2009 Big Ten Conference football season The 2009 Big Ten Conference football season was the 114th for the conference , and saw Ohio State conclude the regular season as Big Ten Conference champion for the 5th consecutive time , their 34th Big Ten title . This earned them the conference ' s automatic selection to a Bowl Championship Series game in which it emerged victorious in the January 1 , 2010 Rose Bowl against Oregon Ducks . Co - runner - up , Iowa , earned the conference ' s at - large BCS invitation to the January 5 , 2010 Orange Bowl . The season started on Thursday , September 3 , as conference member Indiana hosted Eastern Kentucky . The conference ’ s other 10 teams began their respective 2009 season of NCAA Division I FBS ( Football Bowl Subdivision ) competition two days later . All teams started their season at home except Illinois who started their season on neutral turf for the third consecutive season against Missouri and Minnesota who traveled to Syracuse . Although several players had post season All - star games remaining , the season concluded for Big Ten teams with the 2010 Orange Bowl in which Iowa defeated Georgia Tech . This was the seventh bowl game for the conference which compiled a 4 – 3 record . Over the course of 77 home games , the conference set a new attendance record . During the season , Minnesota opened a new athletic stadium , TCF Bank Stadium , and Purdue welcomed a new head coach , Danny Hope . The season saw John Clay selected as offensive player of the year by both the coaches and the media . Jared Odrick and Greg Jones won defensive player of the year awards from the coaches and media , respectively . Chicago Tribune Silver Football recipients as the Big Ten co - MVPs were Daryll Clark and Brandon Graham . Jones was the conferences only consensus 2009 College Football All - America Team representative . The Big Ten Conference enjoyed two national statistical championships . Graham led the nation in tackles for a loss ( TFL ) . Ray Fisher earned the national statistical championship in kickoff return average and established a new Big Ten single - season record with his performance . The Big Ten led the nation with six first team Academic All - Americans . After the season , 34 athletes were selected in the 2010 NFL Draft including three in the first round and six each by Iowa and Penn State . Previous season . During the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season , Ohio State won its fourth consecutive Big Ten championship while co - champion Penn State won its second in four years . Although the two teams tied with 7 – 1 conference records , Penn State earned the conference ' s automatic Bowl Championship Series selection due to a head - to - head victory . The two teams have been the only teams from the conference to win a Big Ten championship in the past four seasons . During the season , every home game was televised nationally and 98 percent of the Big Ten ' s games were nationally aired far exceeding all other conferences , none of whom had even 75 percent of their games televised . Preseason . In a given year , each Big Ten team will play eight of the other Big Ten teams . Thus for any given team in a given year , there are two others which will not be competed against . Below is the breakdown of each team and its two " no - plays " for 2009 : The Big Ten Conference announced on July 27 that the big ten media had elected Ohio State as the preseason favorite for the 2009 football season . It had ranked Penn State second and Michigan State third . It chose Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor the Preseason Offensive Player of the Year and Michigan State linebacker Greg Jones the Preseason Defensive Player of the Year . In the Preseason Coaches ' Poll released on August 7 , the Big Ten was one of only three conferences with multiple teams ranked in the top ten . The College Football Hall of Fame has selected Iowa ' s Larry Station ( 1982 – 85 ) , Ohio State ' s Chris Spielman ( 1984 – 87 ) and Penn State ' s Curt Warner ( 1979 – 82 ) for December induction . 