It is still early, but the Michigan Wolverines gained an early edge in the 2012 Big Ten race with a cross-divisional win at Purdue on Saturday. Iowa was idle while Wisconsin and Northwestern lost their own cross-divisional games, giving Michigan a first place tie with Iowa at 1-0.

Michigan State also gained ground simply by avoiding what would have been a bad loss at Indiana. The Hoosiers entered the game just 3-30 in their last 33 Big Ten games, but held an early 17-0 lead before the Spartans came storming back. Had Michigan State fallen to 0-2 they would likely have been written off in the divisional race.

Both Michigan and Michigan State have conference games coming this week. Michigan State hosts Iowa, who is coming off of a week off. Michigan plays its second cross-divisional game when it hosts Illinois. The Fighting Illini are one of two teams that are 0-2 in league play.