:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/71440991/1427719414.0.jpg "Big Ten football standings: East and West Division records ahead of Big Ten Championship Game")
Michigan sits atop the Big Ten East rankings after making it past a tough Iowa defense today, 2-0 in conference play at 5-0 overall. Ohio State and Penn State look to stay tied for first, each 1-0 in the Big Ten and 4-0 overall as they take on unranked conference opponents.
To the west, Northwestern tops the rankings despite a 1-3 record after Minnesota and Iowa lost to Purdue and Michigan this afternoon. These standings draw into question the logic of splitting the conference into East and West – should a Northwestern team this bad really be at the top of any rankings right now? The NCAA no longer requires conferences of a certain size to create divisions, and with the additions of USC and UCLA, this current geographical breakdown may change.
We'll begin to see these standings shift more dramatically as each team moves to their second Big Ten matchup of the year.
Big Ten football standings, Week 5
| Big Ten East | Big Ten Wins | Big Ten Losses | Overall Wins | Overall Losses | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big Ten East | Big Ten Wins | Big Ten Losses | Overall Wins | Overall Losses | Home | Road |
| Michigan | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4-0 | 0-0 |
| Ohio St. | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4-0 | 0-0 |
| Penn St. | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2-0 | 2-0 |
| Indiana | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3-0 | 0-1 |
| Maryland | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2-0 | 1-1 |
| Rutgers | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1-1 | 2-0 |
| Michigan St. | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2-1 | 0-1 |
| Big Ten West | Big Ten Wins | Big Ten Losses | Overall Wins | Overall Losses | Home | Road |
| Minnesota | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3-0 | 1-0 |
| Iowa | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2-1 | 1-0 |
| Northwestern | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0-3 | 0-0 |
| Illinois | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3-0 | 0-1 |
| Purdue | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2-1 | 0-1 |
| Wisconsin | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2-1 | 0-1 |
| Nebraska | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1-2 | 0-0 |