Big Ten Bunched Up; Buckeyes, Nittany Lions Lose on the Road

Really, should we expect anything less from conference games?

What with familiarity breeding contempt and few mysteries to be revealed from either side, Iowa and Michigan State were so ready to cast all other factors aside and remind the Big Ten's glamor teams du jour just what sorta neighbors they have.

They weren't newbies like Rutgers and Maryland getting used to the ways. These were the snotknockers.

The Iowa Hawkeyes may not be a road team, but they're well known for being ferocious at defending their home turf.

Their only loss at Kinnick Stadium this season was a frustrating 21-19 decision to Penn State on the game's final play:

What's more, Iowa underwhelmed in their 17-10 victory over visiting Minnesota.

Perhaps they were just guilty of looking ahead.

In retrospect, it definitely seems that way:

That it did, especially with Sparty winning the nightcap of a what seemed like a weird double-header.

Fortunately for them, only the score after all was said and done counted.

this time, it was the Nittany Lions who were done in on the game's final play:

This was Penn State's second straight road game, so they figured to be in tough against Sparty.

Coach Mark Dantonio & Crew suffered through what for them was a rare losing season in 2016. However, they still gave the Buckeyes all they wanted, only falling 17-16 in East Lansing when Dantonio decided to shoot the moon on a two-point PAT and did an Apollo 13.

Sparty enters the Horseshoe in Week 11 as a 20½-point underdog.

They also enter as the only Big Ten East team that controls its own destiny:

Here's the drive to the finish line and a trip to Indianapolis for a date with Wisconsin:

	Michigan St	Ohio State	Penn State	Michigan
Wk 11 ...	at Ohio State	vs Mich St	vs Rutgers	at Maryland
Wk 12 ...	vs Maryland	vs Illinois	vs Nebraska	at Wisconsin
Wk 13 ...	at Rutgers	vs Michigan	at Maryland	vs Ohio State

To hell with talk of one-loss teams.

This is conference drama at its finest.

Come the final Saturdays in November, yes. Yes it will be.