Half of the teams ranked in the top six of the latest AP poll are Big Ten teams.
Iowa moved down a spot to No. 4, but Michigan State moved up a spot to No. 5 and Ohio State jumped two spots to No. 6, giving the Big Ten three of the top six spots in the top-25 rankings, which were released Sunday afternoon.
The Hawkeyes completed a perfect regular season at 12-0 with a win over Nebraska on Friday, while the Spartans improved to 11-1 and clinched a Big Ten East Division championship with a throttling of Penn State on Saturday. Iowa and Michigan State will meet in this weekend's Big Ten Championship Game in Indianapolis, the winner likely earning a spot in the College Football Playoff.
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The Buckeyes rebounded from their loss to the Spartans in spectacular fashion, wrapping their regular season at 11-1 with a pounding of rival Michigan. Ohio State still has a very good chance of making a New Year's Six bowl game and perhaps even an outside shot at reaching the Playoff should chaos break out this weekend.
Elsewhere in the top-25, Northwestern moved up four spots from No. 17 to No. 13 after finishing its regular season at 10-2 with a win over Illinois on Saturday at Soldier Field. The Cats have 10 wins in a single season for just the fourth time in program history and could win 11 games for the first time in program history with a victory in the bowl game.
Michigan plummeted seven spots, down to No. 19 from No. 12 after getting beat up by Ohio State. And Wisconsin was back in the top 25 at No. 25 following a 9-3 regular-season finish with a Saturday win over Minnesota.