Week 12

[woot]

Some more big games this weekend. I've got my eye on Ohio St. vs Penn State, a battle of two teams with really good defenses and no quarterback. It could end up being worse than Bama-LSU.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

I'm starting to wonder about the Big Ten standings. Sparty has Indiana and Northwestern left, I think they probably represent the legends. I am hopeful that Wisconsin beats Penn State, I'm not really thrilled about the idea of playing Penn State in the ROSE.

[woot]

I'm starting to wonder about the Big Ten standings. Sparty has Indiana and Northwestern left, I think they probably represent the legends. I am hopeful that Wisconsin beats Penn State, I'm not really thrilled about the idea of playing Penn State in the ROSE.

Those who follow the Big10 have been planning for Penn State to lose their last three games since before the season started. It's only been surprising how many they were able to win before getting to this stretch. Well, and it's pretty surprising how bad OSU's offense is. I'm sure many will blame the Sandusky business for Penn State's poor finish to the year (Assuming they lose the next two), but really it's all about the competition. The game against OSU might be close, owing to neither team's ability to score, but I expect Wiscy to have little trouble.

MSU is pretty much a lock, alas, but that will make for a really fun rematch.

And when Wiscy gets its revenge and gives MSU its 3rd loss, 2-loss Michigan swoops in to nab an at-large BCS spot!

[TripletDaddy]

I thought Woot was starting a Big East thread, but I misread the title. It says "Week" 12.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

Those who follow the Big10 have been planning for Penn State to lose their last three games since before the season started. It's only been surprising how many they were able to win before getting to this stretch. Well, and it's pretty surprising how bad OSU's offense is. I'm sure many will blame the Sandusky business for Penn State's poor finish to the year (Assuming they lose the next two), but really it's all about the competition. The game against OSU might be close, owing to neither team's ability to score, but I expect Wiscy to have little trouble.

MSU is pretty much a lock, alas, but that will make for a really fun rematch.

And when Wiscy gets its revenge and gives MSU its 3rd loss, 2-loss Michigan swoops in to nab an at-large BCS spot!

They have never been a great team but Sparty has always been one that I thought would be fun to play. My FIL is an alum from Madison so that would be a fun match up also.

[woot]

I thought Woot was starting a Big East thread, but I misread the title. It says "Week" 12.

Heyoooooooooooo

[TripletDaddy]

Heyoooooooooooo

:sting:

[woot]

They have never been a great team but Sparty has always been one that I thought would be fun to play. My FIL is an alum from Madison so that would be a fun match up also.

This year's game at Sparty was one to forget. In addition to it being a "trash tornado" (extremely windy, causing everybody's hotdog wrappers and whatnot to blow onto the field), it also featured some really dirty play from MSU. Gholston, a somewhat above-average DE, missed the game against Wiscy due to suspension for his antics.

Mostly, I look forward to Sparty resuming their position as little brother to Michigan. It's already happening. The only two decent recruits they have in their current class are ones that Michigan passed on.

[BigPiney]

Only games that are remotely interesting to me or that I would take the time to at least switch over to in between I Love Lucy reruns on Fox. Wow this a boring week.

Nebraska at Michigan 11:00 a.m. ESPN (HD) / espn3

Penn State at Ohio State 2:30 p.m. (ABC / ESPN) (HD) *7 / espn3

Utah State at Idaho 4:00 p.m. ALT / ESPN-GP / ERTV / espn3 / MASN

LSU at Ole Miss 6:00 p.m. ESPN (HD) / espn3

Boise State at San Diego State 7:00 p.m. CBSSN (HD)

USC at Oregon 7:00 p.m. ABC (HD) / ESPN-GP *2

California at Stanford 9:15 p.m. ESPN (HD)

New Mexico State at BYU 9:15 p.m. ESPNU (HD) / BTUtv (j.i.p.)

Fresno State at Hawaii 10:00 p.m. ALT / ESPN-GP / WSN (cable)

[UtahJazzFan88]

Pretty boring week actually considering how late it is in the season, you can thank Mike Slive and the SEC for scheduling the Southern Conference to all their teams to tune-up for rivalry games I guess?

SMU @ Houston is the College GameDay site this week, game will be on FSN.

[Paperback Writer]

MSU is pretty much a lock, alas, but that will make for a really fun rematch.

And when Wiscy gets its revenge and gives MSU its 3rd loss, 2-loss Michigan swoops in to nab an at-large BCS spot!

That "2-loss Michigan" team has to first defeat Nebraska in the Big House. It should be a good game but I think it will be a 3-loss Michigan team going into the Bowls after the Wolverines defeat the Buckeyes

Also, I think MSU will have it's work cut out for them against Northwestern. The Wildcats surprised the Corhuskers in Lincoln but I think it was a favorably matchup for them. I don't think they match up as well against MSU so you're probably correct in your prediction that Wisky is headed to the Rose Bowl after defeating MSU in the Big Ten CCG.

