NCAA Football FanHouse

Buckeye Bullseye in OT Saves Win

FanHouse Newswire — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 19:01:00 EST

COLUMBUS, Ohio(AP) -- The oldest of the Buckeyes sent Ohio State back to the Granddaddy of all bowls.

Devin Barclay, a 26-year-old former pro soccer player, kicked a 39-yard field goal in overtime to give No. 10 Ohio State a 27-24 victory Saturday over No. 15 Iowa and send the Buckeyes to the Rose Bowl for the first time in 13 years.

"None of our kids have gone to the Rose Bowl. I haven't been there in 25 years (since) I was an assistant coach in the 1985 Rose Bowl,'' coach Jim Tressel said. "There's nothing like it. It's a great feeling.''

The Buckeyes (9-2, 6-1) clinched at least a share of their fifth consecutive Big Ten title and the conference's automatic BCS bid.

"It means everything to us,'' linebacker Austin Spitler said. "Senior day, we're going to remember this for the rest of our lives. This is a special moment.''

Iowa (9-2, 5-2), which overcame a 24-10 deficit with just over 11 minutes left, lost its second in a row. Redshirt freshman quarterback James Vandenberg was solid for the Hawkeyes in his first college start. But filling in for the injured Ricky Stanzi -- who hurt his ankle in last week's upset loss to Northwestern -- Vandenberg was intercepted three times, the final time to end Iowa's only possession in overtime.

Brandon Saine rushed for 103 yards and two touchdowns and Dan Herron added another score for the Buckeyes.

Iowa started overtime with an incompletion. Then freshman Adam Robinson was thrown for a 6-yard loss by Spitler, and Doug Worthington sacked Vandenberg for a 10-yard loss. Out of field goal range on fourth-and-26, Vandenberg then lofted a long pass into the end zone that was picked off by Anderson Russell.

The Buckeyes handled the ball with extra care - just the way Tressel wanted. Three runs up the middle netted two yards. On came Barclay, the Buckeyes' front-line kicker since taking over after starter Aaron Pettrey injured a knee three games ago.

"We had so much confidence in Devin that we were going backwards to make his kick longer,'' Tressel cracked.

Still, Tressel admitted, he was on the headphones as Barclay made contact with the ball, telling the offensive coaches in the press box to have a play ready for the next possession in overtime in case Barclay missed.

Instead, his kick split the uprights, touching off a wild scene as thousands rushed the field.

"It's unbelievable. I'm speechless,'' said Barclay, a former Major League Soccer player who walked on for the Buckeyes. "The fourth quarter definitely made it interesting. I'm just glad we came out on top - and now we're going to the Rose Bowl.''

A cadre of state police surrounded the goal posts, preventing anyone from tearing them down. But that didn't prevent the frenzied crowd from mobbing the Buckeyes players, snapping pictures and joining the team in singing the alma mater.

The Buckeyes haven't been to Pasadena since the 1996 team finished No. 2 in the nation, scoring in the final minute to beat Arizona State 20-17 in the Rose Bowl.

Ohio State does not want to duplicate one aspect of that season, however - those Buckeyes were perfect all year until losing 13-9 to Michigan in the regular-season finale. Ohio State plays at its archrival next Saturday.

Iowa, a 17-point underdog, overcame several dropped passes and other mistakes to tie it at 10 on Vandenberg's 9-yard slant pass to Marvin McNutt midway through the third period.

Coach Kirk Ferentz told his team earlier this week that it needed to play a perfect game to win.

"We didn't quite do it,'' he said. "Maybe if we had, we might have won. This was a heck of a challenge.''

The Buckeyes counter-punched, putting together a 79-yard drive. Terrelle Pryor - who completed 14 of 17 passes for 93 yards and ran for 29 more yards - engineered a march that resulted in Herron taking a direct snap and sweeping right, stiff-arming Brett Greenwood and then turning the corner for the go-ahead score with 13:03 left.

Vandenberg then tossed his second interception, picked off by Ross Homan. On the first play from the Iowa 49, Saine took the ball on a quick-hitter off left tackle and outraced everyone for a 24-10 lead.

The 14-point margin was short-lived, however. Derrell Johnson-Koulianos dropped the ensuing kickoff, picked it up, shed a tackle and raced to the right sideline where he sidestepped another potential tackler before sprinting 99 yards for the fourth-longest return in Iowa history.

Barclay missed a 47-yard field goal that might have salted it away, and Vandenberg made several big plays on the next drive - after Brian Rolle's interception return for a touchdown was wiped out by an Ohio State offside penalty.

Vandenberg, who completed 20 of 33 passes for 233 yards and two scores, then threw a pass directly to two Buckeyes but it popped up in the air and tight end Tony Moeaki quickly grabbed it for a 16-yard pickup.

Vandenberg flipped a high pass into the end zone where McNutt pulled it in with two hands over defender Chimdi Chekwa to tie it at 24.

"Man, this was great,'' Ohio State offensive lineman Jim Cordle said. "I'm bruised. I'm battered. But we're victorious, man. We did it.''

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

Buckeye Bullseye in OT Saves Win originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Sat, 14 Nov 2009 19:01:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Big Ten Notebook: Buckeyes Back in Control in Title Race

Mark Hasty — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Big 10

One little loss to Northwestern can change everything. Iowa looked like the team to beat in the Big Ten title race, but now that it has fallen to the Wildcats and Ohio State has beaten Penn State, all the momentum has moved back to Columbus. Technically, both the Hawkeyes and Buckeyes control their own destiny. Whichever team wins Saturday's game is the presumptive conference champion.

Now go try to figure the odds that Iowa can win in the Horseshoe with a redshirt freshman quarterback making his first career start with no run support to speak of.

At any rate, it will be one of those teams that will go to Pasadena. Neither Penn State nor Wisconsin can do anything better than to tie with Ohio State or Iowa. The Nits and the Badgers lost to both those teams, so they'd lose the tiebreaker.

Here's a quick look at what else is going on around the conference.

Illinois has picked a strange time to peak, but then again, all the pressure is off the Illini. With back-to-back wins over Michigan and Minnesota the Illini's bowl hopes are still alive, but barely. They will have to win out to finish 6-6, and that will require beating Fresno State and Cincinnati. If Illinois should win out, then, you could argue that it would be the best 6-6 in the country and possible the best ever.

Indiana travels to Penn State this weekend right after the Nits laid an egg against Ohio State. Joe Paterno's teams usually bounce back hard after a big disappointment, but if IU loses there will be no bowl game for the Hoosiers. It's a shame. Indiana has never beaten Penn State.

Iowa quarterback Ricky Stanzi had surgery on his ankle this week and is out for the last two games of the regular season. He is expected to be available for Iowa's bowl game. James Vandenberg will start in his place. Vandenberg was Iowa's 3A football player of the year in 2007 and holds many of the state's all-division passing records. Vandenberg picked Iowa over Nebraska and Northern Illinois and has probably heard all your Dawson's Creek crackbacks before.

Michigan's retiring athletic director Bill Martin came under fire this week when reports surfaced that he had pushed one student and grabbed the jacket of another during football games at the Big House. Martin refused to show passes to enter VIP areas when the students requested them. This shows just how hard it is for Michigan to get flagged for pass interference at home. It also represents the most contact any Wolverine defender has managed since September.

Michigan State, with 53 underclassmen on the roster, needs the extra practice for a bowl game as much as it needs the bowl game itself. A win at Purdue this Saturday would likely secure at least a bid to the Little Caesar's Pizza Bowl.

Ohio State, believe it or not, has not been to the Rose Bowl in more than a decade.

Wisconsin's former defensive lineman Erasmus James faces felony battery charges for a Nov. 5 incident at a Madison bar in which he punched one of his friends. James was suspended by the NFL in September for undisclosed reasons.

Big Ten Notebook: Buckeyes Back in Control in Title Race originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In Big Ten, a Race Like No Other

Ray Holloman — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:37:00 EST

Filed under: Big 10

For a man who said goodbye to his 2009 team as reluctantly as a kid giving back a puppy, Michigan State coach Tom Izzo took the fastest possible route to this year's season kick-off.

He arrived in an Indy Car.

With the Final Four in Indianapolis, you don't exactly need your college lit professor to explain the symbolism of Izzo's Midnight Madness ride, (though the prof might help in search of the metaphor to describe what a 220-pound man wedged in a car the sized of a futon looks like). Then again, you might just consider it foreshadowing of a Big Ten race that'll be just as fierce as anything waged on the brickyard.

Please be sure to buckle up.

"I honestly see nine or 10 ... teams that could realistically win the league," Izzo said at the Big Ten media day. "Top to bottom, the league is the best it's been in a long time."

And it is, without much argument, the best conference in the nation to start the season. Though the conference has been plagued with something of an image problem in recent years, the three yards and a cloud of rebounds basketball league is riding high heading into the 2010 season.

Maybe that's because the league is finally grown up. In an era where the best college players can't buy a beer without a fake ID, the Big Ten is stacked with stars who, in a college basketball world, are half a credit away from shuffleboard and early-bird buffets.

The league only put two players into the first round of the NBA draft last year and the preseason all-conference team is comprised entirely of juniors.

"We just have an unbelievable junior class in college basketball," Purdue coach Matt Pianter said. "There's a lot of juniors that are stars. And when we have some guys that had opportunities to go in the draft that stayed, that really strengthened our league"

"I think we have the opportunity now to grow and be one of the premier leagues if not the premiere league in the country."

That would be a fitting encore.

A season ago, the Big Ten placed a record-tying seven teams into the NCAA tournament, capped by the Spartans race home to Detroit for the Final Four. Of course, the Spartans blue-collar Cinderella story ended when they were run over by something more like a semi than Izzo's Indy car, the national champion Tar Heels.

But the league is already on pace to match, or exceed, last season. The Big Ten placed a nation's best six teams in the first AP top 25 poll of the year, including two in the top seven.

Including a familiar name at the very top.

Since 1999, Michigan State has played in five Final Fours and won a national championship, more final weekend appearances than any other team during that time period. But the nation's No. 2 team is far from a sure bet for a sixth Final Four in 12 seasons this year.

Just ask Tom Izzo.

When it comes to Coach speak, Izzo has always been more of a blackjack dealer than a poker player. His cards are always on the table and he's not afraid to tell you exactly what he thinks his hand. All you have to do is find a way to beat it.

So consider it cause for concern when his first comments about this year's team are what they won't have.

"My biggest fears are two-fold," Izzo said. "No. 1, we lost more than I think people give us credit for. ... And two, [Goran] Suton was a loss because of his play ... but he was a glue guy, he was a chemistry guy."

True, the Spartans return seven of the team's top nine scorers, but lose Big Ten defensive player of the year Travis Walton, a lockdown shadow who could find a way to keep you from scoring in the layup line.. Walton was also an emotional leader of last year's team - he was voted most inspirational by his teammates.

Suton, meanwhile, led the Big Ten in rebounding. When injured last year, the Spartans lost two of five games without him, a pair of cringing defeats to ACC foes North Carolina and Maryland. Compounding matters, the Spartans also lost top backup Idong Ibok, leaving a team that prides itself on rebounding and being football-without-the-pads tough, thin.

"We have 100 minutes," Izzo said of backup Tom Herzog's career playing log. "So our experience went from 15 years (between Suton, Ibok and Marquise Gray) to 100 minutes."

But the Spartans have enough talent coming back. Point guard Kalin Lucas, who could probably dribble faster than Izzo could drive the Indy car, returns after a Big Ten player of the year season a year ago, as does Raymar Morgan, arguably the Spartans' best all-around talent. Add to that Delvin Roe, a star recruit who was hampered by offseason knee surgery last year.

Only Purdue appears to be a serious threat to take the regular season title Michigan State ran away with last year. Ten teams might be able to win a game, but only two have a realistic chance at winning the most.

The Boilermakers continued their steady trend line last season, winning the league tournament and advancing to the Sweet 16. The Baby Boilers of 2008 have grown into a group of the baddest men on the block by 2010, and, returning all five starters from a team that went 27-10 and won the Big Ten tournament a season ago, have every right to expect a place alongside Michigan State.

And follow in their footsteps.

Where the Spartans staged a homecoming last year in Detroit, the Boilers have their eyes on a Final Four by bus to Indianapolis this year.

At the heart of Coach Matt Painter's is the recruiting class of 2007, now all juniors. E'Twaun Moore, an excellent scorer and playmaker, led the team in scoring last year while Robbie Hummel, a do-it-all 6-foot-8 power forward that was hampered by a bad back last year, is one of the nation's very best players. JaJuan Johnson, meanwhile, blossomed into one of the Big Ten's most productive post players last year, averaging 13.4 points per game, not to mention the toughest post matchup in the league.

Senior guards Keaton Grant and Chris Kramer round out the group on a team that has all the hallmarks of a group growing into a Final Four team.

