RED OCTOBER

We haven't anything like this since Luke Fickell threw himself on the Tatgate grenade back in 2011. October 2020 is unlike the any of the ones we were served up for most of the past decade.

If you don't believe that at first blush, here's what Octobers have looked like going back to Urban Meyer's first season in Columbus. Eventual division champs have an * and the rankings were at kickoff.

• 2019: No.25 Michigan State, @ Northwestern, No.13 Wisconsin*
• 2018: Indiana, Minnesota, @ Purdue
• 2017: Maryland, @ Nebraska, No.2 Penn State
• 2016: Indiana, @ No. 8 Wisconsin, @ Penn State*, Northwestern
• 2015: @ Indiana, Maryland, Penn State, @ Rutgers
• 2014: @ Maryland, Rutgers, @ Penn State
• 2013: @ No. 16 Northwestern, Iowa, Penn State
• 2012: No.25 Nebraska, @ Indiana, Purdue, @ Penn State
• 2011: Michigan State*, @ No.24 Nebraska, @ No.16 Illinois, No.10 Wisconsin

That 2019 October does look daunting in hindsight - two ranked opponents!. Michigan State in Ohio Stadium always triggers bad memories, a classic trap-night-game-roadie to a B1G West opponent does exactly the same thing and Wisconsin has ruled over that half the conference for a long time. I remember being a little skittish and so do you!

And this is why lists and the fog of the season cannot be trusted at face value: Sparty was sliding when it arrived on uNiFoRmZ NiTe, the Nerds went a month without scoring a touchdown, and Wisconsin is the most mediocre tyrant in B1G history <--- this is a seven-year old article, and since then: OSU 219 UW 96 (6-0). Most mediocre tyrant e  v  e  r .

So let's project how violent this October is looking, compared to the past eight. This is shaping up to be one of the most relevant months of football in quite awhile - we should have a pretty good idea what color the end zones will be in Indianapolis by the time Halloween is over.

The Wolverines host the Nittany Lions on October 3. Penn State has not won in the Big House since 2009.

And it all starts with an Ohio State bye week! Sure, go ahead and get married that day -  your family will be untethered to the Buckeyes, which means college football totally disappears and none of your friends or family will be distracted by Michigan-Penn State, Wisconsin-Notre Dame at Lambeau under the lights or Iowa-Sparty bludgeoning each other.

The case for why fall weddings should be avoided entirely is well studied; you invest too much emotion and money in your big day to have everyone gathered around a phone. October's first Saturday also includes the Non-Eastern Timezone Game of the Month and what's probably a preview of the Big XII championship game, in the event that Texas is Back™ is canceled for the 11th straight season.

It's the first real Separation Saturday of the season. If you think the Buckeyes catch a break by sitting it out, just wait.

The Buckeyes face the Hawkeyes on Oct 10 in their first meeting since 55-24 back in 2017.

We waited three years for this Saturday. I have it on good authority there will be an 11W banger.

Unbalanced scheduling resulted in Buckeyes and Hawkeyes (shout out to Brent Musberger for always pronouncing both of those words exactly the same way) only facing each other three times over the past decade. Michigan-Michigan State and Wisconsin-Minnesota play each other for coveted Paul Bunyan tchotchkes, and you can see how loaded the schedule is outside of Ohio Stadium.

Ohio State returns to East Lansing on Oct 17. The last time the Buckeyes visited Spartan Stadium, Drue Chrisman won the game.

Iowa, Michigan State and Ohio State complete their three-week round robin on the 17th when the Buckeyes head back to East Lansing for the first time since Puntageddon 2K18. Mel Tucker gets his former employer one week after his first shot at Big Brother, which puts the honeymoon season on high alert.

PJ Fleck gets his first real shot at getting the Little Brown Jug back, which gives us an excuse to remember the time Brady Hoke tried to use his words and not even Michigan's twitter feed could edit them into sounding like an actual sentence.

It's Jug Week. pic.twitter.com/sYjbkV5h2l

— Michigan Football (@UMichFootball) September 24, 2014

By the way, it didn't end well. Lastly, Penn State-Iowa gives the Buckeyes a peek (in daylight, must be nice) of what's up next. And that's this:

Ohio State has served as Penn State's White Out game every time they've met in Beaver Stadium since the B1G created divisions.

Ever since Leaders and Legends was shoehorned into the Midwest lexicon by Jim Delany, Ohio State has only played in Beaver Stadium under white-out conditions. As for your daytime entertainment as you're pacing, Wisconsin actually gets on an airplane today; a blip in a schedule that keeps it at home or very close to home all season - something to keep an eye on.

Meanwhile, Northwestern travels back to where it clinched the West in 2018. Michigan tries to make it five straight over Purdue (must be nice) and there's Bedlam all ahead of the bi-annual White Out.

Ohio State hasn't sustained a closer or more challenging home game since its five-point win against Nebraska in 2018.

Remember that bye week five Saturdays ago? Barely. Happy Halloween!

Scott Frost's Year Three is upon us, and if the Huskers aren't fully operational at this point then there will be a non-zero chance that the nicest fan base in the conference gets twitchy. A favorite son returning home and falling short of expectations? No precedent for that ever happening in the Big Ten.

Trick-or-Treat football returns for the first time since 2015, when the Buckeyes were left out of the fun with a bye week. This will be Ohio State's first Halloween game since 2009, when the Buckeyes hosted New Mexico State in a 45-0 noon snoozer. This one should be different.

The Big XII's four threats to occupy a CFP spot and lose all play each other today, and by midnight we should have a very good idea of what the path to Indy looks like for the conference.