Although there’s a little more detail below, perhaps the most glaring example of what a single game can mean was best shown by taking a look at the conference standings after Nebraska’s 6-2 loss to Purdue on Monday afternoon.
As it stands now, the Huskers at 6-2 currently sit in a tie for 5th in the now 17-team Big 10 (USC does not field a team). Had they managed a victory on Sunday, they would be tied for 2nd with UCLA and only half a game out of 1st place.
One of the casualties of playing in a bloated conference like the Big 10 or SEC is playing only half of your conference foes - the Nebraska Cornhuskers play conference games against only eight teams.