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Two students walk past Bud Walton Arena on the University of Arkansas campus on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2009, in Fayetteville, Ark. When Arkansas takes the court for its season opener Friday night, the short bench will tell the whole, unpleasant story. (AP Photo/Beth Hall)

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California's Theo Robertson (24) lays up a shot against Detroit during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game during the 2K Sports Classic Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009, in Berkeley, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

California coach Mike Montgomery reacts on the bench to a call during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Detroit during the 2K Sports Classic Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009, in Berkeley, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

California's Patrick Christopher lays up a shot against Detroit during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game during the 2K Sports Classic Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009, in Berkeley, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

California's Jerome Randle (3) celebrates a score, as he and Detroit's Eli Holman (32) run upcourt during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game during the 2K Sports Classic on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009, in Berkeley, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

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Detroit's Thomas Kennedy, right, guards California's Theo Robertson during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game during the 2K Sports Classic Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009, in Berkeley, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

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Detroit's Donavan Foster (5) drives past California's Jerome Randle during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game during the 2K Sports Classic Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009, in Berkeley, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

Detroit's Xavier Keeling, with ball, looks for a way around California's Markhuri Sanders-Frison, left, and Omondi Amoke during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game during the 2K Sports Classic Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009, in Berkeley, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

And, with a season of luck so bad you might wonder what truck of mirrors they ran off the road, the Boilers are set for a Final Four run.

"We got better as we got healthier," Painter said of his team last year. "We kept plugging. I thought we had a strong finish and our guys embraced. And now I think we're stronger because of it."

Behind the Spartans and Boilermakers are a series of on-the-rise programs. Michigan, under the third season with head coach Jim Beilien is righting its ship much faster than its other program headed by an ex-West Virginia coach. The Wolverines return all of their top six scorers, including junior Manny Harris, a preseason all-Big Ten selection. Michigan earned its first NCAA bid since 1998 last season and upset Clemson in the opening round. The Wolverines are ranked in the preseason poll for the first time since 1996.

In Columbus, Ohio State will begin the season without a highly touted freshman big man for the first time since the "Thad Five," but the Buckeyes returned all five starters and have arguably the best all-around player in the league, Evan Turner, a 6-foot-7 wing who will be playing a versatile point role. Turner led the Buckeyes in virtually every category last year, including points per game, rebounds, assists and steals. He unfortunately also led the Buckeyes in turnovers, managing an assist-to-turnover ratio just over one. But Monday night's 10-assist, two-turnover debut against Alcorn State might be a sign he'll be more careful with the ball as the primarily ball handler.

Minnesota returns its top nine players for Tubby Smith's steadily improving team, which is good news considering two of Smith's touted newcomers are already suspended. Sophomore Devron Bostick is also suspended.

Illinois lost the league's top assist man and one of its top defenders in Chester Frazier, but with an established frontcourt and Demetri McCamey, they likely won't sweat out Selection Sunday. And Wisconsin, which looks like a bubble team at the season's star, has managed to find its way into the NCAA tournament every year under head coach Bo Ryan.

Just how deep is the Big Ten? Even Northwestern, a team that has never qualified for the NCAA tournament is thinking Big Dance. The Wildcats won eight games in the league last year and are expected to contend for their historic first bid.

"I don't think it's that much pressure," coach Bill Carmody said. "If you have some good players, which I think we do, we look forward to it. That's why you're here. ... We're just really looking forward to it.

"It's going to be a tough year in the conference. That's the only thing. I think we have probably one of our better teams coming up. But just looking around from top to bottom that the league is very strong."

And when it ends, it will be a season no one, not just Tom Izzo, won't want to forget.

In Big Ten, a Race Like No Other originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:37:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Big Ten Title Race Tightens Up

Mark Hasty — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:45:00 EST

Filed under: Iowa, Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, Big 10

With three games left in the conference season, the Big Ten championship is seemingly up for grabs. I say "seemingly" because thus far Iowa has proved to be more resilient than Kevlar, cast iron, and Gary Busey. At this point it almost seems like the Hawkeyes could not even take the field until late in the fourth quarter and still win.

They've looked quite mortal at times, though, so it's worth looking at who still has a shot at the trip to Pasadena. There's even one team you'd think wouldn't be in it based on who they've lost to.
Iowa has the clearest path to the title, as you might expect. If the Hawkeyes win out, they win the conference. They don't even have to win out if Penn State beats Ohio State this weekend. All they would need to do is win any two of their last three games. It wouldn't matter if they lost in Columbus as long as they beat both Northwestern and Minnesota in Iowa City.

Ohio State can also claim the title if they win out, but their path is much more difficult than Iowa's. They would have to win in Happy Valley this weekend, beat Iowa next week, and close with a win at Michigan. If Iowa were to lose all their remaining games, the Buckeyes would have a loss to give.

Penn State is still alive but needs a little help. Since they lost to Iowa, they have to finish ahead of the Hawkeyes in the conference standings. That would require Iowa to lose at least two of its last three. PSU would also have to beat Ohio State. Failing that, the Nittany Lions would have hope that Iowa and Michigan beat the Buckeyes.

WIsconsin is the surprising team that is still alive, in theory. Of all the remaining contenders, the Badgers have the easiest schedule. They play at Indiana, host Michigan, then play at Northwestern and Hawaii. They can certainly win out with that schedule.

Of course, the Badgers have lost to both Iowa and Ohio State, so they're going to need a little help. Iowa must lose out, while Ohio State must beat the Hawkeyes but lose to Penn State and Michigan. Penn State would need to lose to either Indiana or Michigan State as well. That would leave Wisconsin and PSU, who will not play each other this year, with identical 6-2 conference records.

The Big Ten's second tiebreaker (after head-to-head results) is overall winning percentage. Suddenly the Badgers' game with Hawaii would loom large, because a win would give them an 11-2 record against Penn State's 10-2 record, throwing the title to the Badgers. This would mark the first time the Big Ten title was decided in December and not in the Midwest, as far as I can tell. At any rate, a single Iowa win eliminates Wisconsin.

All of the teams with three conference losses (Minnesota, Michigan State, Northwestern, and Purdue) have been eliminated for a variety of reasons. Michigan State has lost to Iowa and would lose any tie with the Hawkeyes, which is the best they could hope for. Minnesota has lost to Ohio State and Penn State, so both those teams would have to lose three times. Iowa would also have to lose out. Since Ohio State has games remaining with Iowa and Penn State it is not possible for both OSU and PSU to lose out. Minnesota is thus eliminated.

Northwestern doesn't play Ohio State but lost to Penn State, so they would need Penn State to lose out. However, if that happens, the Wildcats could do no better than tie with Ohio State. They would probably lose that tie because of the Big Ten's third tiebreaker, BCS standings.Thus the Wildcats aren't eliminated in theory but might as well be.

Purdue doesn't play Penn State or Iowa, so they would need both teams to lose out and Ohio State to drop two of their final three. However, if Iowa lost out, they would tie with Purdue, and the Hawkeyes would have a vastly better overall win percentage, eliminating the Boilermakers. It would be really funny to see a 6-6 team go to the Rose Bowl, though.

Indiana, Michigan, and Illinois have no chance because there aren't enough games left for Iowa to lose. None of the three have been eliminated from the postseason, however, so there's still something to play for.

Big Ten Title Race Tightens Up originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:45:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pickin' on the Big Ten: Iowa Isn't Concerned About Your Scorn

Mark Hasty — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin, Big 10

Every Thursday, Pickin' on the Big Ten runs down the weekend's games from inside a chicken coop, at least as far as you know.

Cue the inevitable anti-Iowa backlash. A team that barely got by Arkansas State and Northern Iowa is somehow No. 1 in the nation according to the computer polls the BCS uses. Don't like it? Line forms to the left. Kirk Ferentz even agrees with you.

Shouldn't the computers' top ranked team have at least some sort of offense? Yes, of course. But whose fault is that No. 1 ranking?

Yours, you loudmouth.

You, the whiny fan ready to overreact to every perceived slight, are the reason margin of victory no longer counts in the BCS computer polls. But that's another rant for another day.

I get it, though. You're tired of the Big Ten and its maddening ability to sneak into national championship games. You're totally convinced that a one-loss Big 12 team is better than a one-loss Big Ten team. You're beyond convinced that a four-loss SEC team is better than any undefeated Big Ten team. I'm totally convinced that once you get past Florida and Alabama the SEC is the Big 12 North with a better TV contract, but I digress. You don't want Iowa, or any Big Ten champion, to get to the title game.

Have you noticed that the Hawkeyes don't seem to care? Kirk Ferentz isn't lobbying the poll voters like Bob Stoops and Urban Meyer have done in the past. For the most part the Iowa players aren't talking about being disrespected. They just want to take care of business, even if there's a good chance they'll get iced out of the championship if they go undefeated.

This may seem hard to understand to you. Rationality left college football years ago, after all. What you have to realize is that, even though a large portion of their roster comes from out of state, the Hawkeyes have the character of the state of Iowa.

When you're from Iowa, you learn early in life that your home state is going to get ripped on by everybody. You can expect to hear the same stale cracks about corn, pigs, flatness, and winter within about 15 seconds of meeting a new person who discovers you're from Iowa. Unless you're talking to one of those indier-than-thou types, of course; they'll just bring up Slipknot and crystal meth. Eventually you realize that people are actually amazed you're wearing shoes, you use words with two or three syllables, and you haven't urinated in the houseplants.

Not that they know of, anyway.

The message all these non-Iowans want to send is something like "You're from a place we feel inherently superior to; therefore, we must be better than you as well." The message you form in your head is more like "These people will never be impressed by anything I do, so why do I care what they think?" Sometimes this manifests itself in an "I'll hurt myself before you get a chance to" attitude. We in the upper Midwest have perfected self-effacing humor. More often it comes across as a decision to define yourself on your own terms.

That's what the Hawkeyes are doing. You don't have to tell them they have trouble on offense, any more than you have to tell a Midwesterner that our winters are cold. Really? Gosh, that must be why the tomato plants keep dying. I'm glad you told me because I was planning to serve BLTs for Christmas dinner!

Right. The games.

MICHIGAN @ ILLINOIS

I told you Ron Zook wasn't going to get whacked.

Now let's see if the "we have no other choice so here's a vote of confidence" he got this week is going to have any effect on the team. With a certain loss looming at Cincinnati Nov. 27, the Illini are not technically bowl-ineligible yet but might as well be. The only thing left for them to do is sack up now that there's essentially nothing to play for, hoping to make some other team as miserable as they are.

Unfortunately, this will not be the week for that. Illinois ranks 102nd nationally in total defense. Michigan just had to face the nation's best scoring defense (Penn State) last week. It's going to look like the Wolverines hit up up down down left right left right B A Start. Michigan 52, Illinois 13.

INDIANA @ IOWA

Trap game?

Maybe.

Even though I just spent six paragraphs explaining why Iowa doesn't care about style points and public opinion, the Hawks know that the rest of the world sees this as an opportunity for them to earn enough of the former to sway the latter. They probably also know that one more close game against a team perceived as bad will knock them down in the human polls. Way down.

Now factor in that Iowa's starting running back Adam Robinson, who was only starting because the preseason starter Jewel Hampton was lost for the season in August, is now lost for the season himself. Now Brandon Wegher, whose hometown of Dakota Dunes, S.D., appears to be endlessly fascinating to play-by-play announcers, gets to be The Guy. Wegher has cooled off from his impressive start to the season; let's see what he can do without another back competing for touches.

Then there's Indiana, a team perceived as bad. They're actually not that bad, but they haven't shaken their penchant for losing games in the most humiliating fashion possible. Sandwiched around a win over Illinois were a pantsing at Virginia three weeks ago and a thoroughly improbable loss to a very average Northwestern team last week. That sort of stuff gets into your head, and that's unfortunate. The Hoosiers have a solid pass rush, which you would think would be exactly what a team facing Iowa would want to have.

The problem is that "make Ricky Stanzi beat you" could prove to be even less successful for IU than it has for Iowa's last 12 opponents. Indiana gives up more passing yards than any other team in the conference and flat out stinks at preventing their opponents from getting first downs. They're scoring the same 23.6 points per game that Iowa is. They're just giving up 12 more points than the Hawks on average.

I still think Bill Lynch deserves better than this. Iowa 26, Indiana 10.

MICHIGAN STATE @ MINNESOTA

Speaking of catastrophic, soul-shattering, season-altering injuries, Minnesota has lost wide receiver Eric Decker for the season. Which means Minnesota has basically lost its offense for the season.

The real question in this game will be Michigan State's resiliency. They almost played well enough to beat a top 10 team last week. Almost. Now, can they pull it back together, realize there's still a lot to play for, and take it to their opponents from here on out?

You won't know after this week. Minnesota is starting to take on that abandoned-car look which they so often had under Glen Mason. Michigan State 30, Minnesota 7.

PENN STATE @ NORTHWESTERN

Through the first half of the season no Big Ten team seemed more disappointing than Northwestern. (I say that because I didn't expect Illinois to be any good this year.) I mean, they lost to Syracuse. You know who else has done that this year? Akron. Oh, and Maine.

I still don't think they're a great team, though the rally to beat Indiana last week was impressive. NU is tough, but the parts just don't all seem to be there.

You know who's not having a lot of problems? Penn State. Their closest game all season, except for the Iowa loss, was an 18-point victory over Illinois. The Nits have just been blowing people up. I think NU can play this one closer than anyone else has, but they just don't have enough defense to stop Penn State. PSU 31, Northwestern 20.

NEW MEXICO STATE @ OHIO STATE

Give this to the NMSU Aggies: they're one of the most consistent teams in the NCAA. When they win, they win by three points. When they lose, they lose by at least 15.

Three guesses as to what sort of outcome is more likely in this game. Ohio State 56, New Mexico State 0.

Know Your Nonconference Tomato Can: New Mexico State University

Located a mere half-hour north of El Paso, Texas in the rapidly growing city of Las Cruces, New Mexico State University actually predates New Mexico by almost a quarter century. The former New Mexico A&M was founded in 1888; New Mexico didn't become a state until 1912.

