The Big Ten managed to get five of seven games played this weekend and that may just end up being par for the course as nearly 20 games throughout Division I (FBS) were canceled, postponed or re-arranged in some fashion.

We don't need to belabor the point that Ohio State was one team that did not get to go forward with its game this week, but it was just one of many.

Speaking of the Buckeyes, they are the only undefeated team left standing within the conference as we are now drawing into single-digits with teams nationally who have not lost to date.

Northwestern was the only other conference team that was unbeaten going into this week and the Cats fell to a Spartans team that has been kind of difficult to figure out, pretty good in big games and putrid the rest of the way.

Penn State versus Michigan is a game that should always have some meaning in the conference race and it did this week as someone had to win the game, with ties going away after the 1995 season.

Eight of 14 teams are sub-.500 this season, two teams have only one win and the middle of the league is crowded. It's 2020 everyone and we still have a couple more weeks left of this season, hopefully.

Of course we have all the talk about what happens if the Buckeyes are not able to get to six games played and what that means and of course we will talk about that at length during other pieces this week as two of the favorites to meet in Indy are either already 'out' (Wisconsin has only played three games with two to go) or up against the wall (Ohio State, obviously).

But for now, we are just talking about what happened for teams who did play and how those games went down.

It was not the best game to watch but it had the most meaning as Northwestern was looking to stay in the ranks of the unbeaten.

Well, unless you skipped the headline, the Cats were unable to do so.

Northwestern quarterback Peyton Ramsey had an off day with just 210 yards passing, zero touchdowns, two sacks and was sacked four times as the Cats were only able to rush for 63 yards as a team on 37 carries.

Michigan State's Rocky Lombardi was efficient enough, and while not sharp, his 11-27 can be overlooked with his two touchdown passes in the first half and the line was able to keep him from being sacked.

While Lombardi was not exactly sharp, the running game did enough as Michigan State rushed 47 times for 195 yards and while they never found the end zone, the trio of Connor Heyward, Lombardi and Elijah Collins were able to keep the Northwestern offense on the sidelines as Michigan State held the ball for 10:26 of the 4th quarter.

For all real purposes, this was a three-point game until the final play when Northwestern's hook-and-ladder play turned into an absolute train wreck and Kalon Gervin fell on the ball in the end zone for an additional six points for the Spartans.

Let's remember, this is for the B1G Game of the week, not necessarily the BEST Game of the week.

Somebody had to win this game.

It ended up being Penn State, as the Nittany Lions scored their first win of the year and added to the loud drumbeats around Jim Harbaugh.

Penn State score on its first drive of the game and never trailed the rest of the way as Sean Clifford did not do anything to hurt the fortunes of Penn State. He did not find the end zone throwing the ball but he also did not throw any interceptions and was sacked just once.

On the ground, Penn State was able to do something that it has struggled to do all year, and that is run for big plays. While there were no carries 30-yards or longer, the team ran 50 times for 254 yards and three scores and held the ball for almost 37 minutes into this game.

As for Michigan, neither quarterback was exactly sharp with Cade McNamara getting the start again and was knocked out for a few plays in the game as Joe Milton had to be pressed into action. The two quarterbacks combined for just 13-28 passing, 112 yards and no scores.

Michigan is starting to figure out that it needs to run Hassan Haskins more, as he was the real bright spot in the offense with 17 carries for 101 yards and two scores.

Penn State was able to extend drives in this game, going 8-16 on 3rd down while Michigan was just 4-12. That set up three times that Michigan had to go for it on fourth down, and the Wolverines were just 1-3 there.

I don't remember a time where there was less hype around this game than this year but Ohio State fans did enjoy the Sophie's Choice involved in deciding who they wanted to see lose this game.

This proved to be a costly game as Indiana quarterback Michael Penix is now lost for the season after an ACL injury in this game.

When I had picked this game over the weekend for this slot, long before we knew of the severity of any injury to Penix, the point was going to be that this was an ugly game where IU QBs went 11-24 for just 115 yards and no touchdowns and while Tualia Tagovailoa found the end zone and threw for more than twice as many yards, he also was intercepted three times.

Maryland could not run the ball, rushing for less than 60 yards while the Hoosiers finally had a breakout game on the ground, but that was also necessary with the lack of the passing game. IU ran for 234 yards and and three scores and averaged almost five yards per carry.

Honestly, all of the comments that I had ready for this game just fall flat based on the news of the Penix injury, and we will just end it at that.

It is a pretty big assumption that all seven Big Ten games will be played but we can hope. Let's settle games on the field and not have a process of elimination determine anything.

With all things being equal and assuming that all games will be played, the biggest game in the conference will be the Indiana at Wisconsin game. The Hoosiers are sitting with just one loss and already have six games played under their belt, meaning they are 'vested' in terms of having enough games played by an arbitrary rule in place by the Big Ten this year for championship participation. On the other side, you have the Badgers, who are stuck at just three games played and could be a really good team, if given the chance to play more than every once in awhile. A win here would be big for the Badgers as you know there are forces working to change that number and if five becomes the new basement, this would be a big win, over a top-15 opponent and would keep Wisconsin on pace, but needing some help with a H-2-H loss to the Cats (and the whole needing to play enough games thing).

On the other side, a second loss by the Hoosiers may really show the folly of the Big Ten rule of six games, sending a two-loss (at least) team to Indy over an undefeated team that might come up just short in terms of games played. There are a lot of 'Ifs and Buts' in this whole scenario, but it is still something.

And then there are a bunch of other games. But we also have had our first cancellation on Monday with the Northwestern and Minnesota game being called off and declared a no-contest.

The Huskers and Boilermakers are both trending downward, someone has to win this game. While Penn State has its first win and if we are being honest, the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers should be no worse than 3-3 this year after a bit of a collapse against Michigan and a close one against Illinois. Change the outcome of either of those and you are living in a world with a .500 Rutgers team. Maryland and Michigan will play in Ann Arbor, the home finale for the Wolverines (depending on what a 9th game may look like) and could be a swan song for Jim Harbaugh. And then you have Iowa and Illinois playing to round things out.