Penn State and Ohio State share 2005 Big Ten Championship

Penn State wins automatic BCS berth via tiebreaker.

Antonio Pittman ran in for a game-winning score with 24 seconds remaining in the game.

Antonio Pittman ran in for a game-winning score with 24 seconds remaining in the game.

Nov. 19, 2005

Iowa 52, Minnesota 28
Ed Hinkel caught four touchdown passes to set a Kinnick Stadium record, Damian Sims scored on a 71-yard run and Iowa shut down the nation's No. 1 rushing offense in beating Minnesota 52-28 Saturday.

Iowa (7-4, 5-3 Big Ten) improved its bowl prospects with its fifth straight victory over Minnesota, which lost star running back Laurence Maroney in the first quarter and never recovered after falling behind 35-0 less than 25 minutes into the game.  Full Story...

Northwestern 38, Illinois 21

Brett Basanez threw for 240 yards and Tyrell Sutton ran for 212 as Northwestern handed Illinois its ninth straight loss, 38-21 on Saturday.

Basanez, making his 39th consecutive start, became the third Big Ten quarterback to pass for more than 10,000 yards in his career, reaching 10,164 to join Purdue's Drew Brees and Iowa's Chuck Long in reaching the milestone. He also rushed for 85 yards and two touchdowns as the Wildcats' league-leading offense rolled up three dozen first downs and gained 596 yards.  Full Story...


Purdue 41, Indiana 14

Purdue took advantage of five Indiana turnovers, getting three touchdown runs from Kory Sheets and two from Dorien Bryant to cruise past the rival Hoosiers 41-14 Saturday.

The Boilermakers (5-6, 3-5) claimed the Old Oaken Bucket for the fourth straight year and the eighth time in Joe Tiller's nine seasons as coach. Purdue won its final three games of the season but failed to reach a bowl game for the first time in Tiller's tenure.  Full Story...


No. 9 Ohio State 25, No. 17 Michigan 21

Several Ohio State Buckeyes were smiling and sweating in a cramped interview room, sporting Big Ten championship hats and T-shirts.  They can thank Troy Smith.

Smith threw for a career-high 300 yards and a touchdown and scored once on the ground, leading No. 9 Ohio State to a 25-21 win over No. 17 Michigan on Saturday and a share of the conference title.  Antonio Pittman's 3-yard run with 24 seconds left capped an 88-yard drive that included a series of spectacular plays by Smith.  Full Story...


Penn State 31, Michigan State 22

Welcome to the BCS, JoePa.

Joe Paterno and No. 5 Penn State locked up their first Bowl Championship Series bid after the Nittany Lions defeated Michigan State 31-22 on Saturday to win their first Big Ten title in 11 years.

Michael Robinson ran for 90 yards and a touchdown and passed for another, and Alan Zemaitis had three interceptions for Penn State (10-1, 6-1).

Coming off a 4-7 season, Penn State tied Ohio State for the Big Ten lead but will get the league's automatic BCS bid because the Lions beat the Buckeyes in October.  Full Story...