NMSU is probably the only university in America whose founding charter specifies that it was to be located by a drainage ditch, but from those humble origins the university has grown to a comprehensive university with around 17,000 students. Agriculture and engineering are still strongly emphasized, however, and NMSU is known for being in the forefront of chili pepper research. It is one of the few places in the world where the Naga Jolokia pepper is grown; said pepper is anywhere from three to ten times hotter than a habanero.

New Mexico State can also plausibly claim to be the birthplace of card counting. Former math professor Edward O. Thorp literally wrote the book on this blackjack strategy. Thorp's Beat the Dealer was published in 1962 while he was teaching at NMSU.

NMSU alumnus Charley Johnson was a journeyman NFL quarterback in the 1960s and early 1970s. While playing in St. Louis, Johnson decided to further his education and in doing so became one of the very few NFL players to earn a PhD. He earned his doctorate in chemical engineering from the prestigious Washington University in St. Louis. Did I mention he did this while he was still playing in the NFL?

Johnson returned to Las Cruces after retiring from football. He joined the engineering faculty at NMSU, and he's still there.

PURDUE @ WISCONSIN

Wisconsin has had a week off since losing back-to-back games to Ohio State and Iowa. Purdue, of course, beat Ohio State -- though whether that happened because Purdue can beat anybody on the right day or because Ohio State can lose to anybody on the right day remains to be seen.

These two teams appear headed in opposite directions, with the Boilermakers finding a way to stop losing and the Badgers wondering if last season is about to happen all over. Most of the matchups in this game favor Wisconsin, however. The Badgers are just more talented and haven't been burned as often as Purdue has.

Wisconsin's offense has cooled off since their fast start, though much of that can be attributed to playing Ohio State and Iowa. They are still a dangerous team that can strike through the air or on the ground. They'd prefer to strike on the ground, though, and that happens to be the best place to hit Purdue. I like the coaching job Danny Hope has done in preventing his team from collapsing after a horrible start. If the Boilermakers can beat Ohio State they can probably beat anybody in this conference, though the Badgers probably won't give Purdue as much help as Ohio State did. Wisconsin 28, Purdue 24.

Next week's games:

Wisconsin @ Indiana: I actually expect this to be a very good game
Northwestern @ Iowa: Fitz always gives Iowa fits
Purdue @ Michigan: Pack your dinner, neither team plays defense
Western Michigan @ Michigan State: Dangerous game for MSU
Illinois @ Minnesota: Whatever it is, take the under
Ohio State @ Penn State: Possibly the best Big Ten game this season

Pickin' on the Big Ten: Iowa Isn't Concerned About Your Scorn originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Clearing Up the Big Ten Picture

Mark Hasty — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 07:30:00 EST

Filed under: Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin, Big 10

While most of the world is still trying to figure out how the Iowa Hawkeyes stole the cheese out of the mousetrap -- again -- the conference title race is beginning to take a little more shape. Since neither Iowa nor Ohio State lost this past weekend, there's no shakeup at the top. Both teams remain equally in control of their respective destinies.

But what about the rest of the league? Is anybody new out of the hunt this week? Who's still alive but barely breathing? And where do things go from here in this crazy conference?

Still in Control

Iowa and Ohio State know the path is simple. Win out, you win the conference. Iowa doesn't need to win out if Ohio State loses one of its remaining conference games (at Penn State, Iowa, at Michigan). A single Buckeye loss would put Iowa two games up on Ohio State. The Hawkeyes already own a tiebreaker against Penn State. If OSU loses a game, Iowa can lose one too -- and it wouldn't matter which game either team lost.

Ohio State doesn't have to win out so long as Iowa loses at least three of its last four games (Indiana, Northwestern, at Ohio State, Minnesota). That's asking a lot.

A Little Help, Please

Penn State can still make it to the Rose Bowl if it wins out (at Northwestern, Ohio State, Indiana, at Michigan State) and Iowa loses twice. If the Nits lose to Ohio State, they can still win if the Buckeyes lose to Iowa and Michigan and Iowa loses twice. Penn State is eliminated by any three Iowa victories.

A Lot of Help, Please

Michigan State must finish with a better conference record than Iowa and Wisconsin. They would need at least one Badger loss and three Iowa losses. Because the Spartans don't play Ohio State this season they would also need to finish ahead of OSU in the conference or hope for New Mexico State to upset the Buckeyes. Then, so long as Sparty beats Western Michigan, they could tie the Buckeyes and hope the BCS rankings would go in their favor. It would be far simpler just to finish with a better conference record than OSU. Michigan State is eliminated by any two Iowa victories, or if Wisconsin wins out in the conference.

A Miracle, Please

(Note: All these teams must win out to have any chance at winning the conference.)

Northwestern would have victories over Penn State and Iowa if they won out. They would need Iowa to lose one more game, as well. The Wildcats don't play Ohio State. If Northwestern and OSU finished tied in the standings, the BCS rankings would thus be their tiebreaker, unless New Mexico State beats the Buckeyes in Columbus this Saturday. The Aggies are 3-5. Good luck with that. Since OSU would likely have the better BCS ranking, Northwestern would need to finish with a better conference record. That would require two Buckeye losses. Any two Iowa victories or Ohio State winning out would eliminate Northwestern.

Purdue doesn't play Iowa or Penn State this season. It would need three Iowa losses and two Penn State losses. The Boilermakers can finish tied with Ohio State since they beat the Buckeyes, but that requires one more Buckeye loss. They also need Northwestern to lose at least once more. They are eliminated by two Iowa victories, three Penn State victories, or Northwestern winning out.

Wisconsin needs Iowa to lose three times and Ohio State to lose twice. If OSU beats Iowa, the Buckeyes have to lose to Penn State and Michigan. If Iowa beats OSU, the Hawkeyes would have to lose their three remaining home games. It is very hard to see this happening. Wisconsin would be eliminated by two Iowa victories plus two OSU conference victories.

Michigan needs Iowa, Michigan State, and Penn State to finish with four conference losses and Ohio State (whom the Wolverines would beat in the process of winning out) to finish with three conference losses. Since Ohio State has to win one game in order for Iowa to lose out, that means that OSU would also have to lose to Penn State. Penn State would have to lose to Northwestern, Indiana, and Michigan State to give Michigan a chance. That scenario would also require Michigan State to lose to Minnesota and Purdue. In other words, the Wolverines aren't eliminated yet but might as well be. A single Iowa victory would eliminate the Wolverines.

Indiana, like Northwestern, would have victories over Iowa and Penn State if they won out. They would still need Iowa to lose twice more and Penn State once. Ohio State would have to lose all their remaining conference games, Northwestern and Michigan State would both have to lose once. This gives Indiana a situation similar to Michigan's. They're not eliminated but they're hardly alive. A single OSU conference victory or two by Iowa closes the door on IU.

Minnesota needs Iowa to lose three of its four remaining conference games. It also needs Ohio State to lose all of its remaining conference games. This means the Hawks would have to beat Ohio State but lose to everybody else. The Gophers would also need Penn State to beat Ohio State but lose to everybody else. Wisconsin has already beaten Minnesota so the Badgers would also have to lose twice and finish with four conference losses. The Gophers are eliminated by either an Iowa victory or a Penn State victory, so long as that win was over anyone other than Ohio State, or a single OSU conference victory.

Dude, Did You Know There's a Fork in Your Back?

Illinois was eliminated last week.

Impacts of This Week's Games

An Iowa win over Indiana eliminates Indiana and Michigan.

An Ohio State win over New Mexico State gives OSU an outright tiebreaker over Michigan State.

A Penn State win over Northwestern eliminates Michigan.

A Michigan State win over Minnesota eliminates Michigan.

Purdue, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota are eliminated if they lose.

Clearing Up the Big Ten Picture originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Mon, 26 Oct 2009 07:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Big Ten Title Race Far From Over

Mark Hasty — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:30:00 EST

Filed under: Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin, Big 10

The Iowa Hawkeyes are the Big Ten's only undefeated team, both in conference play and overall. Right behind the No. 7 Hawkeyes stand a 5-2 team (Ohio State), a 4-3 team (Michigan State), and a 6-1 team Iowa has already beaten (Penn State).

The Hawks look to be in complete control of the conference race, with those 6-1 Nittany Lions nipping at their heels. But Iowa the only Big Ten team in control of its BCS destiny? No, no they are not. You might be surprised how little help some of the other teams need, too.

Let's take a look at who could still win the conference without any help, who needs a little help from their enemies friends, and who might as well start making other plans for New Year's.

Before we start, however, remember the Big Ten's tiebreaker policy, which goes in this order: Head-to-head result, overall winning percentage (i.e., nonconference record), and BCS standings. Will any of these be tiebreakers prove necessary? They just might.

The Contenders

Iowa and Ohio State play each other Nov. 14. Thus, if either team wins out, that team wins the conference. Ohio State's stunning loss to Purdue is nullified if they beat the Hawkeyes.

Winning out is a mighty big 'if' for both teams, however. Iowa plays at Michigan State this Saturday. Kirk Ferentz has never won in East Lansing. Ohio State travels to Happy Valley Nov. 7, and you'll see how that game fits into Penn State's plans a little later.

If the Buckeyes fall to Penn State, Iowa doesn't need to beat OSU to win the conference. It would be enough to beat Michigan State, or hope Sparty and Penn State each lose one more conference game.

If Michigan State beats Iowa, Ohio State doesn't need to beat the Hawkeyes as long as a.) someone else besides MSU does beat Iowa, b.) Michigan State loses at least one more conference game, and c.) the Buckeyes don't gack against New Mexico State. Otherwise ... well, it's easier to explain from Sparty's point of view.

Need a Little Help

Michigan State doesn't play Ohio State and thus far has a worse non-conference record than Ohio State. Nonetheless, Sparty can still win the conference if they win out, which would give them tiebreakers against Iowa and Penn State, and Ohio State loses one more conference game. If OSU loses to New Mexico State but wins out otherwise, the Spartans and Buckeyes would find themselves watching the BCS standings because those standings would decide the conference title. Ohio State is No. 19 in the current BCS standings. Michigan State doesn't appear in them. Advantage: Buckeyes.

Penn State can win the conference if they win out and Iowa loses twice. Ohio State and Michigan State would both finish no better than 6-2 in conference since they both still have to play Penn State. The Nits would be 7-1 in the conference under that scenario. If Iowa doesn't lose twice Penn State is eliminated from winning the conference.

Minnesota wins the conference if they win out, Iowa loses one other conference game, and Penn State loses once. The Gophers play the Buckeyes this week in Columbus. A Minnesota win would be OSU's second conference loss and the Gophers would thus own the tiebreaker over the Buckeyes. (I'm with you; I can't believe how little help the Gophers need.)

Need a Lot of Help

Wisconsin has lost to Ohio State and Iowa. They must finish with a better conference record than either team. That requires three Iowa losses and and two more Ohio State conference losses, plus Wisconsin running the table from this point forward. Since the Badgers beat Michigan State, they can finish tied with the Spartans and still go to the Rose Bowl. Of course, they can only finish tied with the Spartans if somebody else in the conference beats MSU.

Wisconsin doesn't play Penn State this season and the two teams have identical non-conference records. If Penn State loses once more the Badgers could also tie the Nits. Assuming Wisky and PSU are the only two-conference-loss teams in the Big Ten, the title would be decided by ... oh man. The title would be decided by the Wisconsin-Hawaii game on December 5th.

Purdue owns a tiebreaker against Ohio State but doesn't play Iowa or Penn State. The Boilermakers' 1-3 nonconference schedule requires them to finish with a better conference record than either of those schools, which would require three Iowa losses and two Penn State losses.

Michigan has lost to Michigan State and Iowa. Unless both those teams wind up with three conference losses the Wolverines can't win the Big Ten. However, if both those teams do lose three times and Michigan wins out, the Maize and Blue could still, theoretically, wind up in the Rose Bowl.

Northwestern needs two Iowa losses, two Ohio State losses (they don't play OSU this season), one Michigan State loss, one Indiana loss, and no more losses of their own.

Indiana needs to run the table and hope for three Iowa losses, two Ohio State losses, and one Michigan loss.

So okay, there's one team still unaccounted for. Illinois. Is all lost for the Illini?

All Is Lost

It is. Since Illinois doesn't play Iowa this season, they would have to finish with a better conference record than the Hawkeyes, which is only possible if Iowa loses the rest of its games. However, the Illini have already lost to Ohio State so they would need a better conference record than the Buckeyes as well. That's not possible if OSU beats Iowa. Therefore, the Illini have been mathematically eliminated from the Big Ten title race.

More's the pity. I was hoping there would be a chain of wreckage which would put them in the Rose Bowl, because that would be the death blow for the BCS. Some other year, some other conference.

