Monday, October 09, 2006

Monday Morning QB ...
A rather ho-hum weekend in the Big Ten. Ohio State crushed Bowling Green, as expected. Iowa bounced back big with a resounding win over Purdue. Michigan dominated rival Michigan State. Wisconsin ran all over Northwestern. Really, the only games that brought some excitement were played by traditional cellar dwellars Indiana and Illinois and by Penn State and Minnesota.

Both games came down to a kick. One meant a win, the other a loss. Indiana finally got back in the win column by nailing a game winning field goal in Champaign and sending Illinois back to the familiar territory of a loss. Minnesota missed a PAT and watched Penn State convert a score and PAT in their part of overtime to avoid an upset and keep the Gophers winless in the conference.

This weekend sees another rivalry game involving Paul Bunyan (Minnesota at Wisconsin), an anticipated Saturday evening battle between two tremendous programs (Michigan at Penn State), a game that was once thought to be a trap game for the Buckeyes (Ohio State at Michigan State) and a couple of "so-what" games when Purdue hits the road for Evanston and Illinois entertains Ohio.

Team of the Week ...
Iowa could have been caught licking the wounds of a rather lopsided home loss to Ohio State in what was billed as one of the bigger games ever played in Kinnick. Instead, the Hawkeyes bounced back big and hammered the Boilermakers.

Player of the Week ...
P.J. Hill ran all over Northwestern for 249 yards and hit the century mark 10 minutes into the game. Also considered - Troy Smith and Mario Manningham, but frankly, they win every other week!

A look at my preseason predictions, halfway into the season...
Indiana - I had them at 4-2 (1-1) with losses to Western Michigan and Illinois; They are 3-3 (1-1) with losses to Southern Illinois, UConn and Wisconsin

Minnesota - I had them at 2-4 (0-3) with losses to Cal, Purdue, Michigan and Penn State; I have them nailed at this point

Northwestern - I had them 3-3 (0-2) with losses to Nevada, Penn State and Wisconsin; They are 2-4 (0-2) with an additional loss, to 1-AA New Hampshire

Illinois - I had them 3-3 (1-2) with losses to Rutgers, Iowa and MSU; They are 2-4 (1-2) with losses to Rutgers, Syracuse, Iowa and Indiana

Purdue - I had them 4-2 (1-1) with losses to Notre Dame and Iowa; I have them nailed at this point

Wisconsin - I had them 4-2 (1-2) with losses to Michigan and Indiana; They are 5-1 (2-1) with a lone loss to Michigan

Michigan State - I had them 4-2 (1-1) with losses to Notre Dame and Michigan; They are 3-3 (0-2) with those losses plus a loss to Illinois

Michigan - I had them 5-1 (3-0) with a loss to Notre Dame; They are 6-0 (3-0)

Penn State - I had them at 4-2 (2-1) with losses to Notre Dame and Ohio State; I have them nailed at this point

Ohio State - I had them at 5-1 (1-1) with a loss to Iowa; They are 6-0 (2-0)

Iowa - I had them at 6-0 (3-0); They are 5-1 (2-1) with a loss to Ohio State

Get Gamm Status ...
We actually had to go to the second tiebreaker this week. Five of us went 5-1 but may0170 and Buckeye Nation were each within three points of the tiebreaker. From there it goes to total points in the tiebreaker game, meaning the nod once again goes to Buckeye Nation (you know the drill). B.N. is, as Dan Patrick used to say "en fuego."

1 - mayo170: 43-9 (.827)
T2 - BuckeyeNation: 42-10 (.808), 3 GG Wins
T2 - phatsdawg: 42-10 (.808)
T2 - Dan Meyer: 42-10 (.808), 1 GG Win
T2 - flakcat: 42-10 (.808)
T2 - andrewj1313: 42-10 (.808)
7 - Gamm: 41-11 (.788), 1 GG Win
8 - BigTenSportsFan: 39-13 (.750), 1 GG Win
- AaronRoberts: 23-5 (.821)*
- PUFan: 21-9 (.750)*

* = Not eligible for final prize

This week...
Ohio at Illinois
Purdue at Northwestern
Iowa at Indiana
Minnesota at Wisconsin
Ohio State at Michigan State
Michigan at Penn State (Tiebreaker)

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well shoot I fell from first with a big thud!

ILLINOIS 28 ohio 14

PURDUE 52 northwestern 28

IOWA 49 indiana 0

WISCONSIN 35 minnesota 21

OHIO STATE 35 michigan state 17

MICHIGAN 28 penn state 14

BigTenSportsFan said...

Ohio 5 at Illinois 72
Purdue 33 at Northwestern 34 OT
Iowa 3 at Indiana 0 OT
Minnesota 64 at Wisconsin 65 4OT
Ohio State 31 at Michigan State 30 OT
Michigan 21 at Penn State 20 2OT

Anonymous said...

Hey BN...I'll thumbwrestle you for the victory!!!!

Dan Meyer said...

Ohio 14 at ILLINOIS 27
PURDUE 31 at Northwestern 20
IOWA 31 at Indiana 17
Minnesota 20 at WISCONSIN 33
MICHIGAN 24 at Penn State 14
OHIO STATE 31 at Michigan State 21

ALSO (NOT Big Ten--but world series)

Detroit over Oakland in six
New York Mets over St. Louis in five (hope I'm wrong here)

Andy Gamm said...

Manningham to have knee surgery? http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2618546

Anonymous said...

Yo mayo,
You're on! lol

Anonymous said...

Ohio 17 at Illinois 24
Purdue 31 at Northwestern 19
Iowa 42 at Indiana 20
Minnesota 21 at Wisconsin 33
Ohio State 27 at Michigan State 17
Michigan 26 at Penn State 24

Andy Gamm said...

'ssup with the Wiscy band? Bunch of bad boys and girls! http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2622462

AndrewJ1313 said...

Illinois 28, Ohio 17;
Michigan 27, PSU 17;
Wisconsin 24, Minnesota 20;
Purdue 34, N’western 13;
Iowa 42, Indiana 16;
OSU 37, MSU 9.

BUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hope this posts correctly this week.

Anonymous said...

Ohio 13 at ILLINOIS 31
Minnesota 17 at WISCONSIN 24
Purdue 21 at NORTHWESTERN 28
IOWA 42 at Indiana 10
OHIO STATE 35 at Michigan State 17
MICHIGAN 27 at Penn State 10