Although the league finished a weak 3-5 in bowl games this year, with victories only from Michigan, Purdue, and Penn St., the Big Ten nonetheless placed 5 teams in the final rankings for college football. They are as follows:

Ohio St #4

Illinois #18

Michigan #19

Wisconsin #24

Penn St. #25

This is a good ending note for a league that got beat up in a lot of huge games. With Ohio St. losing the national championship to LSU and Illinois getting thumped by USC, Wisconsin did have a chance to upset Tennessee but just couldn’t get the job done.

Personally, I think that at the end of the year, Illinois did not deserve a top 20 ranking. After getting embarrassed in what could have been a 50 point loss if USC didn’t pour it on and kept the defensive pressure on, Michigan proved without a doubt that the early season ranking was worth it–it didn’t hurt that they were playing for Lloyd Carr’s swan song either. Wisconsin should be ranked higher than 24, even though they were as up and down as a Phoenix Suns game.

Enjoy it while you have this ranking, guys. With the way Notre Dame is building again and the increasing power of the SEC and Pac 10, it could be a long time before five teams are ranked again.