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Latest College Football Photos

Students gather around a candle vigil for Connecticut football player Jasper Howard in Storrs, Conn., Monday, Oct. 19, 2009. Howard, 20, of Miami, a junior and starting cornerback, and a second person were stabbed during a fight early Sunday after someone pulled a fire alarm during a dance at the UConn Student Union, police said. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

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Latest College Football Images

Members of the University of Connecticut's football team share stories about their teammate and friend Jasper Howard around a candle vigil at the spot where he was killed outside the Student Union on campus in Storrs, Conn., Monday, Oct. 19, 2009. Twenty-year-old Howard, of Miami, a junior and starting cornerback, and a second person were stabbed during a fight early Sunday after someone pulled a fire alarm during a dance at the UConn Student Union, police said. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

ASSOCIATED PRESS

A candle vigil is displayed at the spot where Connecticut football player Jasper Howard was killed outside the Student Union on campus in Storrs, Conn., Monday, Oct. 19, 2009. Twenty-year-old Howard, of Miami, a junior and starting cornerback, and a second person were stabbed during a fight early Sunday after someone pulled a fire alarm during a dance at the UConn Student Union, police said. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

Kentucky quarterback Randall Cobb (18) finds the end zone around Auburn defensive back Daren Bates (25) during an NCAA college football game on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009, in Auburn, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

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Arizona State receiver Chris McGaha celebrates his game-winning touchdown against Washington during the second half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009 in Tempe, Ariz. Arizona State won 24-17. (AP Photo/Matt York)

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Arizona State's William Sutton (90) and James Brooks (34) celebrate their team's win over Washington during the second half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009 in Tempe, Ariz. Arizona State won 24-17. (AP Photo/Matt York)

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A documentary is being produced on the Wichita State plane crash in Colorado from almost 40 years ago. The Star met with Howard Johnson, from left, father of one of the victims, Ron Johnson; one of the survivors, David Lewis, and the roommate of Ron Johnson, Gerry Gleissner. (Allison Long/Kansas City Star/MCT)

MCT

A documentary is being produced on the Wichita State plane crash in Colorado from almost 40 years ago. The Star met with the parents of one of the victims of the crash; Howard, left, and Virginia Johnson. In the background is a picture and helmet of their son Ron Johnson. (Allison Long/Kansas City Star/MCT)

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A documentary is being produced on the Wichita State plane crash in Colorado from almost 40 years ago. Wichita State football player Ronnie Johnson, shown in family photograph, was 21 years old when he and 29 other people were killed. (Courtesy Johnson family/Kansas City Star/MCT)

MCT

Big Ten Title Race Far From Over originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pickin' on the Big Ten: Teams for Sale

Mark Hasty — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 10:30:00 EST

Filed under: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin, Big 10

Every Thursday, Pickin' on the Big Ten gives you the bottom line on the upcoming weekend's games.

Every team now has six games on the books. Well, Illinois doesn't, which is good news/bad news. Illinois fans have only had to watch five games so far; that's good news. They have seven games left to watch, which is not such good news.

This would be a perfect time for mid-term report cards, but letter grades are so one-dimensional, don't you think? There are more meaningful comparisons to be made. Make the jump and see every Big Ten team compared to ... well, just go and look.

Illinois is like the Whopper (or, if you prefer, any other reasonably complicated fast food burger). You see the ads and it looks fantastic. They talk about using the best-quality, freshest ingredients and it shows. You see a perfectly-cooked burger glistening with juice, deep red tomatoes, green lettuce that looks like it was just picked, all stacked high on a golden brown bun. You can't resist. This is going to be good.

Then you get one. You unwrap it. It doesn't look like the picture. It looks like somebody who had never seen a hamburger before made it by hurling ingredients at a bun from a good 15 or 20 feet away. You sit under a buzzing fluorescent light, gnawing away at it, hoping you forget this meal as soon as possible.

Indiana is like grapefruit juice. You want it to be good, yet no matter what you do it, it inevitably leaves a bitter aftertaste in your mouth. You run for the toothbrush of basketball season, only to discover that grapefruit juice plus toothpaste is a combination that belongs in the next Saw movie.

Iowa is IKEA furniture. Not many things are both trendy and popular, but IKEA and the Hawkeyes both are right now. IKEA because it's cheap; Iowa because a weary football nation sees the Hawkeyes as the last best hope for a Buckeye-free BCS. Thus millions are willing to overlook the common flaws of each: They're kind of funny looking, nobody is really sure how long either will hold up, and you're not sure you can believe them when they say that the STANZI coffee table goes with the FERENTZ armchair, the ANGERER TV stand, and the MOEAKI floor lamp.

Michigan is a BMW with the first-generation iDrive system. From the outside, everybody can see that you've got a Bimmer, and a fairly new one at that. It's easy to be impressed. That's good news for you, because you're sitting inside the car with absolutely no idea how to change the radio station or keep the defroster from running full blast all summer long. But you look like a player.

Michigan State is any article of clothing from the late Steve & Barry's. I loved Steve & Barry's, mostly because I am a horribly cheap individual. Buying clothes there was a bit risky, though. Some things would hold up as well as anything else you could buy. Some things fell to tatters the third time you wore them. You didn't know which you had until one day you were out walking and all of a sudden there's a little trickle of cold air in your armpit or your crotch or some other place where cold air is not supposed to be felt on a fully clothed body and OH CRAP IT'S HAPPENING AGAIN.

Minnesota is MTN DEW. New container, same product, same tendency to keep you up nights if you take in too much of it.

Northwestern is a gas station burrito. They're as tasty on offense as the burrito is in your mouth. Then they go on defense, the burrito hits your intestines, and all of a sudden you wish there was somebody around who could keep bad things from happening.

Ohio State is a Buick Century. Designed as an unhip car for unhip people, the Century couldn't outrun or outdazzle anything on the road. While at one time driving a Buick meant you were too rich for a Chevy and too humble for a Cadillac, those were different times and different Buicks. Your neighbors will tell you, "Hey, nice car." But you you know the minute they get in their Altimas and Passats they're laughing at you and your "ask me about my grandchildren" car.

Yet, no matter how much scorn and abuse gets heaped on it, it just won't die. It starts on the coldest, bleakest mornings. It may never run perfectly, but it'll run okay longer than most cars will run at all. It'll even keep running long after you yourself are sick of it. The only way to get rid of it is to drive around parking lots looking for an Anti-Buick you can park it next to, hoping that the violent explosion which follows doesn't ignite the entire universe.

Penn State is Beeman's gum. You thought it was gone, but it came back, looking like it had never left.

Purdue is the wretched combination of Adobe Flash and Windows Vista. It works well until it doesn't. Then your browser crashes, three other programs stop working, there are security alerts all over the place, and just when you really need Task Manager, CTRL-ALT-DELETE gets you ten seconds of a black screen followed by a dialog box telling you that Vista failed to create Security Options. You sit there wondering why they ever decided to do it like that.

Wisconsin is RC Cola. It tastes a little different. Some people like it. Some don't. Everybody agrees that it's not as big as Coke or Pepsi.

Right. The games.

ILLINOIS @ INDIANA

If either team wins this game, it'll be a miracle. Indiana 23, Illinois 20.

DELAWARE STATE @ MICHIGAN

Delaware State is a ~~Division I-AA~~ Football Championship Subdivision school. They are giving up, on average, almost 400 yards per game. They have scored, on average, a little over 14 points per game. Last week the DSU Hornets lost at home to Bethune-Cookman. It was Bethune-Cookman's first win of the season; they lost to ~~Division II~~ (oh, wait, it's still called Division II) Shaw in their season opener.

I thought that this, plus Michigan's explosive offense, would combine to make a game so stinky that not even the Big Ten Network would show it. I thought wrong. Oh well. Enjoy the game, Wolverines; you probably deserve something to smile about after last week. Michigan 66, Delaware State 7.

Know Your Nonconference Tomato Can: Delaware State

Located in Delaware's capital city of Dover, Delaware State University is part of America's proud tradition of historically black colleges and universities. DSU was founded in 1891 as the State College for Colored Students before becoming Delaware State College in 1947 and Delaware State University in 1993.

Despite being in the same state and same NCAA division as the University of Delaware, the two schools did not meet in football until 2007, and then only because both schools made the FCS playoffs. Earlier this season, they played their first regular season game.

DSU is a small school, enrolling only about 3,700 students.Its best known alumnus is Dr. Clyde Bishop, the US ambassador to the Marshall Islands. That sounds like a pretty good gig to me.

NORTHWESTERN @ MICHIGAN STATE

The story here is injuries; namely, how will Sparty react to losing starting running back Glenn Winston for the season with a torn ACL? Larry Caper appears ready to step in, but even he tweaked his knee in last week's Illinois game. Quarterback Kirk Cousins is expected to start this week after missing most of the Illinois game with a sore ankle.

Northwestern, meanwhile, is healthy, but their 16-6 loss to Miami (Ohio) last week was yet another unimpressive outing for the Wildcats. Things are bound to get better for NU soon, and a bowl game awaits, but they won't get any closer to it this week. Michigan State 30, Northwestern 17.

MINNESOTA @ PENN STATE

This is one of those games that looks dangerous on paper because the teams have similar records and their overall statistics aren't that far off. Where the teams differ is in overall talent and most particularly depth. Minnesota has come a long way from their 1-11 2007 season, but doesn't yet have all the parts to make a run at the conference title. There are individual Gophers who are as good as their counterparts on any Big Ten team (Eric Decker, for one, who I'm not sure is even human) but football is a team sport.

This is the first game of a brutal road trip for Tim Brewster's team, who travel to Columbus next week. Penn State will play three of its final five games on the road, but they won't face 30% of the challenges the Gophers will. The Nits are lying in wait for the Buckeyes; Minnesota's only real hope is that Penn State is thinking more about that game than this one. I wouldn't bet on that. Penn State 28, Minnesota 16.

OHIO STATE @ PURDUE

Two reasons not to be so glum, oh ye Purdubious: You probably won't lose this game in the last minute, and Illinois is coming to town next week. Ohio State 45, Purdue 20.

IOWA @ WISCONSIN

Here it is, the sole Big Ten game this week which can be described as "watchable." Wisconsin is still reeling from its "How did we lose that game?" performance in the Horseshoe last Saturday, while Iowa continues to whistle past the graveyard.

The Badgers' well-balanced, potent offense means that Iowa can't leave eight in the box, which is the usual defensive game plan for beating Wisconsin. Arkansas State and Michigan exposed some vulnerabilities in the Hawkeye pass defense; now it's up to Scott Tolzien, Nick Toon, and Garrett Graham to exploit them.

That's assuming that John Clay doesn't just take this game on his shoulder and run with it. If Clay has early success, he'll put the Iowa defense back on its heels and force Ricky Stanzi to play with urgency. The problem for WIsconsin is that you never know which John Clay you're going to get.

Wisconsin's defense gives up a lot of points, however, and that will help keep the Hawkeyes in this game. Nothing's going to be easy for Iowa this year, this game included, but somehow Kirk Ferentz will find a way to hold on. Again. Iowa 31, Wisconsin 30.

Next week's games:

Penn State @ Michigan: Key to UM's dreams of a good bowl is winning this game
Iowa @ Michigan State: Promises to be another wild shootout
Indiana @ Northwestern: Cats want revenge; IU kept them from Capital One Bowl last season
Minnesota @ Ohio State: Another week of Buckeye target practice?
Illinois @ Purdue: The Illini's last shot at victory?

Pickin' on the Big Ten: Teams for Sale originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Thu, 15 Oct 2009 10:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Michigan State Upends Michigan

Chas Rich — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 18:30:00 EST

Filed under: Michigan, Michigan State, Big 10

Michigan State has its first two-game winning streak against Michigan for the first time since 1967, but the Spartans did not make it easy on themselves. Blowing a 20-6 lead with less than five minutes left in the game and needing overtime to get the win.

Michigan State's defense finally looked like a legitimate defense for most of the game. They completely held Tate Forcier and the Michigan offense in check for most of the game. While the Michigan State offense struggled at times in the first half, they began to wear down the Wolverine defense with a balanced attack along with some big miscues by Michigan. Especially a fourth-and-inches at the Michigan 16, where a fake punt failed badly.

By early in the fourth quarter, the Spartans had built a 14-point lead. At that point, Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio let loose his inner-Tressel, focusing on just trying to run out the clock. Predictably, the Spartans went three-and-out on three of the next four possessions.

Given that many chances in the fourth quarter, Michigan capitalized. They scored two touchdowns inside the final five minutes to force overtime. Michigan's freshman quarterback, Forcier, was outstanding in the final scores. He passed for 95 yards and ran for 27 more.

Forcier, though, could not complete the tremendous comeback, instead throwing a pick in the endzone off of a deflected pass on the first drive of overtime. Michigan State scored on its possession to avoid the choke job.

While it was a tremendous comeback by Michigan, and Michigan State still got the win, it should not have been that dramatic for the Spartans. The Michigan State defense had played well most of the game, but the first four games of the season clearly showed a defense that should not have been put in the position of having to keep making stops. Dantonio went conservative on the offense way too early in the fourth quarter. The Spartans predictably ran on the first two downs of three straight possessions, all to try and run the clock down, starting with more than nine minutes left in the game.

This is not the NFL. Teams should never take their foot off the gas when the game is that close.

Michigan State Upends Michigan originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Sat, 03 Oct 2009 18:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wisconsin Holds on to Legendary Axe

Bruce Ciskie — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Big 10

In 2003, kicker Rhys Lloyd hit a last-second field goal to lift Minnesota over Wisconsin. As soon as the ball went through the uprights, Lloyd high-tailed it to the Wisconsin sideline. He was looking to get his hands on Paul Bunyan's Axe, the trophy that goes to the winner of the Wisconsin-Minnesota game each year. Lloyd was the first one there, with his teammates closely behind.

The next year, Wisconsin beat Minnesota to reclaim the trophy. The Gophers haven't touched it since.

Saturday, the two teams met for the first time at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. As it usually is when the two get together, it was a wild game. Wisconsin got three touchdowns from running back John Clay in a 31-28 win, and they had to desperately hang on at the end.

Each team made some huge plays in the game, with Minnesota answering immediately after Wisconsin scored on its opening possession. A Nate Triplett interception led to an Eric Decker touchdown pass that gave the Gophers the lead at 10-7. They led 13-10 at halftime, and were on the verge of scoring again in the third quarter after a fumble by Wisconsin quarterback Scott Tolzien.

