Dave Dye
FOX Sports Detroit
A four-team race for the Big Ten's Rose Bowl bid was likely reduced by one after Iowa got upset Saturday by Northwestern.
It's now a three-team tie for first place between Michigan State, Ohio State and Wisconsin, all 5-1 in the conference with two games remaining.
For a while late Saturday afternoon, it appeared Michigan State might emerge from a bye week in control of its own destiny, but that ended with Ohio State's second-half rally to upend Penn State.
As it is, there's no team totally in control of its own fate.
The Big Ten's tiebreaker formula is head-to-head competition followed by overall record and then BCS ranking.
Michigan State beat Wisconsin, Wisconsin beat Ohio State, Michigan State and Ohio State didn't play.
Here's what each team in contention needs to happen, besides winning its final two games, to take the Big Ten's automatic BCS spot in the Rose:
Michigan State (vs. Purdue, at Penn State): Needs an Ohio State loss. MSU will win a two-team tiebreaker with Wisconsin, but likely lose a two-team tiebreaker with OSU and also likely lose the three-team tiebreaker.
Ohio State (at Iowa, vs. Michigan): Probably needs a loss by Wisconsin. Otherwise, the Buckeyes must hope for a three-team tiebreaker and that they jump past the Badgers in the BCS standings. OSU loses the two-team tiebreaker with Wisconsin.
Wisconsin (at Michigan, vs. Northwestern): Might need a loss by Michigan State because the Badgers lose the two-team tiebreaker with MSU. However, Wisconsin wins a two-team tiebreaker with Ohio State. And, at this point, the Badgers would also win a three-team tiebreaker because they were ranked ahead of OSU and MSU in last week's BCS standings.
Nov. 13, 2010