28 Big Ten athletes were selected in the 2009 National Football League Draft in late April , including four first - round picks . Two additional players were selected in the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft . Watchlists . According to the Big Ten Conference at the beginning of the season : " The Big Ten now features 51 student - athletes on preseason watch lists for 19 different national awards . Among the honored conference players , 27 appear on more than one list and five Big Ten standouts lead the way by appearing on five different lists . Every Big Ten team has at least one player appearing on a watch list . Iowa , Ohio State and Penn State top all Big Ten schools with seven different players appearing on watch lists , followed by six nominees from Illinois and Michigan and five selections for Michigan State and Wisconsin . On the offensive side of the ball , returning first - team All - Big Ten quarterback Daryll Clark of Penn State appears on the watch lists for the Walter Camp Player of the Year , Manning , Maxwell , Davey O ' Brien and Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Awards . Illinois signal caller Juice Williams , a second - team All - Big Ten choice last year , appears on four different lists for the Manning , Maxwell , Davey O ' Brien and Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Awards . Illini wideout Arrelious Benn ( Biletnikoff , Walter Camp Player of the Year , Maxwell ) and Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor ( Manning , Maxwell , Davey O ' Brien ) appear on three different watch lists . Players appearing on two lists include Iowa offensive tackle Bryan Bulaga , Michigan running back Brandon Minor and offensive lineman David Molk , Michigan State center Joel Nitchman , Minnesota wideout Eric Decker and quarterback Adam Weber , Northwestern center Ben Burkett , Ohio State center Mike Brewster , Penn State running back Evan Royster and offensive lineman Stefan Wisniewski and the Wisconsin trio of running back John Clay , tight end Garrett Graham and center John Moffitt . On the defensive side of the ball , four standouts appear on five different watch lists . Big Ten Preseason Defensive Player of the Year and returning first - team All - Big Ten linebacker Greg Jones of Michigan State has been named to the watch lists for the Bednarik , Butkus and Rotary Lombardi Awards and the Lott and Nagurski Trophies . Fellow linebacker Sean Lee of Penn State , who missed last season due to injury after earning second - team All - Big Ten accolades in 2007 , appears on the same five watch lists as Jones . Defensive ends Brandon Graham of Michigan and Corey Wootton of Northwestern were both tabbed for the Bednarik , Ted Hendricks , Rotary Lombardi , Lott and Nagurski watch lists . Wootton was a first - team All - Big Ten choice last year while Graham was named to the second team . Two more Nittany Lion standouts were named to four watch lists in linebacker Navorro Bowman ( Bednarik , Butkus , Lombardi , Nagurski ) and defensive tackle Jared Odrick ( Bednarik , Lombardi , Nagurski , Outland ) . Other defensive standouts to appear on multiple lists include Illinois linebacker Martez Wilson , Indiana defensive end Jammie Kirlew , Iowa linebacker Pat Angerer and Ohio State safety Kurt Coleman . " Award watch lists . Lott Trophy , Bronko Nagurski Trophy , and Jim Thorpe Award watchlist candidate Kurt Coleman of Ohio State , was suspended by the Big Ten Conference for one game . The suspension was for a violation of the new 2009 NCAA football playing rule that required mandatory conference video review of an act where a player initiates helmet - to - helmet contact and targets a defenseless opponent . The incident occurred during the September 26 game against Illinois . Midseason . Obi Ezeh , Jones and Lee were among the sixteen selected to the midseason Butkus watchlist and Clark was named as one of ten finalists for the Unitas award . Eight Big Ten athletes were named as semifinalists for the Campbell Trophy : Illinois ' Jon Asamoah , Indiana ' s Jammie Kirlew , Michigan ' s Zoltan Mesko , Minnesota ' s Eric Decker , Northwestern ' s Andrew Brewer , Ohio State ' s Jim Cordle , Penn State ' s Josh Hull and Wisconsin ' s Mickey Turner on October 1 . Four Big Ten Players midseason watch list for the John Mackey Award : Moeaki , Gantt , Quarless and Graham . Three were quarterfinalists for the Lott Award : Angerer , Jones and Coleman . The Big Ten had two O ' Brien Award semifinalists : Stanzi and Clark . Eric Decker was named one of 10 semifinalists for the Biletnikoff Award . Jones has been selected as a semifinalists for the Bednarik Award along with Angerer , Bowman and Wisconsin defensive end O ' Brien Schofield . Hawkeyes ' Tyler Sash was chosen as a semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe Award . Swenson and Northwestern ' s Stefan Demos were named semifinalists for the Groza Award . Mesko , Blair White , and Andrew Brewer were among the 12 finalists for the Wuerffel Trophy . Mesko , and Donahue were among 10 semifinalists for the Guy Award . Mesko was named one of three finalists for the Ray Guy Award . Michigan ' s Graham was a finalist for