After seven weeks of football, things are starting to take shape in the Big11Ten.  There are still a lot of games to be played (Penn State still has five), but already it looks like the chase for the conference crown has been narrowed down significantly.  So today we're going to  take a look at the remaining contenders and rank their chances to winning the conference.

For the purposes of this exercise, we left out teams with two losses, partly because they have a much harder road than the one and no-loss teams, but mostly because including them leaves us with enough scenarios to make our heads spin.  So here's a look at who's left...

It was quite a weekend in the world of college football, as two more top ten teams were bounced, while Florida squeaked out a win and Texas and Oklahoma turned the ball over more times than we could count.  And of course, we're now officially coming down the back stretch of the season as the first BCS rankings have been released.  So let's take a look at the fake headlines as we go Around the NCAA!

Did that guy clean it all himself?

On a day that featured terrible weather and a less-than-full Beaver stadium, the defense completely shutdown Minnesota (and Eric Decker) and the Lions got their first shutout of the season.  The offense piled up a ton of yards, and while they had trouble finishing drives at times, they did enough to put this one away.  Onto the recap...

Big win for Purdue as they knock off Ohio State, 26-18.  The Ohio State offense was horrendous again, with five turnovers and only 66 yards rushing.  Terrelle Pryor had two interceptions and was sacked five times.  The Buckeyes also racked up nine penalties.

Rough day.

Obviously this is good news for Penn State.  Now if Iowa could drop a couple games...

Gametime: 3:30 pm

Records: Minnesota: 4-2 (1-1); Penn State: 5-1 (1-1)

Series Record: Penn State leads, 6-4

TV: ABC, ESPN (regional)

Audio: Here

Weather: High of 35, obviously some snow in the forecast as well.

Don't forget: ALL GRASS PARKING LOTS ARE CLOSED.

I think we can all agree that we're happy the non-conference schedule is over and done with and it's just Big11Ten teams from here on out.  With the exception of Indiana, every one of Penn State's remaining games will help us learn more about this team.  That starts this cold and wet weekend when the Golden Gophers come to town.

Read more after the jump.

If you were planning on doing some tailgating this weekend at the Beave, you might want to reconsider.  Per the PSU website, all the grass lots are closed due to the unexpected snowfall.

If you're taking an RV, you'll be re-routed to a different parking lot, but the link mentions that tents and tailgating won't be permitted.  We love going to the games as much as anyone, but a Penn State football weekend without tailgating?  That's sacrilegious.

Anyway, if you're still going to head up for the weekend, have a safe trip.

Week 6 was a bounce-back performance for both Greg and Will, the former going 6-2 and the latter right behind with a 5-3 mark.  With the big week, Greg draws within two games of the .500 mark, and Will is only six games behind in the standings with plenty of time to catch up.

Not a lot of intriguing matchups this week in the Big11Ten, although Wisconsin-Iowa should be mildly interseted and we're excited to see how the Lions play against a real opponent.  (We both like Penn State to win, but that line seems awfully high.)  The national scene is much more compelling, with the highlight being the Red River Shootout, which is always a fun game to watch.  We also have the USC-Notre Dame and Virginia Tech-Georgia Tech games on our slate for the weekend.

As always, we're using Danny Sheridan's odds as our source.

Here's the list for Week 7 (home team in CAPS):

And here's how we're picking:

Here's a look at the standings after six weeks of play:

Will: Last Week 5-3, Overall 20-34

Greg: Last Week 6-2, Overall 26-28

Usually we don't pay too much attention when the resident idiots like Pat Forde and Mark Schlabach at E!SPN spout off some inane theory or opinion about the polls.  Instead of being sincere, they're just saying something controversial (and usually stupid) to drum up some attention.  We have no interest in those types, but on ocassion we have to bring them down a peg.  After reading some drivel from Schlabach recently, we decided that this is one of those ocassions.  This is taken from one of Schlabach's bullet points ("Penn State shouldn't be in the top 20") from his recent column :

"With its soft nonconference schedule, Penn State had one shot at playing in a BCS bowl game. The Nittany Lions had to finish unbeaten but didn't do it, losing to Iowa 21-10 at home on Sept. 26. Even it finishes 11-1, Penn State doesn't deserve to play in a BCS bowl game."

We have read some insane stuff before, but this may take the cake.  First of all, Schlabach should do some research, as he is wrong about Penn State blowing their shot at playing in a BCS bowl game.  Going unbeaten isn't the only way that could happen.  What if Penn State wins out, knocking off Ohio State, and ends up winning the Big11Ten if Iowa slips up along the way?  Do they not deserve their automatic BCS bid for winning the conference?  Apparently Mark doesn't think so.  We think Penn State fans across the nation would probably disagree with him (as would the fine folks at the Rose Bowl).

And what if the Lions go 11-1 but Iowa runs the table and wins the conference?  Who should get a shot at an at-large bid?  Boise State?  Yeah, they've played some real titans this year.  A two-loss SEC team?  Please.  If you can show us more than three good teams in the SEC, we'd be surprised.  Notre Dame?  Let us know when they beat a team by more than 3.  A team from the ACC or Big East?  Okay, I wasn't even serious about that one.

What's sad about this is that it's been pointed out over and over again, and if you're a Penn State fan, it starts to get annoying after a while.  We're not saying Penn State's schedule is good.  We've gone on the record numerous times saying how much we loathe schedules like this one.  But the reality is that tons of teams around the country have awful non-conference schedules, and if they play in the SEC or the Big 12 or the Pac 10, they're not getting nearly as much attention because of this horrible reputation the Big11Ten has picked up the last couple years.

Honestly, we have no idea whether or not Penn State will finish 11-1.  There are still a ton of questions about this team.  But if they do win out, who's to say they don't deserve a shot at a BCS game?  Apparently, Mark Schlabach, that's who.  But oh well, we might as well stop ripping Mark.  We'd be upset too if our alma mater lost to Tennessee by 26 over the weekend.

There were all kinds of storylines in Week 6 of college football, including Tim Tebow's triumphant return to the field after, as well as Iowa squeaking past Tate Terrific and the Wolverines and FSU and Georgia Tech throwing defense out the window.  That's right, it's time to go Around the NCAA!