Standings
| Overall | Conference | Points Per Game | SRS | Polls | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| School | W | L | Pct | W | L | Pct | Off | Def | SRS | SOS | AP Pre | AP High | AP Rank | Notes |
| Ohio State | 11 | 1 | .917 | 7 | 1 | .875 | 37.9 | 10.9 | 22.45 | 6.95 | 9 | 2 | 2 | |
| Northwestern | 9 | 3 | .750 | 7 | 1 | .875 | 28.0 | 23.2 | 8.75 | 2.84 | 18 | 10 | 15 | |
| Penn State | 11 | 2 | .846 | 6 | 2 | .750 | 30.8 | 15.6 | 16.97 | 4.43 | 11 | 3 | 7 | |
| Iowa | 9 | 3 | .750 | 6 | 2 | .750 | 28.3 | 20.3 | 13.65 | 5.32 | 22 | 18 | 18 | |
| Michigan | 8 | 4 | .667 | 5 | 3 | .625 | 23.1 | 15.3 | 13.03 | 7.12 | 14 | 6 | 20 | |
| Michigan State | 6 | 6 | .500 | 5 | 3 | .625 | 29.8 | 25.2 | 8.66 | 5.16 | ||||
| Wisconsin | 8 | 5 | .615 | 3 | 5 | .375 | 29.0 | 18.7 | 8.99 | 2.07 | ||||
| Purdue | 3 | 8 | .273 | 2 | 6 | .250 | 17.6 | 29.5 | -0.09 | 9.00 | ||||
| Minnesota | 4 | 7 | .364 | 1 | 7 | .125 | 21.5 | 30.9 | -0.04 | 6.41 | ||||
| Indiana | 3 | 8 | .273 | 1 | 7 | .125 | 22.0 | 26.5 | -0.50 | 5.59 | ||||
| Illinois | 2 | 9 | .182 | 1 | 7 | .125 | 17.3 | 33.8 | -4.52 | 6.49 | ||||
7 Bowl Games
- Number in parentheses indicates AP rank at time of bowl game
| Date | Bowl | Pts | Pts | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997-01-01 | Citrus Bowl | Tennessee (9) | 48 | Northwestern (11) | 28 | Orlando, FL |
| 1997-01-01 | Fiesta Bowl | Penn State (7) | 38 | Texas (20) | 15 | Tempe, AZ |
| 1997-01-01 | Outback Bowl | Alabama (16) | 17 | Michigan (15) | 14 | Tampa, FL |
| 1997-01-01 | Rose Bowl | Ohio State (4) | 20 | Arizona State (2) | 17 | Pasadena, CA |
| 1996-12-31 | Sun Bowl | Stanford | 38 | Michigan State | 0 | El Paso, TX |
| 1996-12-29 | Alamo Bowl | Iowa (21) | 27 | Texas Tech | 0 | San Antonio, TX |
| 1996-12-27 | Copper Bowl | Wisconsin | 38 | Utah | 10 | Tucson, AZ |
1996 Conference Leaders