The Big Ten conference will turn 120 years old next year, but its great, great grandchildren — the Big Ten East and West football divisions — are still toddlers in their second season.
The conference itself is laced with history and ancient rivalries that help shape any prediction for what's going to happen each fall. The divisions might have early tendencies, but in some ways, they are as unpredictable as a 2-year-old in a corn maze.
The West certainly has that crazy, wide-open feel as conference play cranks up this week. The division has five seemingly legitimate contenders: Wisconsin, Iowa, Northwestern, Nebraska and the Gophers.
The East boasts the nation's No. 1 and No. 2 ranked teams in Ohio State and Michigan State, respectively. While everyone waits for that showdown — coming Nov. 21 in Columbus — Jim Harbaugh's 22nd-ranked Michigan squad also is quickly rebuilding, hoping to derail both rivals' national title hopes.
Overall, it's a pretty exciting time for the oldest Division I conference in the nation, which enjoyed a late-season surge last year with a 6-4 bowl record and Ohio State's triumph in the first College Football Playoff.
The Big Ten has five ranked teams — including No. 16 Northwestern and No. 19 Wisconsin — with the Gophers and Iowa both receiving votes. The Gophers could enter the top 25 this weekend with a victory at Northwestern, and the Hawkeyes could do the same by winning at Wisconsin.
"I have never been one to make too many judgments on anything in September," Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said. "I think you really have to get into October. There are a handful of teams out there that we all know are really good, and really veteran and really talented. After that you never know what is going to happen."
That's the beauty of it, of course.