Monday, November 06, 2006

Monday Morning QB ...
A wild and wooly Saturday around the Big Ten this past weekend. Ohio State only a touchdown winner at Illinois? Michigan has to have a goal line stand to avoid possible overtime with Ball State? Minnesota flat out crushes Indiana? Northwestern wins on the road – at Iowa no less? Maybe the only normalcy came as Michigan State found yet another way to blow a late lead in a loss to Purdue and Wisconsin dominated on the ground and on defense en route to a solid 13-3 win over Penn State.

Now to the games themselves. Illinois isn’t all that bad. Yep, the Illini are tied for last but they are a team, like Indiana, that can rise up when you least expect it. That’s what nothing to lose mentalities get you. The Ball State – Michigan score was more shocking to me. But when you turtle up and go conservative, that’s what happens – you get more than you bargained for.

Purdue and Michigan State probably played the most entertaining game with a lot of twists and turns, but the Spartans could not win one for John L. Smith and then he was no where to be found after the game when the media came calling. Penn State coach Joe Paterno suffered a broken leg and two damaged ligaments when he was rolled on the sideline. Makes you wonder how that doesn’t happen more often. Unfortunately, that was the only highlight of a pretty well played but boring, old fashioned Big Ten battle.

What the heck happened to the Hoosiers? This is the third game that IU has put in the loss column that on paper, should have been a win. It might’ve been the final nail on the Indiana bowl chances coffin as Michigan comes calling this weekend followed by a game at Purdue. Speaking of what the heck and “H” nicknames, hello, Hawkeyes – where were you on Saturday? My pick to share the Big Ten title was stunned at home and all but assured that they won’t be spending New Years Day in Florida. Alamo Bowl, here we come.

Team of the Week...
Could be Wisconsin, who is quietly a solid 9-1 (6-1) and on a six game win streak. Could be Minnesota who kept slim bowl hopes alive by trashing the Hoosiers. Could even be Illinois for putting up a solid fight against the Buckeyes. But I have to go with Northwestern. In the middle of a stretch that included road games at Michigan and Iowa, followed by a home date with the Buckeyes – all after the devastating loss to Michigan State – it would have been understandable if the team sort of hung it up. No siree. Kudos to Pat Fitzgerald and the Wildcats for smacking Iowa on the chin and hanging on for a huge victory.

Player of the Week...
Minnesota quarterback Bryan Cupito came out firing and it paid off big time for the Golden Gophers. 22-33, 4 TDs and 378 yards passing. Brilliant.

Get Gamm status...
We have another new winner this week. Three went 5-1 this week with Northwestern and Minnesota throwing most for a loop. PUFan, not eligible for the overall prize, wins the honor this week. Send your picks my way by Thursday PUFan.

T1 - Buckeye Nation: 61-15 (.803), 3 GG Wins
T1 - Dan Meyer: 61-15 (.803), 2 GG Wins
T1 - andrewj1313: 61-15 (.803), 1 GG Win
T1 - flakcat: 61-15 (.803), 1 GG Win
T5 - may0170: 60-16 (.789)
T5 - phatsdawg: 60-16 (.789)
7 - Gamm: 58-18 (.763), 1 GG Win
8 - BigTenSportsFan: 57-19 (.750), 1 GG Win
9 - PUFan: 39-15 (.722), 1 GG Win

This week's slate:
Purdue at Illinois
Temple at Penn State
Minnesota at Michigan State
Michigan at Indiana
Wisconsin at Iowa
Ohio State at Northwestern

Coming soon... my basketball predictions

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I just wanted to say that I do believe Louisville is a great team. However, if Michigan and Ohio State remain unbeaten before they meet in the season finale and Ohio State wins, I still believe Michigan should play Ohio State. It would be a better game that if Louisville were to play. By the way, I got a good deal on tickets from SportsTraveler.net for the BCS Championship, hence the reason I don't want Louisville to be there. I talked to the guy over there and he told me that there will be fan travel packages for the BCS Championship that includes with 100% refundable deposits if they were not to make it. Makes me mad that I bought just the tickets. Anyone else ever hear of company's doing this?

Dan Meyer said...

PURDUE 24 at Illinois 21--Biased pick, moi? I HOPE Purdue clinches bowl eligibility this weekend.

Temple 3 at PENN STATE 38--By far the easiest pick of the week. No "win one for Joe" speech required here.

Minnesota 28 at MICHIGAN STATE 31--The Spartan schizophrenia takes another twist?

MICHIGAN 24 at Indiana 10--A bit of a trap game for the Wolverines, but I doubt they have two off games in a row.

Wisconsin 17 at IOWA 20--Going with the unpredictable Hawks because of Stocco's injury.

OHIO STATE 28 at Northwestern 14--In many ways, see MI-IN above.

Anonymous said...

PURDUE 28 illinois 14

PENN STATE 42 temple 3

MICHIGAN STATE 35 minnesota 31

MICHIGAN 44 indiana 10*worst thing that could have happened for IU, UM got a scare from the cards

WISCONSIN 17 iowa 7

OHIO STATE 33 northwestern 13

Anonymous said...

Ohio State 32 at Northwestern 7
Wisconsin 28 at Iowa 24
Minnesota 27 at Michigan State 32
Purdue 17 at Illinois 21
Michigan 34 at Indiana 17
Temple 10 at Penn State 28

Anonymous said...

Purdue 26 at Illinois 19
Temple 3 at Penn State 22
Minnesota 27 at Michigan State 22
Michigan 45 at Indiana 27
Wisconsin 31 at Iowa 17
Ohio State 42 at Northwestern 6

Andy Gamm said...

PUFan - andy_gamm@hotmail.com

AndrewJ1313 said...

Michigan 30, Indiana 17;
Minnesota 27, MSU 20;
Illinois 21, Purdue 20;
Wisconsin 27, Iowa 21;
Penn State 44, Temple 3;
Ohio State 38, Northwestern 10.

Go BUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Purdue 21 at Illinois 24 - The Illini turn the corner.
Temple 3 at Penn State 28 - Get well, Joe Pa.
Minnesota 28 at Michigan State 35 - Tough call.
Michigan 28 at Indiana 14 - No trap game here.
Wisconsin 21 at Iowa 14 - The nightmare at Kinnick continues.
Ohio State 28 at Northwestern 7 - 2004, this is not.