Instead of scoring, however, the Gophers coughed up the ball deep in Wisconsin territory, as an Adam Weber screen pass attempt was tipped and intercepted. That was when Clay took over.

Even though Tolzien has been throwing well since taking over as the starter, the Badgers' bread-and-butter is still the power running game. Clay was a machine in the third quarter, as the Badgers ran for nearly 100 yards as a team.

Only when the Wisconsin coaches chose to take Clay out of the game did things get interesting. Wisconsin was driving deep in Minnesota territory, facing a third down. They decided to call a draw play for backup running back Zach Brown. He fumbled, and the ensuing runback by Gopher Marcus Sherels went 88 yards for a score. A two-point play pulled Minnesota within 24-21, instead of being behind 27-13 or even 31-13.

The Badgers rallied immediately. Tolzien went 47 yards on a bootleg to set up Clay's third touchdown. Clay finished with 184 yards rushing on 32 carries, while Tolzien threw for 159 and ran for 65 more.

Wisconsin moves to 5-0, while Minnesota drops to 3-2, and it still hasn't won the Axe since Lloyd grabbed it six years ago.

Maybe it's karma.

Wisconsin Holds on to Legendary Axe originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Sat, 03 Oct 2009 16:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pickin' On the Big Ten: Wake Me Up When Spartember Ends

Mark Hasty — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin, Big 10

Every Thursday, Pickin' On the Big Ten tries to make sense out of the upcoming weekend's games.

It was not supposed to be like this for Mark Dantonio and the Michigan State Spartans. Sure, they lost in the Capital One Bowl last season, but not by much, which is why many people tagged them as the Big Ten's third-best team going into this year. It was going to be hard to replace Brian Hoyer and Javon Ringer, but at long last things were looking up for Sparty.

Now, after a heart-shattering 1-3 start, things are still looking up, if only because "up" is the only direction left. Now it's time to pull the wreckage of this season out of the ditch to see what can be salvaged.

The news isn't all bad. There isn't an unwinnable game left on the schedule, and all the really good teams they still have to play are coming to East Lansing. The Spartans have proven they can score points, which was a huge concern in the preseason.

But ugh, that defense. Everybody's throwing on the Spartans. The numbers have got to be killing Dantonio. Try a 65.2 percent opponents' completion rate for starters. How about giving up five touchdown passes for every interception? And only 17 schools have given up more first downs on passing plays than MSU has. Fortunately, two of those schools are Western Michigan and Purdue, who are still on the schedule. A bowl game certainly isn't out of the question. Getting back to New Year's Day probably is at this point.

Is Michigan State the Big Ten's biggest disappointment of September? Probably. You could make a case for Illinois, since the Illini have been all but useless against Football Bowl Subdivision opponents. However, in order to be a disappointment, people first have to expect something of you, and I didn't expect anything from Illinois this season. Likewise, not many had Northwestern pegged as a .500 team at the end of September. I thought their defense would be a lot better than it has proven to be.

Okay, now, before we get on to the games, let me just address one little topic. A number of you have been wondering what happened to the funny team names. The guys at Black Heart Gold Pants had me as a guest on their podcast this week and asked that very question. I'll tell you what I told them. After 11 seasons of writing this column, I'm just plain out of ideas for the team names. Dropping them was nobody's decision but my own. Besides, I know they were confusing some of you.

This is where you come in.

I'll make a deal: If one of you comes up with team names for one game every week, I'll come up with names for one game as well. You can scroll down to the bottom of the page to see next week's games. Give it your best shot and send the results to me at pickbigten@gmail.com. The winner gets immortalized in the column, which is my polite way of saying that I don't have any prizes to give you.

Right. The games.

PENN STATE at ILLINOIS

For Penn State, there are two possible ways they can play in their first game after yet another season-altering loss to Iowa. They're the same two options any team has after a letdown. Option A is to recognize that the season is far from over, there are still many things to play for, and this is the first game of their undefeated last two-thirds of the season. Penn State is a team which doesn't lack leadership and talent. Ohio State can be had. They got them last year in Columbus, didn't they? With a little help from the rest of the conference, another Rose Bowl bid could be theirs. All they have to do is TCB from here on out.

Option B is to collapse in a giant cloud of fear, panic, feathers, and clucking, sort of like when a chicken truck overturns on the freeway during rush hour. This is the option Illinois appears to have chosen during the first quarter of the Missouri game.

Possessors of enough offensive firepower that they could have a seat on the UN Security Council, the Illini have scored a grand total of zero touchdowns against FBS opponents. It isn't enough to say that their passing offense, despite the presence of Juice Williams, is the worst in the Big Ten. It's the fifth-worst in the nation. Granted, they've played one few game than most teams, but who's further down the list than they are? The three service academies and Eastern Michigan.

Given these facts, what are the odds that Illinois can get anything at all done against the Big Ten's statistically-best defense? About the same as a runaway chicken's chances against six lanes of Buicks, I'd say. Penn State 28, Illinois 3

OHIO STATE at INDIANA

The last person to score on the Buckeyes was USC's Stafon Johnson, who I sincerely hope is doing well. Let us not forget that the USC game was in week two, and it's now week five.

However, I predict that the scoreless streak ends this week. Indiana's offense has really come together since their opening-night scare from Eastern Kentucky, but what is making the difference right now for the Hoosiers is the one biggest question everybody had about them in the offseason: the run defense. Of the two teams in this game, one has allowed fewer yards on the ground than the other. Ohio State is not that team.

Of course, one reason why is because IU's pass defense is a little soft. It's not bad. It just isn't great. That should help OSU improve some of their passing numbers, which are among the very worst in the Big Ten. (Wasn't Terrelle Pryor supposed to change all of that?)

The Buckeyes will learn what Michigan did last week: Indiana is no gimme. I don't think Ohio State loses this game, but you might have a hard time finding a unopened bottle of Pepto-Bismol in Columbus after this one is over. Ohio State 24, Indiana 10

ARKANSAS STATE at IOWA

Give Iowa credit: At least they're playing a good Sun Belt team.

The Red Wolves are a run-first kind of team. Tailback Reggie Arnold has scored seven touchdowns in three games and sits third among Sun Belt running backs in yards per game. Arkansas State was in a total dogfight last week with Troy, losing only because they bobbled a punt midway through the fourth quarter. That's not bad when you consider Troy outgained them by more than 200 yards. That's a testimony to the stoutness of ASU's defense, which held Nebraska to just 136 yards on the ground. It would be dangerous for Iowa to overlook the Red Wolves, particularly because the Hawkeye offense hasn't exactly been wonderful thus far.

(Seriously, Hawkeye fans, you know I'm one of you, so believe me when I say this: You do not want to go to a BCS game with this offense.)

Despite ASU's run-stopping ability, the Red Wolves have not intercepted a single pass this season. This could be a good game for Ricky Stanzi to build some confidence in the pocket, particularly since Iowa's defense is going to give him a big, big cushion to work with. As long as Iowa isn't looking ahead to next week and Michigan, they should easily win this game. Iowa 38, Arkansas State 0.

Know Your Nonconference Tomato Can: Arkansas State

Located in Jonesboro, Arkansas, atop the geological oddity known as Crowley's Ridge, Arkansas State has grown from its original role as a regional agriculture school to become a full-fledged university offering doctorates in biomedical sciences, educational leadership, environmental science, and something called "heritage studies."

With over 11,000 students, ASU is Arkansas' third-largest university and boasts a proud heritage in football. The Red Wolves (formerly the Indians) just moved up to Division I-A in 1992 but before then had already produced two players familiar to many NFL fans: New York Giants running back Maurice Carthon and linebacker Bill Bergey, who spent most of his career with the Philadelphia Eagles, went to four Pro Bowls, and was at one point the NFL's highest-paid defensive player. Other notable ASU alumni include current Arkansas governor Mike Beebe and former Miami Dolphins quarterback Cleo Lemon.

MICHIGAN at MICHIGAN STATE

Revenge Week was supposed to be last week, but go ahead. Tell Rich Rodriguez and his team. I dare you.

We've already detailed Sparty's struggles in the intro to this column. I'd like to believe that Mark Dantonio can get his team up for this game, but MSU just has too much inertia to overcome in a single week. Tate Forcier should be able to shred the Spartan secondary.

That's a good thing, because Michigan State's Two-Headed Quarterbeast ought to be able to do the same to Michigan's "is this really a Michigan defense?" defense. One of these weeks the Wolverines are not going to be able to score 30 points, and then they'll be in trouble. It won't be this week, but until the Michigan defense gets better, defeat looms in the relatively near future. So enjoy your revenge, Wolverines. Michigan 45, Michigan State 41.

WISCONSIN at MINNESOTA

Now that Minnesota has an outdoor stadium, shouldn't they be playing this game in November?

Wisconsin is a good team which could be a great team if only their defense would stop letting opponents back into games. One of these days John Clay is going to wake up and realize he's the next great Wisconsin running back, but until that day, Scott Tolzien and his cadre of overlooked receivers are more than good enough to keep the Badgers in their games. If Wisconsin can force Minnesota into using their nickel package, that should open up enough space for Clay to bring the pain.

Tim Brewster seems to have calmed down some of his playcalling aggression, so he might be able to resist the temptation to make the Badgers run the ball. If he does, he'll find plenty of cracks in the Wisconsin defense and should be able to create scoring opportunities. So, unless Tim Brewster loses his mind and sells out the run defense to stop Scott Tolzien, Bucky's inability to put an opponent on ice should finally lose a game for them. Minnesota 27, Wisconsin 24.

NORTHWESTERN at PURDUE

The first of what figures to be many Disappointment Bowls in the Big Ten this season, this game features two teams that are absolutely being let down by their defenses. That's a shame, particularly for Northwestern. They brought back one of the most experienced units in the conference, a defense that was expected to help out an offense which more or less had to start from scratch. Instead, Mike Kafka's incredible start to the season is being overshadowed by their inability to hold most teams under 24 points.

The story is much the same at Purdue, but let's not ignore the elephant in the living room. I too have no idea why Danny Hope called that time out against Notre Dame last week. Situationally, it looked like the wrong thing to do. Before you come crashing down on Hope's head, though, remember that no football game actually comes down to a single play. Games are always won and lost before the last few plays of the game, even if those last few plays wind up changing the lead. You can always find a few coulda-woulda-shouldas earlier in the game which may have changed the outcome. So cut Hope a little slack, okay? But only a little, because it sure didn't make sense to me either.

This game boils down to a question of which stinky defense can stink the least. The two offenses are essentially interchangeable, so who do you trust? I'll trust the team that didn't just lose at home by eleven points. Purdue 37, Northwestern 28.

Next week's games:

Michigan State at Illinois: A momentary reprieve for somebody
Indiana at Virginia: This could be the game that finally gets Al Groh fired
Michigan at Iowa: Front-runner for Overhyped Big Ten Game of the Year
Purdue at Minnesota: This might actually be a good game
Fake Miami at Northwestern: This, however, will not
Wisconsin at Ohio State: Buckeyes playing three trap games in a row?
Eastern Illinois atPenn State: Why? Seriously, why?

Pickin' On the Big Ten: Wake Me Up When Spartember Ends originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Wed, 30 Sep 2009 19:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Zebra Report Back to School: Indiana Jobbed in Ann Arbor?

Matt Snyder — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 21:00:00 EST

Filed under: Indiana, Michigan, Big 10

If you don't read NFL FanHouse, you don't know me (and that's OK). I'll spare you the introduction, other than to say you can click on this link to see who I am and what I do with this particular series (The Zebra Report). The reason I'm jumping into College Football FanHouse is to examine a controversial play from Saturday afternoon involving my alma mater, Indiana. As the Hoosiers got the ball back following Tate Forcier's late touchdown pass, Indiana needed a field goal to tie or a touchdown to win -- and they had just over two minutes to do so. On the first play from scrimmage, though, Ben Chappell threw an interception to Donovan Warren. Or did he?

You can watch the play in question by clicking on this link and watching closely at the 1:39 mark.

Now, the rule in question here is that which involves simultaneous possession. In the case that both an offensive player and defensive player jointly have possession of the football, the offense retains possession. The play was reviewed by the instant replay officials, and the ruling on the field -- an interception -- was upheld.

The Michigan player clearly emerged from the pile with the football, but if he ripped it away once both players were already on the ground, it should have been Indiana's ball. That is, of course, assuming that the players both had possession before they hit the ground.

After the game, the studio analysts on the Big Ten Network were all saying that dual-possession isn't reviewable; only that the booth could review if it was a catch or not. Um, determining which player(s) -- if any or both -- has possession is part of reviewing the catch. It's definitely reviewable. Of course, they all agreed it was the right call (they do work for the conference, after all).

For the sake of neutrality, I'm going to leave my opinion out of this -- considering my alma mater. We have included a poll to gauge the opinions of the readers, though, as to whether or not the correct call was made.

Let's try to remain unbiased, though, and just watch the play in question. Did the Michigan defender really have possession of the ball before the players hit the ground? Did the Indiana player have his arms wrapped around the ball before the two players hit the ground? It's a tough call to make -- saying both players have possession -- but when it happens, it seems pretty obvious.

If the call was incorrect, this isn't to say the officials cost the Hoosiers the game. Far from it, considering Indiana still had to drive down and score at least a field goal. Still, if the call was incorrect, that would mean they took away any chance the Hoosiers had.

