Minnesota at No. 5 Wisconsin
Time: 2:30 p.m.
Place: Madison, Wis.
Line: Wisconsin by 6.5
TV: ABC
Records: Minnesota 6-3, 3-3 Big Ten, Wisconsin 8-0, 5-0
What’s at stake: The Badgers must stay perfect in order to keep their conference and national title hopes alive. Minnesota can resurrect its season with a win after losing three of its last four games.
Overview: Another week and another trophy is up for grabs in the conference when these two teams battle for Paul Bunyan’s ax for the 114th time. Minnesota currently holds the ax, and the Badgers say they are more focused on filling their trophy case than improving their national ranking. The last time Wisconsin started its season 8-0 was in 1998, which is also the last time the Badgers won the Big Ten Championship and went to the Rose Bowl. The Gophers will be looking to find some consistency in its offensive attack, particularly in the running game with Laurence Maroney and Marion Barber III. The pair average a combined 212 yards per game but combined for only 154 yards last week against Indiana.
Purdue at No. 20 Iowa
Time: 2:30 p.m.
Place: Iowa City, Iowa
Line: Iowa by 4.5
TV: ESPN
Records: Purdue 5-3, 2-3, Iowa 6-2, 4-1
What’s at stake: The Boilermakers need a win to stop their three-game conference losing streak. The Hawkeyes will attempt to continue to stealthily climb the conference standings as nobody pays much attention.
Overview: Purdue’s ship is quickly taking on water. Orton’s Heisman chances sunk a few weeks ago, and the Boilermakers now appear to be going the way of their quarterback. Purdue coach Joe Tiller continuously complains about officials, Orton perpetually is injured and not one of the receivers seems to remember how to catch a ball. Iowa, on the other hand, continues to rampage through the conference after a shaky start to its season. Everyone wrote off the Hawkeyes after losses to Arizona State and Michigan, but now Iowa ranks 10th nationally in total defense and quarterback Drew Tate is catching fire.
Ohio State at Michigan State
Time: 11 a.m.
Place: East Lansing, Mich.
Line: Michigan State by 1
TV: ESPN
Records: Ohio State 5-3, 2-3, Michigan State 4-4, 3-2
What’s at stake: The Buckeyes are looking for their first road win since Sept. 18 and can crawl back to .500 in the conference with a victory. The Spartans need to fill the void at quarterback now that starter Drew Stanton may be out for the season with a separated right shoulder.
Overview: After offensive woes led Ohio State on a three-game losing skid to start conference play, the Buckeyes seem to have figured out some of their problems and may be on the way to redemption. Starting quarterback Justin Zwick has been replaced by sophomore Troy Smith, who has executed much better than Zwick so far. Michigan State has two burdens to overcome this week: the loss of Stanton and its triple-overtime loss to rival Michigan last week. With upcoming games against Wisconsin and Hawaii, a loss could spell disaster for the Spartans, who need seven wins to become bowl eligible because of their 12-game schedule.
Indiana at Illinois
Time: 1 p.m.
Place: Champaign, Ill.
Line: Illinois by 2.5
TV: None
Records: Indiana 3-5, 1-4, Illinois 2-7, 0-6
What’s at stake: Indiana must keep winning in order to keep its slim bowl hopes alive. If Illinois coach Ron Turner can’t snap his team’s 14-game conference losing streak in the next two games, he likely will lose his job.
Overview: Surprisingly enough, some are talking bowl eligibility in Bloomington, Ind., this week after the Hoosiers’ upset victory over Minnesota last week. Indiana must win Saturday, but a bowl is not unlikely, with upcoming games against Penn State and Purdue. Illinois will keep its steady rotation of starting quarterbacks, with redshirt freshman Brad Bower getting the call this time. Running back Pierre Thomas has received the go-ahead to play Saturday after seeing limited action because of injury in the Fighting Illini’s loss last week against Iowa.
Reach Zack Silka at [email protected].
