The 2010 Big Ten Conference football season was the 115th season for the Big Ten. The conference started its season on Thursday, September 2, as conference member Minnesota traveled to Murfreesboro, Tennessee to face Middle Tennessee, and Ohio State hosted the Thundering Herd of Marshall. The conference's other 9 teams began their respective 2010 season of NCAA Division I FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) competition on Saturday, September 4. It was also the final season for the conference before the Nebraska Cornhuskers joined the conference from the Big 12 the following season.
Preseason After a 2010 NFL draft, which saw 34 Big Ten athletes selected, 12 2009 first-team All-Big Ten selections, 8 second-team selections and 33 honorable mention selections returned for the 2010 season. The Big Ten held the 2010 Football Media Days and 39th annual Kickoff Luncheon on Monday and Tuesday, August 2–3.
Schedules In a given year, each Big Ten team will play eight of the other Big Ten teams. Thus for any given team in a given year, there are two others which will not be competed against. Below is the breakdown of each team and its two "no-plays" for 2010:
Illinois: Iowa, Wisconsin Indiana: Michigan State, Minnesota Iowa: Illinois, Purdue Michigan: Minnesota, Northwestern Michigan State: Indiana, Ohio State Minnesota: Indiana, Michigan Northwestern: Michigan, Ohio State Ohio State: Michigan State, Northwestern Penn State: Purdue, Wisconsin Purdue: Iowa, Penn State Wisconsin: Illinois, Penn State
Rankings In Weeks 3 and 4, the Big Ten had six teams ranked in both polls for the first time since September 13, 2004. Pre Wk1 Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk5 Wk6 Wk7 Wk8 Wk9 Wk10 Wk11 Wk12 Wk13 Wk14 FinalIllinois AP RV C RV RV HarrisNot released RVBCS Not released Indiana AP C HarrisNot releasedBCS Not released Iowa AP 9 9 9 18 17 15 15 13 18 15 13 21 C10 9 10 18 18 15 14 12 19 16 13 20 HarrisNot released 15 12 17 14 12 19 BCS Not released 15 18 16 13 20 Michigan AP RV 20 21 19 18 RV RV RV RV C RV 22 2219 17 24 RV 25 RV RV RV HarrisNot released 24 RV RV RV RV RV BCS Not released Michigan State AP RV RV 25 24 17 13 8 5 16 10 11 11 7 7 C RV RV RV 23 21 16 11 8 5 15 10 11 10 7 7 HarrisNot released 12 8 5 16 10 10 10 7 7BCS Not released 7 5 14 11 12 10 8 9Minnesota AP C HarrisNot releasedBCS Not released Northwestern AP RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV C RV RV RV RV RV 25 RV RV RV RV 25 HarrisNot released RV RV RV RV RVBCS Not released Ohio State AP 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 11 10 8 8 8 C 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 10 10 8 7 7 HarrisNot released 1 10 10 8 7 7BCS Not released 10 11 11 9 9 Penn State AP 19 18 22 23 22 RV RV C 14 14 20 20 20 RV RV RV HarrisNot released RV RVBCS Not released Purdue AP C HarrisNot releasedBCS Not released Wisconsin AP 12 11 11 11 11 20 18 10 9 7 6 5 C 12 11 11 10 9 19 16 11 9 7 5 5 HarrisNot released 16 11 9 7 5 5 BCS Not released 13 10 9 7 7
Spring games April 17 Indiana Iowa Michigan Purdue Wisconsin
April 24 Illinois Michigan State Minnesota Northwestern Ohio State Penn State
Season
Homecoming games October 2 Penn State @ Iowa 7:05 p.m. CT (Iowa's record in homecoming games is 52-41-5) Northwestern @ Minnesota 11:00 a.m. CT (Minnesota's record in homecoming games is 54-33-3)
October 9 Illinois @ Penn State 12:00 p.m. ET (Penn State's record in homecoming games is 65-20-5) Minnesota @ Wisconsin 11:00 a.m. ET (Wisconsin's record in homecoming games is 52-45-5)
October 16 Arkansas State @ Indiana 12:00 p.m. ET (Indiana's record in homecoming games is 43-48-6) Iowa @ Michigan 3:30 p.m. ET (Michigan's record in homecoming games is 83–26) Illinois @ Michigan State 12:00 p.m. ET (Michigan State's record in homecoming games is 61-30-3) Minnesota @ Purdue 12:00 p.m. ET (Purdue's record in homecoming games is 48-35-4)
October 23 Indiana @ Illinois 11:00 a.m. CT (Illinois's record in homecoming games is 42-55-2) Michigan State @ Northwestern 11:00 a.m. CT Purdue @ Ohio State 12:00 p.m. ET (Ohio State's record in homecoming games is 64-19-5)
On September 25, Joe Paterno became the fifth head coach to earn 150 victories as a member of the Big Ten Conference. On October 9, Jim Tressel became the first Big Ten head coach to earn 100 victories in his first ten seasons, surpassing Bo Schembechler and Lloyd Carr who achieved the milestone in their 11th seasons and he did so in the third fewest games (121), behind Schembechler and Fielding Yost (119) and ahead of Henry Williams (123). (The wins for the 2010 season were later vacated.) On November 6, Paterno became the first FBS coach to total 400 career wins.