the Henricks Award . Rankings . Unlike most sport s , college football ' s governing body , the NCAA , does not bestow a National Championship title . That title is bestowed by one or more of four different polling agencies . There are two main weekly polls that begin in the preseason : the AP Poll and the Coaches Poll . Two additional polls are released midway through the season ; the Harris Interactive Poll is released after the fourth week of the season and the Bowl Championship Series ( BCS ) Standings is released after the seventh week . The Harris Poll and Coaches Poll are factors in the BCS Standings . Spring games . April 11 April 18 April 25 Did not have spring game this year Season . Purdue head coach Danny Hope began his first season in West Lafayette . On September 12 , Minnesota opened the 2009 season its new 50 , 720 - seat home field , TCF Bank Stadium when the team hosted the Air Force Falcons . For the third straight year , each Big Ten home game during the first three weeks of the season was broadcast nationally on ABC , ESPN , ESPN2 or the Big Ten Network , which televised more than 20 contests altogether in the opening weeks , including all nine home games in Week 1 . Every ABC afternoon telecast was broadcast nationally , either on ABC or simultaneously on ESPN or ESPN2 . Note that although the Big Ten is a regional conference the Big Ten Network , which was available in 19 of the 20 largest U . S . media market s , was available to approximately 73 million homes in the U . S . and Canada through agreements with more than 250 cable television or satellite television affiliates . The season began amidst allegations that Michigan was working its players beyond the extent permissible by the NCAA . Nonetheless , the conference had its fifth ten - win week during the opening weekend . During week 3 , the Ohio State - USC game became the most - viewed college football game in ESPN history . After three weeks , the Big Ten Conference was the only Football Bowl Subdivision conference with five 3 – 0 teams . Homecoming games . September 26 October 3 October 10 October 17 October 24 † denotes record after the game Records against other conferences . The following summarizes the Big Ten ' s record this season vs . other conferences . Big Ten vs . BCS matchups . During the season , Big Ten teams played several games against BCS conference opponents . Some of these games are regularly contested rivalry games . Bowl games . On December 6 , the Bowl matchups were announced . It marked the fifth consecutive season that at least seven Big Ten teams earned bowl game invitations and the ninth time in twelve - year history of the Bowl Championship Series that the conference was awarded two BCS invitations . Players of the week . Throughout the conference regular season , the Big Ten offices named offensive , defensive and special teams players of the week each Sunday . Big Ten Conference football individual honors . At the conclusion of week 12 , the coaches and media made Big Ten Conference football individual honors selections . John Clay was selected as offensive player of the year by both the coaches and the media . Jared Odrick and Greg Jones won defensive player of the year awards from the coaches and media , respectively . Bryan Bulaga and Odrick were selected as offensive and defensive linemen of the year . Chris Borland was freshman of the year and Kirk Ferentz was Coach of the Year . The Chicago Tribune Silver Football recipients as the Big Ten co - MVPs were Daryll Clark and Brandon Graham , marking the first time the award has been shared . All - Conference . The following players were selected as All - Big Ten at the conclusion of the season . All - Americans . The following players were chosen as All - Americans for the Associated Press , American Football Coaches Association , ESPN , Football Writers Association of America , CBS Sports , " Sports Illustrated " , Rivals . com , Scout . com , " College Football News " , Walter Camp Football Foundation or the " Pro Football Weekly " teams . All - Star Games . The following players were selected to play in post season All - Star Games : Kafka earned offensive MVP ; Shofield was named defensive MVP , and White led all receivers with seven catches for 93 yards . Brandon Graham earned MVP honors with five tackles , two sacks , one forced fumble . All Big Ten Players represented the nation . Statistics . The Big Ten had two national statistical leaders : Brandon Graham led the nation with 2 . 17 tackles for a loss per game ahead of national second place finisher O ' Brien Schofield and Ray Fisher led the nation in kickoff return average with 37 . 