The Michigan-Nebraska game should be a good one because they very well could be playing for an at-large BCS spot.

[woot]

That "2-loss Michigan" team has to first defeat Nebraska in the Big House. It should be a good game but I think it will be a 3-loss Michigan team going into the Bowls after the Wolverines defeat the Buckeyes

Also, I think MSU will have it's work cut out for them against Northwestern. The Wildcats surprised the Corhuskers in Lincoln but I think it was a favorably matchup for them. I don't think they match up as well against MSU so you're probably correct in your prediction that Wisky is headed to the Rose Bowl after defeating MSU in the Big Ten CCG.

The Michigan-Nebraska game should be a good one because they very well could be playing for an at-large BCS spot.

It is indeed a tough year to make predictions in the Big10. Nebraska beat MSU handily, MSU beat Michigan, Michigan beat NW, NW beat Nebraska. For that matter, Michigan beat Minny 58-0, Minny beat Iowa, and then Iowa beat Michigan. I don't even know anymore.

I think Michigan will beat Nebraska this week, but that's mostly based on how well our D is playing and how poor Martinez is. Michigan's QB situation isn't exactly peachy, although I think Denard was very effective against Illinois despite his lack of numbers. In breaking down the big gains by the RB, there were at least 2 Illinois defenders who took themselves out of the play each time because they were more worried about Denard than about the guy running with the ball down the other sideline.

Michigan has looked better at home this year, and both losses have been away, so that helps. Frankly, I'm a lot more concerned about OSU. This has to be the year.

[Paperback Writer]

It is indeed a tough year to make predictions in the Big10. Nebraska beat MSU handily, MSU beat Michigan, Michigan beat NW, NW beat Nebraska. For that matter, Michigan beat Minny 58-0, Minny beat Iowa, and then Iowa beat Michigan. I don't even know anymore.

I think Michigan will beat Nebraska this week, but that's mostly based on how well our D is playing and how poor Martinez is. Michigan's QB situation isn't exactly peachy, although I think Denard was very effective against Illinois despite his lack of numbers. In breaking down the big gains by the RB, there were at least 2 Illinois defenders who took themselves out of the play each time because they were more worried about Denard than about the guy running with the ball down the other sideline.

Michigan has looked better at home this year, and both losses have been away, so that helps. Frankly, I'm a lot more concerned about OSU. This has to be the year.

Michigan does have the edge playing at home but the play of Martinez has improved since the blowout in Madison against Wisky. Actually, Martinez and Robinson are very similar QBs and used much the same by their OC. Robinson is more athletic and physical and does carry the ball more in goaline situations. Martinez is probably faster and showing improvement. Both throw picks but at least Robinson uses standard passing mechanics. I think the game comes down to which QB makes the most plays and the fewest mistakes. Here's some Big 10 stats that compare Martinez vs Robinson.

Taylor Martinez - Nebraska - Big 10 games
Denard Robinson - Michigan - Big 10 games

[woot]

Michigan does have the edge playing at home but the play of Martinez has improved since the blowout in Madison against Wisky. Actually, Martinez and Robinson are very similar QBs and used much the same by their OC. Robinson is more athletic and physical and does carry the ball more in goaline situations. Martinez is probably faster and showing improvement. Both throw picks but at least Robinson uses standard passing mechanics. I think the game comes down to which QB makes the most plays and the fewest mistakes. Here's some Big 10 stats that compare Martinez vs Robinson.

Taylor Martinez - Nebraska - Big 10 games
Denard Robinson - Michigan - Big 10 games

Good assessment. Also, cool use of the table function. I should try that sometime. Robinson does look a little slower this year, but it may be that he's just tentative due to the coaches trying to protect him. It's hard to say, since before the season they were emphasizing that he needs to scramble more. That hasn't really happened. He does cut off his inside foot for some reason, and often goes out of bounds or bounces it outside when he should cut up. I haven't watched as much of Martinez this year; maybe it's just his throwing motion that makes him look so terrible.

Denard had only 9 attempts last game (plus an end-of-half hail mary that was picked), which is probably a good number unless Borges wants to implement the bubble screen, which he's now on record saying he won't even consider. I hate that, but I see what he's doing. He prefers outside pitches, bombs, and boundary floods when it comes to forcing the safeties out of the box. It isn't working all that well since those plays are a lot tougher to execute than the bubble, but maybe it'll work eventually.

[BoylenOver]

Some interesting lines this week. Vandy -1.5 at Tennessee; Washington only -3 at Oregon St; Kansas St +8.5 at Texas.

I'm also interested to see the focus of Arkansas and LSU with their massive game coming up next week.