Big Ten vs. BCS matchups Date Visitor Home Significance Winning teamSeptember 4 Illinois Missouri Arch Rivalry MissouriSeptember 4 Connecticut Michigan MichiganSeptember 4 Northwestern Vanderbilt NorthwesternSeptember 4 Purdue Notre Dame Shillelagh Trophy Notre Dame September 11 Iowa State Iowa Cy-Hawk Trophy Iowa September 11 Michigan Notre Dame Michigan – Notre Dame rivalry Michigan September 11 Miami Ohio State Rematch of 2003 Fiesta Bowl (2002 National Championship) Ohio State (Vacated) September 11 Penn State Alabama Alabama September 18 USC Minnesota USC September 18 Iowa Arizona Arizona September 18 Notre Dame Michigan State Megaphone Trophy Michigan State September 18 Arizona State Wisconsin Wisconsin
Attendance Week 3 attendance (September 18) set an all-time Big Ten single-day attendance record with an average of 78,844. All eight games had crowds of over 50,000; Michigan State (78,411), Wisconsin (81,332), Ohio State (105,075) and Michigan (110,187) had sellouts; and 100,610 patrons were in attendance for Penn State. It surpassed the September 3, 2005 eight-game single-day average of 76,475. On October 9, the Big Ten set a five-game attendance record of 88,034, surpassing the 87,620, set on October 28, 1995. Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State and Wisconsin all hosted sellouts. TeamStadiumCapacityGame 1Game 2Game 3Game 4Game 5Game 6Game 7Game 8Total Average% of CapacityIllinoisMemorial Stadium62,87252,21750,56962,87053,55050,37155,549325,12654,18886.2IndianaMemorial Stadium52,92935,24242,25852,92940,48037,81842,991251,71841,95379.3IowaKinnick Stadium70,58570,58570,58570,58570,58570,58570,58570,585494,09570,585100MichiganMichigan Stadium109,901113,090110,187109,933113,065112,784111,441112,276782,782111,826101.8Michigan StateSpartan Stadium75,00575,76978,41170,92673,10874,44171,12871,111 514,98473,55698.1MinnesotaTCF Bank Stadium50,80549,55450,42249,36849,22848,47948,71750,805346,57349,51097.5NorthwesternRyan Field47,13025,47130,07533,84741,11547,130177,63835,52775.4Ohio StateOhio Stadium102,329105,040105,454105,075105,017105,291105,387105,466105,491842,231105,278102.9Penn StateBeaver Stadium107,282101,213100,610104,840107,638108,539104,147102,649729,636104,23397.2PurdueRoss–Ade Stadium62,50047,30154,12442,06847,31945,22750,268 50,136190,81248,06376.9WisconsinCamp Randall Stadium80,32178,46981,33277,22480,32881,19480,47780,011 559,03579,86299.4
Bowl games The following is the Big Ten Bowl game schedule. Bowl Date Opponents Winner* Score Loser* Score Location Time+ Network Big Ten'sRecords Notes Insight Bowl December 28, 2010 Iowa vs. Missouri Iowa 27 Missouri 24 Tempe, Arizona 6 p.m. ESPN 1-0 Texas Bowl December 29, 2010 Illinois vs. Baylor Illinois 38 Baylor 14 Houston, Texas 5 p.m. ESPN 2-0 Capital One Bowl January 1, 2011 Michigan State vs. Alabama Alabama 49 Michigan State 7 Orlando, Florida 1 p.m. ESPN 2-1 Outback Bowl January 1, 2011 Penn State vs. Florida Florida 37 Penn State 24 Tampa, Florida 1 p.m. ABC 2-2 TicketCity Bowl January 1, 2011 Northwestern vs. Texas Tech Texas Tech 45 Northwestern 38 Dallas, Texas ESPNU 2-3 Gator Bowl January 1, 2011 Michigan vs. Mississippi State Mississippi State 52 Michigan 14 Jacksonville, Florida 1:30 p.m. ESPN2 2-4 Rose Bowl presented by Vizio January 1, 2011 Wisconsin vs. TCU TCU 21 Wisconsin 19 Pasadena, California 2:10 p.m. ESPN 2-5 Sugar Bowl January 4, 2011 Ohio State vs. Arkansas Ohio State (Vacated) 31 Arkansas 26 New Orleans, Louisiana 8:30 p.m. ESPN 2-5 *Big Ten team is bolded. +Time given is Central Time
