6. Maryland - Would be a contender in the West.
Maryland 29 - 31 Purdue
Maryland 31 - 24 Northwestern
Maryland 10 - 23 Wisconsin
Maryland, 1-2 against the West
Maryland, 2-3 against the East
I would say Maryland would possibly contend for a 3rd place tie in the West.
I would like to argue that the 5 BTW teams scrunched up in the standings are better than what appears from their conference records, but I cannot make that argument about any of them. Illinois was undefeated in nonconference games. Illinois' only P-5 nonconference opponent was 3-7 Virginia. Iowa lost to cellar dweller Iowa State 10-7 nonconference. Purdue lost to Syracuse 32-29 nonconference. Minnesota (4-4) / (7-4) won all 3 nonconference games over NM State, Western Illinois and Colorado,
i.e. Minnesota didn't play anybody.
An argument could be made that Iowa is improving, but the opposite argument could be made that they are playing like they have played all season. The past 4 opponents it could be argued are just simply, weak opponents.