Zebra Report Back to School: Indiana Jobbed in Ann Arbor? originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Sun, 27 Sep 2009 21:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hawkeyes Turn Lions Into Lambs

Ray Holloman — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 00:52:00 EST

Filed under: Iowa, Big 10

Exactly one snap into Saturday night's game against Penn State, Iowa's defense was already in the middle of an impromptu meeting.

Daryll Clark had just faked a handoff to running back Evan Royster and launched a 79-yard rainbow to Chaz Powell for a 6-0 lead on the Lions' first offensive play. It was a simple play action, but the Hawkeyes bit hard on the fake, swarming the line like Bill Gates had just dropped his wallet somewhere behind Penn State's center, leaving cornerback Amari Spievey all alone to become a cautionary tale.

So, with a steady rain thumping against their helmets and 109,000-strong migraine of a crowd on their backs, the defense launched a sideline intervention.

"They told me to just forget about it," Spievey said. "They got at me, but they kind of motivated me at the same time, so I guess it happens for a reason."

From that point on, the Hawkeyes played like they could've kept the raindrops out of the end zone, if they'd just put it in their defensive playbook. Over the remaining 58-plus minutes, Penn State would come within 30 yards of the goal line just once.

So, by the time Adrian Clayborn, Iowa's long-haired bulldozer of a defensive end, returned a blocked Penn State punt for an 11-10 lead early in the fourth quarter, the defense had finished what it started, another upset victory over Penn State.

"The defense played outstanding today," said last year's hero, kicker Daniel Murray. "They kept us in the game."

And then they won it with the finest 15 minutes of defensive football this season.

The Hawkeyes' fourth quarter was a study in the sort of pressure that causes a top-10 team to wilt in front of a city of its own fans. In four possessions, the Lions had a punt blocked, fumbled the ball, and Clark, who threw just six interceptions last season, tossed two picks.

The white-out turned into a washout; the Lions turned into lambs. Iowa 21, Penn State 10.

"That was really something to see," Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said of his defense's final quarter. "Our guys really knuckled down."

And hopefully everyone was paying attention. It's well past time to give Iowa its due.

The Hawkeyes probably aren't national title contenders -- you need look no further than quarterback Ricky Stanzi's confused 11-of-26, two interception line -- not in the era of the big-play offense, at least, but they're every bit a threat in the Big Ten. And in a season where wins over Memphis and Southeast Louisiana, were enough to confirm Ole Miss's bona fides as the nation's No. 4 team, the Hawkeyes certainly deserve a spot among the nation's 20 best.

Granted, they aren't spectacular. There's not much about the team that would you make worry about missing something while you went to get a beer. The Hawkeyes needed to force four turnovers against Penn State and even then the offense barely had enough mustard to bring home a win.

But on a day when the promise of the spectacular turned the No. 9 team into a 24-point loser and the No. 6 team into a 39-point flop, Iowa affirmed the value of the steady over the stunning.

Still, the Hawekeyes play in the Big Ten, a league whose reputation is about as hip as Joe Paterno's cabana wear, so the benefit of the doubt is squarely against Ferentz's team.

After the Hawkeyes needed two blocked field goals to beat Northern Iowa - a team that has since beaten its last three opponents 131-14 -- in Week 1, Iowa dropped out of the rankings. Despite a 27-17 win over Arizona last week, they've yet to come close to returning.

Go ahead, name one other Big Six team that's ever won its first three games, including two wins over BCS teams, and still fell out of the rankings. We'll wait.

More perplexing, in the what-have-you-done-for-me-lately world of college football, Iowa has done everything. Only Florida has a longer winning streak that the Hawkeyes' eight in a row. The last time Iowa lost on the first day of November, 2008, TARP was still simply the thing you rolled out during a rain delay, and Sarah Palin had one eye on the vice presidency and another on Russia. The Hawkeyes even won a bowl game, and beat an SEC team at that - something Ohio State still hasn't done -- routing South Carolina in the Outback Bowl.

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STATE COLLEGE, PA - SEPTEMBER 26: Rafael Eubanks #52 of the Iowa Hawkeyes celebrates a 21-10 victory over the Penn State Nittnay Lions on September 26, 2009 at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Rafael Eubanks

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STATE COLLEGE, PA - SEPTEMBER 26: Adam Robinson #32 of the Iowa Hawkeyes runs for a fourth quarter touchdown trough the tackle of Josh Hull #43 of the Penn State Nittnay Lions on September 26, 2009 at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania. Iowa won the game 21-10. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Adam Robinson;Josh Hull

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STATE COLLEGE, PA - SEPTEMBER 26: Ricky Stanzi #12 of the Iowa Hawkeyes along with Adam Robinson #32 and Brett Morse #36 celebrate a 21-10 victory over the Penn State Nittnay Lions with Iowa fans on September 26, 2009 at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Ricky Stanzi;Adam Robinson;Brett Morse

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STATE COLLEGE, PA - SEPTEMBER 26: Adrian Clayborn #94 of the Iowa Hawkeyes celebrates a 21-10 victory over the Penn State Nittnay Lions on September 26, 2009 at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Adrian Clayborn

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STATE COLLEGE, PA - SEPTEMBER 26: Ricky Stanzi #12 of the Iowa Hawkeyes celebrates a 21-10 victory over the Penn State Nittnay Lions with Travis Meade #61 on September 26, 2009 at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Ricky Stanzi;Travis Meade

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HOUSTON - SEPTEMBER 26: Quarterback Taylor Potts #15 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders drops back in the pocket against the Houston Cougars at Robertson Stadium on September 26, 2009 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Thomas B. Shea/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Taylor Potts

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HOUSTON - SEPTEMBER 26: Running back Bryce Beall #25 of the Houston Cougars runs through the tackle of linebacker Marlon Williams #39 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders at Robertson Stadium on September 26, 2009 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Thomas B. Shea/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Bryce Beall;Marlon Williams

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HOUSTON - SEPTEMBER 26: Running back Baron Batch #25 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders rushes for a touchdown against the Houston Cougars at Robertson Stadium on September 26, 2009 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Thomas B. Shea/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Baron Batch

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HOUSTON - SEPTEMBER 26: Head coach Kevin Sumlin of the Houston Cougars runs out to the field through smoke while the Houston Cougars are introduced before playing against the Texas Tech Red Raiders at Robertson Stadium on September 26, 2009 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Thomas B. Shea/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Kevin Sumlin

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This season, they've compiled more wins over BCS teams than anyone in last week's top 10. Yet they were 30th in the AP poll, immediately behind Pitt, who played its first BCS opponent Saturday. And lost.

Now, the Hawkeyes, have one of the season's best victories, a defensive tap-out over a top-10 team on the road in front of a crowd 40,000 larger than all of Iowa City.

But will they finally earn notice as something other than the team that nearly lost to Northern Iowa?

Perhaps an impromptu meeting is in order, one with the same message as the Hawkeyes' early-game huddle: When it comes to Iowa football, first impressions aren't always accurate.

Hawkeyes Turn Lions Into Lambs originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Sun, 27 Sep 2009 00:52:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Is Era of Big Ten MAC-rifice at an End?

Mark Hasty — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 02:45:00 EST

Filed under: Bowling Green, Illinois, Michigan, Michigan State, Northern Illinois, Northwestern, Toledo, Western Michigan, Big 10, MAC

Last Saturday, Northern Illinois went into West Lafayette, Ind., and beat Purdue convincingly. (Don't let the 28-21 final score fool you: NIU dominated that game from the second quarter on.) It was the Huskies' first victory over a Big Ten squad in 21 years and an important milestone for a program which was once among college football's very worst. Second-year head coach Jerry Kill has now taken his team to a bowl and knocked off one of the big boys. On the road, no less.

You'd hardly know it, however. Big wins by underdogs usually lead to an avalanche of media coverage, but NIU's historic victory sank without a trace. Why?

Because it's not news anymore when a MAC team beats a Big Ten squad.

For decades, the "MACrifice" has been one of Big Ten football's most endearing rituals. Some Saturday in September, a school with a direction or a city in its name would come to one of the conference's football temples and walk out bloodied after a 66-0 beatdown. The win would give the coaches a chance to work all the way through the depth chart and served as a final tuneup before the conference season began.

But why the MAC? Well, because they were there. The MAC's geographic footprint fits almost perfectly into the Big Ten's, and the MAC schools needed the money. Hence the uneasy big brother-little brother relationship between the two conferences.

Funny thing about little brothers. They grow up. Sometimes they grow bigger than their big brothers. Even if they don't, though, they always know just the right buttons to press to get the big brother's hackles up.

The MAC will never be a bigger football conference than the Big Ten, but the two conferences aren't as far apart as you might think. The largest MAC schools, like Kent State, Buffalo and Central Michigan, have larger enrollments than the Big Ten's smallest schools, Northwestern and Iowa. The states of Ohio and Pennsylvania are rich with prep football talent, and they can't all become Buckeyes, Nittany Lions, Bearcats or Panthers. Dreaming of the NFL? There are eight former Northern Illinois Huskies and eight former Kent State Golden Flashes on NFL rosters. Indiana and Northwestern each have only nine former players currently in the NFL.

Where the MAC schools can't compete is in terms of facilities and budgets. The Big Ten schools simply have more cash all the way around, even to fund academics. In terms of endowments, the MAC's wealthiest school (Buffalo) is more than a quarter billion dollars behind the Big Ten's least wealthy school (Iowa).

This just makes it all the more surprising to find out, as I did, that every Big Ten school has lost to a MAC school at least once. Granted, if you play enough games against any conference, no matter how weak, they're going to rack up a couple upsets along the way. The MAC's all-time record against the Big Ten, as of the end of last season, stood at a dismal 47-300-8. (That's a .143 winning percentage.) The tide has turned, though, and in case you forgot, here are the MAC's five biggest victories over the Big Ten in the past decade:

1. 2008: Toledo 13, Michigan 10. This game is notable for several reasons. First, Michigan was the only remaining Big Ten school which had never lost a game to the MAC. (Giant technicality: Ohio State's only MAC loss was to Akron in 1894. That predates not only the MAC but also the Big Ten.) Second, it showed how far Michigan had slipped. Third, even though the Rockets won in the Big House, it still wasn't enough to save coach Tom Amstutz's job. Imagine that. You beat Michigan in Ann Arbor and still get run off. That proved it was no longer any big deal for a MAC school to beat a Big Ten school.

2. 2007: Western Michigan 28, Iowa 19. The Hawkeyes came into this game 6-5, needing a win to lock up bowl eligibility for the seventh straight season. Western Michigan was having a flat-out bad year, coming into Iowa City with a 3-7 record. Hawkeye fans came to the game with the travel agency's phone number in their pockets, ready to book a trip to whatever bowl game their team would be going to after dispatching this MAC tomato can.

In the twinkling of an eye, the Broncos were up 19-0 as they scored on four of their first five possessions. The Iowa offense, meanwhile, moved slower than a Steely Dan album track. At halftime, the Hawkeyes had only six first downs and six points. The Hawkeyes wound up staying home for the holidays.

3. 2003: Bowling Green 28, Northwestern 24. Only twice in its history has the Little Caesar's Pizza Bowl (formerly the Motor City Bowl) produced its intended MAC-versus-Big Ten matchup. This was the first time, as a Bowling Green program in its first season without Urban Meyer prevailed over a Northwestern team making its second bowl appearance under Randy Walker. This was a true nail-biter with the lead and the momentum going back and forth until Bowling Green took it for good with just four minutes to play.

4. 2008: Western Michigan 23, Illinois 17. This game, played at Ford Field in Detroit, was a must-win for the Illini. Ron Zook's team was 5-4 coming into this one. A loss would mean having to beat either Ohio State or Northwestern just to become bowl eligible. Illinois certainly didn't play like they needed to win, though, with Juice Williams throwing two interceptions and the team going an almost-unbeliveable 1-13 on third down conversions. The Illini were down 20-7 at the half, lost the game, lost their next two games and wound up not going to a bowl just one season after going to the Rose Bowl.

5, 2009: Central Michigan 29, Michigan State 27. Sure, it's too early to tell if Michigan State is just really bad this season, but this was the MAC's first victory over a team expected to contend for the Big Ten title. The hype was huge surrounding the Spartans coming into this season. This game proved that Michigan State had some serious issues and Mark Dantonio had not yet removed all traces of Sparty-ness from his team's system. Coupled with a loss to Notre Dame the following week, it now looks like MSU will have to fight just to make it to a bowl game this season.

