncaa-record nine-overtime grind. Minnesota then

plays at No. 19 Iowa (62, 3-2) on Nov. 13 in the

first of two rivalry games for the Gophers that will determine the West Division title. They host Wisconsin (5-3, 3-2) on Nov. 27, after a game at Indiana (2-6, 0-5).

“It’s human nature to look at external, but we continue to fight it

every day. This is about fighting human

nature the best you possibly can, and that

internal has got to be way louder than the external,” Fleck said.

Wisconsin would claim a seventh Big Ten championshipgame berth in 11 seasons of the divisional format by winning out — a legitimate scenario

after an uncharacteristic 1-3 start. The Badgers visit Rutgers (4-4, 1-4) on Saturday and host Northwestern (35, 1-4) and Nebraska (3-6, 1-5) before the

battle for Paul Bunyan’s Axe at Minnesota.

Backsliding Iowa plays at Northwestern

on Saturday. After the crucial game against the Gophers, the Hawkeyes finish with Illinois and Nebraska.

Losing earlier in the season to the Gophers and the Badgers hurts Purdue (5-3, 3-2) in the hunt. The Boilermakers host No. 5 Michigan State (8-0, 5-0) on

Saturday and visit No. 6 Ohio State (7-1, 5-0)

on Nov. 13 before finishing with Northwestern and Indiana.