35 . Greg Jones ranked third nationally in tackles per game at 11 . 85 followed closely by Pat Angerer who finished fourth . Ryan Kerrigan finished third in quarterback sack s per game with 1 . 08 . The Big Ten saw several career and single - season Big Ten records fall . Mike Kafka broke Drew Brees 1998 record for single - season offensive plays ( 642 vs . 638 ) . Fisher ' s return average was a Big Ten single - season record , surpassing the 1965 record . Troy Stoudermire accumulated 43 kickoff returns , which tied Earl Douthitt ' s 1973 single - season total . David Gilreath ' s 108 career kickoff returns surpassed the 106 set by Brandon Williams ( 2002 – 05 ) and Derrick Mason ( 1993 – 96 ) . Other near single - season records were Tyler Sash ' s 203 interception return yards , which fell short of the 207 set in 2003 by Alan Zemaitis and Ryan Kerrigan ' s 7 forced fumbles , which was short of the 8 set by Jonal Saint - Dic in 2007 . Jim Tressel became the second head coach to secure five consecutive Big Ten championships . Attendance . In 2009 , the Big Ten established a new overall conference attendance record with 5 , 526 , 237 fans attending 77 home games . This surpassed the previous record set in 2002 when a total of 5 , 499 , 439 was reached in 78 contests . Below is a table of home game attendances . Academic honors . 26 Big Ten student - athletes were named to the Academic All - District teams presented by " ESPN The Magazine " , including 18 first - team selections : Illinois ' Jon Asamoah , Indiana ' s Brandon Bugg , Trea Burgess and Ben Chappell , Michigan ' s Zoltan Mesko , Michigan State ' s Blair White , Minnesota ' s Eric Decker and Jeff Tow - Arnett , Northwestern ' s Doug Bartels , Stefan Demos and Zeke Markshausen , Penn State ' s Jeremy Boone , Josh Hull , Andrew Pitz and Stefen Wisniewski , Purdue ' s Joe Holland and Ryan Kerrigan and Wisconsin ' s Brad Nortman . The Nittany Lions were one of only six schools nationwide with four or more first - team selections . Second - team picks included the Hawkeyes ' Julian Vandervelde , the Wolverines ' Jon Conover , the Spartans ' Adam Decker and Andrew Hawken and the Buckeyes ' Bryant Browning , Todd Denlinger , Andrew Moses and Marcus Williams . To be eligible for the award , a player must be in at least his second year of athletic eligibility , be a first - team or key performer and carry a cumulative 3 . 30 grade point average . First - team selections will be added to the national ballot and are eligible for Academic All - America honors to be announced on November 24 . Penn State ' s Hull and Pitz are looking to earn Academic All - America accolades for the second straight year . For the fifth consecutive season the Big Ten had more ( 8 ) student - athletes named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All - America first or second teams in football than any other conference whether they be a member of the Football Bowl Subdivision ( FBS ) or the Football Championship Subdivision ( FCS ) . The Big Ten also had six of the fifteen first - team selections , which led the nation . FCS ' Missouri Valley Conference was second with five first or second team selections and the FBS ' Big 12 Conference had four honorees . Only the Big 12 and Southeastern Conference had two first team selections . The Academic All - America first - team honorees from the Big Ten include Zoltan Mesko , Blair White , Zeke Markshausen , Josh Hull , Andrew Pitz and Stefen Wisniewski . Second - team honors went to Northwestern ' s Stefan Demos and Purdue ' s Ryan Kerrigan . Hull and Pitz were repeat first - team selections . The Big Ten conference also recognized 193 football players as fall term 2009 - 10 Academic All - Conference honorees , including Purdue ' s Joe Holland who has maintained a 4 . 0 Grade Point Average . The student - athletes honorees were letterwinners in at least their second academic year at their institution and who carry a cumulative grade point average of 3 . 0 or higher . 2010 NFL Draft . The 2010 saw 34 Big Ten athletes selected . This included at least one representative from each member school , making the Big Ten one of only two conferences to have each of its members repreented among the draft selections . Iowa and Penn State each had six selections . The Big Ten had three first round selections : Big Ten Silver Football co - winner Brandon Graham was selected 13th overall by Philadelphia . Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year Bryan Bulaga 23rd by Green Bay , while Big Ten Defensive Player and Lineman of the Year Jared Odrick was chosen 28th overall by Miami .