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COLUMBIA, SC - SEPTEMBER 24: Quarterback Stephen Garcia #5 of the South Carolina Gamecocks celebrates after throwing a touchdown pass in the third quarter of their game against the Mississippi Rebels at Williams-Brice Stadium on September 24, 2009 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Stephen Garcia

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COLUMBIA, SC - SEPTEMBER 24: Kicker Spencer Lanning #34 of the South Carolina Gamecocks tackles Marshay Green #8 of the Mississippi Rebels saving a touchdown during their game at Williams-Brice Stadium on September 24, 2009 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Marshay Green;Spencer Lanning

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COLUMBIA, SC - SEPTEMBER 24: Running back Brandon Bolden #34 of the Mississippi Rebels rushes against the South Carolina Gamecocks in the second quarter of their game at Williams-Brice Stadium on September 24, 2009 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Brandon Bolden

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COLUMBIA, SC - SEPTEMBER 24: Defensive end Cliff Matthews #83 of the South Carolina Gamecocks sacks quarterback Jevan Snead #4 of the Mississippi Rebels during their game at Williams-Brice Stadium on September 24, 2009 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Jevan Snead;Cliff Matthews

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Mississippi running back Cordera Eason (25) meets South Carolina South Carolina free safety Chris Culliver during the first quarter at Williams Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina, Thursday, September 24, 2009. (Erik Campos/The State/MCT)

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Mississippi running back Cordera Eason(25) is upended by South Carolina strong safety Darian Stewart (24) in the first quarter at Williams Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina, Thursday, September 24, 2009. (Erik Campos/The State/MCT)

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South Carolina linebacker Eric Norwood (40) sacks Mississippi quarterback Jevan Snead (4) during the first quarter at Williams Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina, Thursday, September 24, 2009. (Erik Campos/The State/MCT)

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South Carolina's Akeem Auguste (3) defends as Mississippi's Shay Hodges can't catch a pass in the end zone during the first half of an NCAA college football game Thursday, Sept. 24, 2009, at Williams Brice Stadium in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Mary Ann Chastain)

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South Carolina quarterback Stephen Garcia (5) runs for a first down as Mississippi's Jerrell Powe (57) closes in during the first half of an NCAA college football game Thursday, Sept. 24, 2009, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Mary Ann Chastain)

South Carolina's Tori Gurley (81) makes a catch for a first down as Mississippi's Marshay Green (8) tries to stop him during the first half of an NCAA college football game Thursday, Sept. 24, 2009, at Williams Brice Stadium in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Mary Ann Chastain)

Is Era of Big Ten MAC-rifice at an End? originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Fri, 25 Sep 2009 02:45:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jahvid Best Leads Cal to Key Road Win

Bruce Ciskie — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 15:35:00 EST

Filed under: California, Minnesota, Big 10, Pac 10

There aren't many superlatives that accurately describe the kind of day California running back Jahvid Best had Saturday. If he wasn't already considered one of the top running backs in the country, he must be now.

Cal needed this game against Minnesota. The Oct. 3 showdown with USC wouldn't mean as much if Cal already had a loss. The Gophers were looking to make a serious statement, playing for just the second time in sparkling new TCF Bank Stadium. Thanks to Best, the Gophers were left wondering what might have been.

The Heisman Trophy candidate had a major breakout game Saturday. Best ran for 131 yards and scored five touchdowns as the eighth-ranked Golden Bears were able to beat Minnesota, 35-21.

Last year, Cal started a game at Maryland sluggishly, and their late rally fell short. This year, there was no such slow start, except to the second half.

Best made sure that the Golden Bears would get out to a lead, as he ripped off two touchdown runs, including a 68-yarder, in the first eight minutes of the game. Cal took leads of 14-0 and 21-7, but the win didn't come without a few bumps along the way.

The Gophers rallied from their disastrous start, thanks largely to the hands and left arm of wide receiver Eric Decker. It was Decker's outstanding 26-yard score that got the Gophers on the board in the first quarter, then his seven-yard touchdown pass to backup quarterback MarQueis Gray on a trick play tied the score for Minnesota. Decker caught eight passes for 119 yards and two scores, along with his touchdown pass. With his performance Saturday, Decker is now Minnesota's all-time leading pass-catcher.

However, starting quarterback Adam Weber had trouble with his accuracy, and the Gophers struggled mightily to run the football against the Cal defense. Weber threw three interceptions, including a killer in the fourth quarter as the Gophers were trying to rally from a seven-point deficit. On the ensuing drive, Best scored his fifth touchdown of the game to ice it.

The Gophers were held to 37 yards rushing, just a 1.8-yard average.

Cal quarterback Kevin Riley threw for 252 yards and avoided any turnovers. The Golden Bears move to 3-0, while Minnesota falls to 2-1.

This isn't a good thing for the Big Ten, but Minnesota can take solace in the fact that they were competitive against a team ranked in the top ten. For a Gopher team still in the building stages at a few positions, it's something to build on.

Jahvid Best Leads Cal to Key Road Win originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Sat, 19 Sep 2009 15:35:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pickin' On the Big Ten: Jim Tressel Is Not On the Hot Seat

Mark Hasty — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 21:00:00 EST

Filed under: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin, Big 10

Every Thursday, Pickin' On the Big Ten previews the weekend's action, or lack thereof.

There are weeks when many of us would trade lives with Jim Tressel. This is not one of those weeks.

Not only did his Buckeyes fail to finish USC when they had the Trojans on the ropes, Tressel also saw "Tresselball" ripped apart by Chris Brown of Smart Football, faced a fan base who want him fired three days ago, had to lash back at some of those same fans, discovered that one of USC's touchdowns may not have happened, and now he has to face a Toledo team that just mashed Colorado into goo.

Yes, there are a lot of reasons why you wouldn't want to be Jim Tressel this week, but "because he's on the hot seat" isn't one of them.

Here is what you have to do to stay off the hot seat at OSU: beat Michigan, and win the Big Ten a lot. Yes, these big-game losses sting, but all is forgotten in the October haze of thrashing all the Big Ten's darkhorse contenders.

Conversely, what do you have to do to get fired in Columbus? You must either (A) lose three or more games eight seasons in a row like Earle Bruce did, (B) lose to Michigan 10 times in 13 tries like John Cooper did, or (C) punch out a Clemson linebacker like Woody Hayes did.

It's hard to imagine Jim Tressel punching anybody, so let's forget about that. At Tressel's current rate of losing to Michigan once every eight years, he'll need until 2079 just to lose to them ten times. He'll have to go the Earle Bruce route before he gets canned. Even then it'll take until 2016 at the earliest.

Maybe Ohio State fans are cursing themselves, and their team, with low expectations. Maybe they're just realistic about what they can expect. Who knows? Bucknuts will be happy to tell you that they're the most dominant team in the Big Ten, even if the rest of the college football world thinks that's like saying you're the best-looking person at the truck stop. Pride is pride, and as long as there's something to brag about, everything is fine in Columbus.

Now, on to the games.

INDIANA @ AKRON

The Hoosiers finally got their ground game going against Western Michigan last week, with Demetrius McCray running for 134 yards and a touchdown. Now they're off to Akron as the first big-name opponent in the Zips' new InfoCision Stadium. Akron was pretty much useless against Penn State in the season opener but responded by blowing up Morgan State last weekend. Indiana is a little bit closer to Morgan State's level than it is to Penn State's level, but the Hoosiers should still be good enough to pull off the road win. Indiana 23, Akron 17.

ARIZONA @ IOWA

If you're only going to watch one Big Ten game this weekend, this should be it. On the face of things it looks like a total yawner: two defense-oriented teams, one with an offensive identity (Arizona), one without (Iowa). Sounds like a formula for a 7-6 punting festival, and that's how this could turn out.

There's tremendous backstory involving Arizona coach Mike Stoops, a former Hawkeye defensive back who had to coach for his job last season and succeeded. He and his little brother Mark, who is Arizona's defensive coordinator, now come back to Iowa City to try to get a signature road win for their ascending program.

Dee Stoops, mother of the Stoops brothers, is making the trip to Iowa City. Back in the 1980s, the Stoops family used to park their car at Kirk Ferentz's house on game days. I'm guessing that probably won't happen now; from what I gather, it's quite a walk from Kirk's new digs to Kinnick Stadium.

The Hawkeyes don't lose many games at Kinnick these days. Arizona is a solid team that just needs a little more offense, but you can ask Central Michigan about the Arizona defense. The Chippewas didn't get a touchdown on their trip to Tucson; East Lansing proved a bit friendlier.

Arizona has struggled to establish a passing game. Iowa is not the team you want to try to establish a passing game against. What Amari Spievey doesn't shut down, Tyler Sash and Brett Greenwood will intercept. Zona should stop Iowa's fragile rushing attack, but Ricky Stanzi is far more likely to get a hot hand than Arizona's Matt Scott. Welcome back, Mike; sorry things couldn't be more accomodating. Iowa 17, Arizona 10.

EASTERN MICHIGAN @ MICHIGAN

The Wolverines' stay in the top 25 could be short-lived if they can't beat EMU more convincingly than Northwestern did last week. NU needed a last-second field goal to beat Ron English's crew, who seem intent on letting everybody know they're tired of getting kicked around.

The Eagles haven't faced anything like what they're going to see from Rich Rodriguez's offense. Army is an option team, and they beat the Eagles. Northwestern is still rebuilding its offense, and they beat the Eagles. Michigan is getting pretty good at the spread option and, well, they're going to beat the Eagles too. Michigan 45, Eastern Michigan 7.

MICHIGAN STATE @ NOTRE DAME

I thought Mark Dantonio had made the Spartan's trademark Nonconference Brain Fart Game a thing of the past, but I guess not. Cultural change is a gradual process, after all.

The good news for Michigan State is that the old Bobby Williams/John L. Smith Spartans almost always followed up their annual Nonconference Brain Fart Game with a game where they played at near-apocalyptic levels of intensity. They will need that in South Bend against a Notre Dame crew eager to prove that they might belong in the top 25 after all.

This will be the best defense Michigan State has faced this season, though truthfully, Notre Dame's offense is probably on a par with Central Michigan's. That's not to say the ND offense is weak; CMU just has a pretty good offense. I've always had confidence in Mark Dantonio's ability to coach up a defense, but I'm a little less sure after MSU couldn't get big stops when they really needed them.

Nobody really wants to admit that Jimmy Clausen is getting better week by week, but he is. His experience will be the difference in this game. Notre Dame 28, Michigan State 24.

CALIFORNIA @ MINNESOTA

One week after it opened, TCF Bank Stadium gets its first big game. California is coming to town, bringing its scary good running back Jahvid Best. This is not what a team that beat Syracuse by a field goal really wants to see. Factor in that Cal has dropped half a hundred on both of its first two opponents (Maryland and Eastern Washington) and it's pretty hard to imagine Minnesota even coming close in this game.

But ... do you believe in TCF magic? Do you think the football gods will smile on the Gophers for going back outside, where football is meant to be played? Do you think Nate Triplett can play out of his mind once again and frustrate the usually reliable Cal offense? Do you think that a team which held Air Force under to 261 yards of rushing can do the same to Jahvid Best? Do you think that maybe, just maybe, the need to defend their new stadium will motivate the Gophers to shock the world and beat a top ten team?

Yeah, I don't think so either. I do think they'll hold the Bears under 50, though. California 38, Minnesota 13.

NORTHWESTERN @ SYRACUSE

So far Syracuse has played more Big Ten games than any Big Ten team has. This will be their third, and it's actually hard to predict what's going to happen here. It wouldn't have been so hard if Northwestern had been able to take care of business against Eastern Michigan last week. The Wildcats looked like anything but a great team last week, however.

Not only that but -- get this -- Syracuse actually scored a touchdown on Penn State last week. Sure, it was late and against the scrubs, but the fact that it happened at all represents considerable progress from last season.

It's still not enough, though. Northwestern should ride its running game straight into, and out of, the Carrier Dome. Northwestern 34, Syracuse 10.

OHIO STATE "@" TOLEDO (game played at Cleveland)

You've already had enough talk about Tresselball this week, and so have I. So let's talk about Toledo and their chances of running with the Buckeyes. Through two games, the Rockets are averaging more than 550 yards of offense and 34.5 points per game. Toledo quarterback Aaron Opelt has already thrown for almost 750 yards with a TD/INT ratio of 7/2.

This performance has come against Purdue, who has some serious defensive issues, and Colorado, whose defense is a figment of Dan Hawkins' imagination. More to the point, Toledo has given up almost 500 yards a game as well. Purdue's offense is clicking and Colorado's isn't quite as terrible as you might think, while Ohio State has looked like a team with some work to do.

Here's a good chance for them to do that work. This won't be a big enough blowout to placate all the Ohio State fans, but it should put an end to Aaron Opelt's Heisman campaign. Ohio State 35, Toledo 17.

TEMPLE @ PENN STATE

If you're wondering when this ridiculously soft nonconference schedule is going to rear up and bite the Nittany Lions, next week would be a good place to start. Give Joe Paterno credit, though; he's holding down the scores so his offense doesn't get overconfident, while making his defense work as hard as it will have to down the stretch. That's what have to you do when your AD signs a contract with Dolly Madison to provide your nonconference opponents. Penn State 34, Temple 0.

NORTHERN ILLINOIS @ PURDUE

The Boilermakers were two points and several dozen mental errors away from beating Oregon on the road last week. The Huskies played Wisconsin tough and blew out Western Illinois last Saturday. To win here they'll have to find an answer to the question "How do we slow down Ralph Bolden?"

I'm not sure anybody has an answer to that question yet. Purdue 45, Northern Illinois 21.

WOFFORD @ WISCONSIN

Wisconsin is 2-0, but it's a soft 2-0. The Badgers have been unimpressive in both of their victories, letting Northern Illinois back into the game in the fourth quarter and needing double overtime to beat Fresno State.

If there's anything hopeful for the Badgers, it's that the passing game has been there when they needed it, unlike the last couple seasons, and that John Clay responded to his demotion the way you would hope he would have: by playing like a man with something to prove. Clay was brilliant last week against Fresno State. He busted a 72-yard touchdown run en route to 143 yards of total rushing. The defense, however ... yikes. It's going to be a long season if the Badgers don't find a way to stiffen up their D.

Right now Bret Bielema needs a solid, convincing win to get the fans believing that this year will be better than last year was. A visit from Wofford would seem to be just what they need, but Badger fans still haven't forgotten last season's near-loss to Cal Poly. If the Wofford game is like that, they'll be calling for Bielema's head all the way from Oshmilwaunamoc to Lake Winneboognish.

