Let's break down the storylines of the week and what awaits this weekend.
Two teams have established themselves as the Big Ten's best: No. 5 Ohio State and No. 8 Wisconsin. They look to be on a course to clash in the Big Ten title game, but they won't have to wait that long to face one another. Ohio State will host Wisconsin on Oct. 26.
The Buckeyes and Badgers are both in the top seven in scoring offense in the country and in the top three in scoring defense. Whoever survives their matchup should have a quality opportunity to reach the College Football Playoff if they take care of their other business.
Ohio State plays at Nebraska in primetime Saturday. Wisconson hosts Northwestern.
Three coaches need their teams to start performing or their tenures could be coming to an end soon enough: Illinois' Lovie Smith, Rutgers' Chris Ash and -- to a degree -- Michigan's Jim Harbaugh.
Each has had a difficult start to their seasons. In his fourth season in Champaign, Smith has led Illinois to an overall 11-29 record while being the 13th-highest-paid coach in the nation, per Business Insider. Smith has had enough recruiting classes for this to be "his team," but the Illini haven't made enough progress to justify his lucrative contract.
Ash has an even worse record, leading the Scarlet Knights to an 8-31 mark in his fourth season as well. While he's compensated on a much lower tier, Ash is in a similar situation as Smith regarding his timeline to produce.
Harbaugh has overseen a winner at Michigan but hasn't lived up to the expectations of the Wolverines faithful. His 40-15 mark in his fifth season in Ann Arbor isn't viewed as a success in a program that aims to win Big Ten titles and national championship. Harbaugh's team hasn't performed in big games, as Michigan is 1-9 against top-10 foes and 0-4 against Ohio State under his watch.
If these coaches don’t turn their programs around quickly, new faces could be on their sidelines to begin next season.
Purdue do-everything receiver Rondale Moore and Wisconsin running back Jonathan Taylor are both ranked in the top five nationally in yards per game. Taylor also leads the nation in scoring.
Ohio State running back J.K. Dobbins is fifth in the nation with 477 rushing yards, while Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields and Wisconsin quarterback Jack Coan are each in the top 15 nationally in passer rating.
The NCAA sack leaders both reside in the Big Ten as well: Illinois' Oluwole Betiku Jr. and Ohio State's Chase Young with seven apiece.
Some of these players could take home hardware at season's end.
Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald's frustration boiled over Monday, two days after his team lost 31-10 to Michigan State. Fitzgerald was asked about his struggling offense and responded with a quote that went viral.
"I understand there’s 40,000 experts on Twitter that can call plays for me, so my email address is hashtag I don’t care," he told reporters
Fitzgerald’s frustration with his offense is well-deserved, as the Wildcats are 121st nationally in total offense and 129th in yards per play. There are 130 teams in the nation. Quarterback Hunter Johnson has produced, and running back Isaiah Bowser is having a sophomore slump after a breakout freshman campaign.
The Northwestern defense is only allowing 20 points a game, so the offense is at fault. It doesn't get any easier as Northwestern plays at Wisconsin on Saturday.
Two weeks in a row, the Illini have lost winnable games. The most recent was a 42-38 setback to Nebraska last Saturday, leaving Illinois is a tough position to qualify for a bowl games as it sits at 2-2. No. 20 Michigan, No. 8 Wisconsin, No. 14 Iowa and No. 25 Michigan State all remain on the schedule as well.
Smith could have an undefeated team right now. Instead, he has a .500 squad, which is he's on the hot seat. Illinois is off this weekend, then will have to figure it out.