Head coaches
Ron Zook, Illinois Bill Lynch, Indiana Kirk Ferentz, Iowa Rich Rodriguez, Michigan Mark Dantonio, Michigan State Tim Brewster, Minnesota (first 7 games) and Jeff Horton, Minnesota (last 5 games)
Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern Jim Tressel, Ohio State Joe Paterno, Penn State Danny Hope, Purdue Bret Bielema, Wisconsin
2011 NFL draft
Awards 2010 All-Big Ten Conference Football Team
As selected by CONFERENCE COACHES FIRST TEAM OFFENSE SECOND TEAMDan Persa, NorthwesternQuarterbackScott Tolzien, WisconsinMikel Leshoure, IllinoisRunning BackEvan Royster, Penn StateDan Herron, Ohio StateRunning BackJohn Clay, WisconsinTandon Doss, Indiana*ReceiverMarvin McNutt, Iowa#Derrell Johnson-Koulianos, Iowa*ReceiverDane Sanzenbacher, Ohio State*ReceiverDavid Molk, MichiganCenterMike Brewster, Ohio StateStefen Wisniewski, Penn StateGuardJulian Vandervelde, IowaJohn Moffitt, WisconsinGuardJustin Boren, Ohio StateMike Adams, Ohio StateTackleRiley Reiff, IowaGabe Carimi, WisconsinTackleD.J. Young, Michigan StateLance Kendricks, WisconsinTight EndAllen Reisner, IowaDan Conroy, Michigan StateKickerDerek Dimke, Illinois FIRST TEAM DEFENSE SECOND TEAMAdrian Clayborn, IowaLineCorey Liuget, IllinoisCameron Heyward, Ohio StateLineKarl Klug, IowaRyan Kerrigan, PurdueLineMike Martin, MichiganJ.J. Watt, WisconsinLineOllie Ogbu, Penn StateGreg Jones, Michigan StateLinebackerMartez Wilson, IllinoisRoss Homan, Ohio StateLinebackerJeremiha Hunter, IowaBrian Rolle, Ohio StateLinebackerEric Gordon, Michigan StateShaun Prater, IowaDefensive BackBrett Greenwood, Iowa*Tyler Sash, IowaDefensive BackJohnny Adams, Michigan State*Chimdi Chekwa, Ohio StateDefensive BackTrenton Robinson, Michigan State*Jermale Hines, Ohio StateDefensive BackChris L. Rucker, Michigan State*Defensive BackAaron Henry, Wisconsin*Anthony Santella, IllinoisPunterAaron Bates, Michigan State HONORABLE MENTION: ILLINOIS: Jeff Allen, Nate Bussey, Trulon Henry, Graham Pocic, Tavon Wilson; INDIANA: Damarlo Belcher, James Brewer, Mitch Ewald; IOWA: Christian Ballard, Mike Daniels, Adam Robinson, Ryan Donahue; MICHIGAN: Denard Robinson, Stephen Schilling; MICHIGAN STATE: Edwin Baker, Kirk Cousins, Mark Dell, Joel Foreman, Charlie Gantt, Marcus Hyde, Jerel Worthy; MINNESOTA: D.J. Burris; NORTHWESTERN: Drake Dunsmore, Jeremy Ebert, Brian Peters; OHIO STATE: Devin Barclay, DeVier Posey, Terrelle Pryor, John Simon; PENN STATE: Quinn Barham, Chris Colasanti, D'Anton Lynn, Derek Moye; PURDUE: Ricardo Allen, Dwayne Beckford, Carson Wiggs; WISCONSIN: Montee Ball, Niles Brinkley, Antonio Fenelus, Peter Konz, Bill Nagy, Blake Sorensen, Mike Taylor, Ricky Wagner, Philip Welch, James White, Kevin Zeitler. OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR:Denard Robinson, MichiganOFFENSIVE LINEMAN OF THE YEAR:Gabe Carimi, WisconsinDEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR:Ryan Kerrigan, PurdueDEFENSIVE LINEMAN OF THE YEAR:Ryan Kerrigan, PurdueFRESHMAN OF THE YEAR:James White, Wisconsin Big Ten Sportsmanship Award Honorees: Tavon Wilson, ILL; Tyler Replogle, IND; Ricky Stanzi, IOWA; Mark Moundros, MICH; Kirk Cousins, MSU; Jon Hoese, MINN; Corbin Bryant, NU; Bryant Browning, OSU; Brett Brackett, PSU; Ryan Kerrigan, PUR; Scott Tolzien, WIS.
* Additional honorees due to ties
# Second team reduced by one due to additional first-team honoree 2010 All-Big Ten Conference Football Team
As selected by CONFERENCE MEDIA