Wofford has absolutely no passing game, so the Badgers should prevail. Wisconsin 34, Wofford 3.

Know Your Nonconference Tomato Can: Wofford

Of all the colleges playing Division I football, one of them has to be the smallest, and here it is. Wofford College enrolls just 1,450 students, or about as many as the typical freshman biology lecture at a Big Ten school.

Located in Spartanburg, South Carolina, Wofford College was founded in 1854 with money from the estate of Rev. Benjamin Wofford, a Methodist minister. The entire 170 acre campus is on the National Register of Historic Places. Wofford is highly ranked by US News and World Report and The Princeton Review. It shows in a student body with high grades and SAT scores. 58% of Wofford students graduated in the top 10% of their high school classes.

For such a small school, Wofford has made a couple notable contributions to the world of sports. Longtime Air Force Academy football coach Fisher DeBerry (pictured) is an alumnus, as is Jerry Richardson, owner of the NFL's Carolina Panthers. Not bad for a school that was in the NAIA as recently as 1988.

Next week's games:

Indiana @ Michigan: Sure hope the Hoosiers enjoyed being undefeated
Minnesota @ Northwestern: Return of three yards and a cloud of dust
Illinois @ Ohio State: Has Zook got one more upset in him?
Iowa @ Penn State: Somebody's dreams get crushed in this one
Notre Dame @ Purdue: Boilers' first experience against a good defense
Michigan State @ Wisconsin: Only one of these teams is for real

Pickin' On the Big Ten: Jim Tressel Is Not On the Hot Seat originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Thu, 17 Sep 2009 21:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Badgers Overcome Flu, Fresno State

Bruce Ciskie — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 12:15:00 EST

Filed under: Fresno State, Wisconsin, Big 10, WAC

Bret Bielema will tell you that Fresno State is tough enough. No additional challenges are necessary when the Bulldogs pop up on the schedule, because they'll give you all that you can handle.

The Wisconsin coach couldn't just steer his team past Fresno on Saturday at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison. He also had to deal with virtually-unprecedented circumstances during the week. It showed at times on the field, as Wisconsin twice fell behind by 14 points, but they were able to rally for a 34-31, double-overtime win.

Bielema wasn't shy after the win, talking boisterously about how much his team was able to overcome to pick up the win. He told Learfield Sports that 45 players missed practice during the week due to flu-like symptoms, as the virus rapidly flew through his team. He also relayed that sophomore defensive lineman J.J. Watt fell ill on the team bus ride to the stadium.

The fourth-year coach lauded the work of quarterback Scott Tolzien, who fought off the virus and threw for 225 yards while avoiding any turnovers.

It wasn't an easy day at all. Fresno State jumped to a 14-0 lead with two Ryan Colborn touchdown passes. One of those, a 70-yard bomb to Devon Wylie, came one play after a missed Wisconsin field goal. The Bulldogs responded to a Wisconsin touchdown with a long drive of their own, taking a 21-7 lead. Wisconsin was far from done, however. They cut the lead to 21-17 by halftime, thanks in part to a 57-yard field goal by Philip Welch.

It stayed 21-17 until the last few minutes of regulation. After Fresno State missed a crucial field goal, the Badgers took the lead. Running back John Clay rumbled virtually untouched through the Fresno defense for a 72-yard run. It gave Wisconsin their first lead of the game.

Fresno State forced overtime with a field goal in the final seconds, but Wisconsin won it in the second overtime. Chris Maragos intercepted Colborn on the first play of the second overtime, and Welch hit a short field goal for the win.

"I can't say enough about their tremendous effort, from individuals, coaches, the fans," Bielema said. He went on to talk about the willingness of his players to get the work in during the week, despite the run of illness that swept through.

"You know we don't usually practice on Fridays," Bielema said, "and I told the guys Thursday night because of the work we didn't get Tuesday we need to go out and practice and they didn't bat an eye. I told them today, they won today because they out-worked people. We weren't clean, there's enough things out there that we got to get corrected and I don't want to see repeated mistakes. And believe me, we did some things out there, we beat ourselves before the snap three or four times and we can't have that happen and win consistently."

The Badgers move to 2-0, and will host FCS member Wofford Saturday in Madison. Fresno State falls to 1-1, and prepares for a home game Friday night against WAC favorite Boise State.

Badgers Overcome Flu, Fresno State originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Sun, 13 Sep 2009 12:15:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gophers Christen New Stadium With Win

Bruce Ciskie — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 11:45:00 EST

Filed under: Air Force, Minnesota, Big 10, Mountain West

MINNEAPOLIS -- Minnesota head coach Tim Brewster preached it all week. He knew his team had to somehow maintain its focus, despite the festivities planned to celebrate the dawn of a new era for Gopher football. The opening game of TCF Bank Stadium Saturday night did come with much celebration. For some time, the Gophers were caught up in the moment.

Thanks in part to some ill-timed penalties, Air Force took a 10-3 lead in the third quarter. The Gophers finally turned it on after that, scoring 17 straight points en route to a 20-10 win.

Brewster acknowledged that the hype and atmosphere contributed to his team's sluggish on-field start to the game.

"I think that emotionally, it gets you too high for the game," Brewster said, "and coming into the game we had to calm ourselves down a bit, but I was so proud of this place and I want to say thank you. We wanted to give our fans a victory, they deserved one tonight."

50,805 fans jammed into TCF Bank Stadium on a near-perfect Saturday night. The effort they saw for the better part of three quarters was anything but perfect.

The Gophers lost fumbles. Quarterback Adam Weber threw erratically at times. They committed a lot of penalties, killing multiple drives with flags. They badly blew a coverage on Air Force's lone touchdown.

The game's turning point came in the third quarter, when Minnesota faced a third-and-25. Weber was able to find tight end Nick Tow-Arnett down the seam on a perfect play. Tow-Arnett got the first down with a yard or two to spare. The Gophers scored a touchdown early in the fourth quarter to tie the game, and they dominated from there.

When a team is defending the Air Force triple option offense well, you see a lot of plays made by linebackers. Saturday was no different, as Nate Triplett was all over the field for Minnesota. Not only did he set a career high with 17 tackles, but Triplett also scored the winning touchdown. He ran a fumble by Falcons quarterback Tim Jefferson 52 yards to give Minnesota the lead for good at 17-10.

"Defense was set up right off the bat," Triplett said. "We practiced on Tuesday and they (the coaches) said linebackers have to make plays. Coach (Brewster) came to up to me and said we need a big game out of you. I said 'Alright.' I watched a little extra film and did a little extra this and that. I just went out there and did what I was coached to do all week."

Minnesota (1-1) continues non-conference play with a home game against California Saturday, while Air Force (1-1) opens Mountain West Conference play at New Mexico.

Gophers Christen New Stadium With Win originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Sun, 13 Sep 2009 11:45:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ohio State Loss Nothing to Cheer

Ray Holloman — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 00:24:00 EST

Filed under: Ohio State, Big 10

Jim Tressel may not have exactly had the weight of the world on his shoulders, but he certainly had the weight of everything between the Ohio and Lake Erie. As he sat at the dais in his familiar getup of squared eyeglasses and just plain square sweatervest, Tressel looked like a man that stood on 20 only to watch the dealer draw blackjack.

His eighth-ranked Buckeyes had just fallen to third-ranked USC 18-15 in the kind of loss that would probably keep a coach up for nights even with a barrel full of Sominex at his bed side, and Tressel wasn't much for the optimist role.

"All losses hurt," Tressel said, his voice sounding gray like his vest, "but this one hurts the most because it's today."

It should. Even as talking heads proclaimed this a comeback game for the Buckeyes -- Was this the first time in program history the Buckeyes have been patronized like a kid that almost got the jumble right? -- this loss should've hurt more than any in the Buckeyes' now four-year struggle against college football's elite.

It should hurt more than 2006 BCS championship game rout that saw Heisman winner Troy Smith wind up under a series of Gator pileups. More than the 2007 title game against LSU, when a 10-0 lead turned into another program tarnishing loss. It should've hurt more than the cringeful 35-3 loss to USC last year during the 2008 season.

Because this time, the Buckeyes didn't drop the ball so much as they let it slip through their fingers.

They weren't playing out of their league. They weren't in an unwinnable situation, the byproduct of a conference in a down year and that mix of calculus and dartboards known as the BCS. They were in a game they could have won, with more than 106,000 Buckeye fans roaring like a fleet of 747s circling overhead.

And they let it slip away. A garden variety woulda-coulda-shoulda.

The talking heads were right, of course. It was a good game by the Buckeyes. But at Ohio State, a program that was national champion this decade, that splattered Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl after the 2005 season, good should never be good enough.

"We didn't take advantage of our opportunities," said tight end Jake Ballard, squeezing a mouthful into seven words.

There are no moral victories for a program like Ohio State, or at least they're shouldn't be. For a school that lords its dominance over rival Michigan with a swagger, in billboards high above Detroit, that puts entire units of players into the NFL and that arguably has more history than two of the six BCS conferences, Saturday night's game should've been nothing to cheer about.

There should be no celebration because the Buckeyes were good enough to be just not quite good enough. This was no 60-minute dividing line between the overrated Ohio State that was and the contender they'd like to be.

They shouldn't feel better after Saturday night's near miss, they should feel worse.

"That's the bottom line," Doug Worthington said. "We went out there ... we came up a little short and we've got to get back to the drawing board."

Buckeye fans should feel good about the effort the team put forth for four quarters, after other big games that the team seemed to retire from before the fight was finished. This team took blow after blow, and it didn't knock the Buckeyes back, it just pushed their feet further in the turf. Even after Chris Gallipo picked off Terrelle Pryor's second pass of the game and set up an early fourth-and-goal touchdown that, at least briefly, vacuumed the air right out of the Horseshoe.

But should they cheer because the Buckeyes got pushed around when it mattered? Because Ohio State's defense had a freshman quarterback in an insane asylum politely called a stadium backed up five yards from his own goal line, yet they couldn't come through? Because they couldn't hold USC back on two third-and-9s, giving up a first down and a manageable fourth-and-1 on that final drive? Because their offense moved in lurches and their possible Heisman quarterback looked more like the true freshman in crunch time?

Should they cheer because they looked like a good team, but not an Ohio State team, not the power three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust lineage team that might lose the war but would always win the battle of the trenches?

Sure, the Ohio State defense stood up to the Trojans and an offensive line that had been overrun by Navy a week ago, held the Trojans' handful of future NFL linemen generally on the happy side of scrimmage.

But is that enough to be happy about for Ohio State? That, instead of the embarrassment of their last three major non-conference games, they simply lost?

No, they weren't hard-luck losers that turned a page on Ohio State history. They were a team that played USC tough for four full quarters. That's all well and good.

But at Ohio State, no matter recent history, good still shouldn't be good enough.

Ohio State Loss Nothing to Cheer originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Sun, 13 Sep 2009 00:24:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gophers' New Stadium a Modern Beauty

Bruce Ciskie — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 18:20:00 EST

Filed under: Air Force, Minnesota, Big 10, Campus

MINNEAPOLIS -- For the University of Minnesota, this has been a long time coming.

In 1981, the Gophers played their last football game at Memorial Stadium. The decision was made to move home games to the Metrodome, which isn't terribly far from campus but is definitely not a "typical" college football stadium. By 2002, the university was looking into the feasibility of an on-campus stadium. In the spring of 2005, funding was finally approved. On Sept. 12, 2009, the dreams of many Gopher football supporters became a reality.

As TCF Bank Stadium opens with a game against Air Force, much history is being made. The Gophers are the first Big Ten team since 1960 (Indiana) to open a new stadium. Most Big Ten football facilities originally opened in the 1920s, though all have undergone some sort of expansion and/or renovation since then.

This, however, is a first of its kind. A truly modern college football stadium housing a Big Ten school. While it's modern in amenities, its look is decidedly retro. There is a large plaza overlooking the stadium and nearby Williams Arena, where the Gophers play basketball. The horseshoe shape of the stadium gives fans a chance to see downtown Minneapolis from their seats.

When the stadium studies began, talk was that the NFL's Minnesota Vikings would share this facility. Many years after those talks broke off, the Vikings are still seeking funding for their own stadium, while the university's dream has been realized.

One of the reasons those talks never got past the exploratory stage was parking. In traveling to the site, it's easy to see why there were concerns. If this facility were to house both the Gophers and Vikings, it would easily have in the area of 65,000 seats, as opposed to the 50,000 this stadium has. Even with 15,000 fewer seats than it could have had, parking is an absolute mess. There are fans parking in the area of two miles from the stadium, and then riding shuttle buses to the site. Only those with season tickets have access to ramps and lots that are a reasonable walking distance away.

On the bright side, this situation appears to have been handled very well by the university. Plenty of staff and buses are awaiting those looking for a ride, and they operate starting four hours before games.

If the rest of the season goes more smoothly than the first game has, fans should have little to complain about.

There is worry about the action on the field, though. Air Force is a pretty good team, and they come from a conference (Mountain West) brimming with confidence. The Falcons and their triple-option attack could prove troublesome for a Gopher defense that struggled mightily defending Syracuse last week.

The sold-out crowd should be in for a good show. If nothing else, the stadium they walk into is a lot nicer than anything the Big Ten has seen in a long time.

Gophers' New Stadium a Modern Beauty originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Sat, 12 Sep 2009 18:20:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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