By ACR Contributor Jarrod Argobright (twitter: @jargobright) | Photo by Eric Francis/ Getty Images North America 9/16/2011

As the 2011 college football season begins its final two months, the Big Ten Championship picture is nowhere near being settled. As it currently stands, Penn State and Nebraska lead their respective divisions, the Leaders and the Legends, with the Nittany Lions being a perfect 5-0 in conference play. Of course, these two teams will meet one week from Saturday, with the winner being in the driver's seast with respect to controlling their destiny.

Penn State not only got a milestone win for Joe Pa last Saturday against Illinois, but it ensured that the Leaders' path to the Big Ten Championship must pass through Happy Valley. The Nittany Lions appear to have put the early season loss to Alabama behind them, riding a defense that is 4th in the nation in points allowed (12.4 ppg) to an 8-1 record. What might even be more impressive is that they have accomplished this despite employing two quarterback platoon that features junior Matt McGloin and Sophomore Rob Bolden.

The schedule doesn't get any easier for the Nittany Lions, as they host Nebraska in two weeks, and then finish the season with road trips to Ohio State and Wisconsin. If they win at least two of those three, not only will they be in the Big Ten title game, but they should also be in the BCS top 15.

Nebraska finally seems to be playing the caliber of football everyone expected them to when they joined the Big Ten. Big Red's domination of Michigan State, while certainly unexpected, served notice that the Cornhuskers figure to be a player in the title game. Nebraska is certainly wishing right now they could have that game against the Badgers back, as they might have had an outside shot at the BCS Championship.

Michigan tries to remind everyone that they, too, have designs on winning the Big Ten. The Wolverines have had an impressive start under first year head coach Brady Hoke. However, it remains to be seen if this year's Michigan squad is legitimately good, or just the beneficiary of favorable scheduling. Denard Robinson, while showing flashes of brilliance this season, has also been wildly inconsistent, as he has 11 interceptions to go with 11 TD passes. Michigan's final three opponents are Illinois, Nebraska, and Ohio State. Against those teams they will need to protect the ball if they are to be victorious.

Ohio State appears to have resucitated its chances to play in the championship game after winning last Saturday's contest vs Wisconsin. There are many who believe that the Buckeyes are still only the fifth or sixth best team in the conference, mainly because there offense is ultraconsersvative and their quarterback is a true freshman. Nonetheless, if OSU wins out, and Penn State loses twice more(not totally out of the realm of possibility, given the Nittany Lions schedule), the Buckeyes will meet the winner of the Legends Division in Indianapolis. Ohio State is certainly a team to watch out for, and it appears to be peaking at just the right time.

Wisconsin might be the biggest disappointment in the conference thus far. Certainly the Badgers were not only preseason favorite to win the Big Ten, but they were also mentioned among the BCS Championship hopefuls after an impressive start to the nonconference schedule.  Back to back losses in the final minutes at Michigan State and then last weekend against Ohio State have not only killed the Badgers chances at the BCS, but they need a lot of help just to get into the BCS title game. Quarterback Russell Wilson's chances at winning the heisman may be slipping away as well.

Finally, Michigan State is another team that needs help getting to the title game. The Spartans have only one conference loss, and own the tiebreaker against Michigan, but the loss to Nebraska means they need the Cornhuskers to lose at least once more. The Spartans could very well win out yet still be on the outside looking in.