No. 2 Ohio State at Illinois
The Buckeyes' offense has been suspect recently, but their sound defense has kept alive the dream of playing in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 3.
Ohio State has allowed only three total points in the second half of its last five games. The last team to score a second-half touchdown against OSU was Northwestern on Oct. 5.
The Buckeyes' stingy defense is led by Butkus Award finalist Matt Wilhelm at middle linebacker. Wilhelm, who leads the team with 84 tackles, has been a force stopping the run this season, and he also made big plays against the pass late in OSU's wins over Cincinnati and Purdue.
On Saturday, Wilhelm and the Ohio State defense will try to slow down the Jon Beutjer-led Illinois offense at 3:30 p.m. in Memorial Stadium. But the real question will be can OSU's stagnant offense score enough to win?
"We're very concerned about moving the ball this week," Buckeye head coach Jim Tressel said. "We have identified a lot of areas where we need to get better, and we've identified some areas where we're doing things well."
The Fighting Illini have bounced back from a 1-5 start by winning three of its last four games - including a 37-20 thumping of Wisconsin on the road last week.
Illini head coach Ron Turner has rotated between Beutjer and Dustin Ward at quarterback all season, but Beutjer has the job heading into this weekend.
One of Beutjer's favorite targets, wide receiver Brandon Lloyd, has a hip flexor injury that gives him a "50 percent" chance of playing, according to Turner. But Lloyd, who has 55 catches for 910 yards, said he'll be "100 percent" come Saturday.
"Obviously, he's a big-play player," Turner said. "Just his presence on the field is something that defenses have to pay attention to.
"We've got other receivers that can step up, but they don't really have the big-play ability that he has."
James Jahnke
No. 5 Iowa at Minnesota
The Hawkeyes' magical season has one more roadblock - the Golden Gophers.
Iowa could cement itself as a Bowl Championship Series team with a win over Minnesota. A couple of weeks ago, this matchup looked like a huge TV revenue game, but the Gophers have lost their last two games by an average of 24 points.
This could cause a problem seeing as Iowa has defeated its last two opponents by an average of 34.5 points. The Hawkeyes also are coming into the game on an eight-game winning streak and their offense seems to improve each week.
"Obviously, we still have one ball game left - a very big ball game at Minnesota," Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said. "I think it's certainly a rivalry with great scope and that's what makes it so enjoyable. Hopefully, we'll play a smart game on Saturday."
But with the game being played in the Metrodome, a place where Minnesota is 5-1 this season, the 10.5 points Iowa is favored by is an iffy betting margin. But with quarterback Brad Banks leading the pack, the Hawkeye offense is a hard obstacle to overcome.
Banks has thrown for 2,269 yards while running for another 348 and has been a part of 26 touchdowns. The senior has been one of the main reasons the Hawkeyes, who average 430 yards and 38 points per game, are playing well.
Minnesota leads the all-time series with a 58-35-2 mark, but Iowa posted a 42-24 victory over the Gophers last season.
Chris Mackinder
Wisconsin at No. 10 Michigan
U-M is arguably one of the most underrated teams in college football this season.
Despite carrying an 8-2 mark, 5-1 in the Big Ten, the Wolverines seem to be left out of elite team talks. Yet, the Wolverines are ranked 10th in the nation with their only losses coming to Notre Dame (9-1) and Iowa (10-1), both of whom are near locks for BCS bowl births.
"We're not where we want to be," U-M head coach Lloyd Carr said. "We're just trying to improve each week and become the best team we can be."
Regardless of what critics may say, U-M still is in the hunt for a BCS birth if it can pick up wins in the season's two final games - the latter requiring a win over Ohio State in Columbus.
But the Buckeyes are two weeks away and a feisty Badger team comes to the Big House this weekend.
Wisconsin started the year hot, winning its first five games. Since then, the Badgers' only win came against the Spartans - a 42-24 victory in East Lansing on Oct. 26.
If recent years shed any light, this year's context should be close, but U-M should pick up the victory.
The Wolverines have won four straight and 28 of the last 31 contests.
The only thing on Wisconsin' side may be last year's memories. With the score knotted at 17-17, Michigan was forced to punt with 30 seconds left, but after hitting the ground, the ball deflected off a Badger leg and the Wolverines recovered. It set up a game-winning field goal for Michigan to pick up the 20-17 win.
"Defensively, they're a typical Michigan defense - very physical, very athletic and very mobile," Wisconsin head coach Barry Alvarez said. "It's a team that's very deserving of their high ranking."
Chris Mackinder
No. 16 Penn State at Indiana
Despite seemingly falling out of the national spotlight with losses to Iowa in late September and Michigan in early October, the Nittany Lions are still ranked 16th in the nation with a 7-3 mark.
And that mark could easily become 9-3 with the remaining two teams Penn State has on its schedule - Indiana and MSU. But before the Nittany Lions can think about finishing the regular season 9-3 with a 5-3 mark in the Big Ten, Penn State does have to play 120 minutes of football starting with Indiana this weekend.
The Nittany Lions come into Bloomington, Ind., on a two-game winning streak and winners of three of their last four games.
In those contests, Penn State has compiled a 3-1 mark (only one loss to No. 2 Ohio State), but more importantly, it has allowed an average of 8.5 points per game.
Their opponent, Indiana doesn't have much of an offense and its defense is more than suspect. Last week, the Hoosiers allowed the Spartans to put 56 points on the scoreboard. MSU had only scored 50 points in its previous four games.
Indiana's résumé for the 2002 season isn't incredibly strong. The Hoosiers' wins have come against Division I-AA's William & Mary (6-3), Central Michigan (4-6) and Wisconsin (6-5).
"We're just in our regular routine, trying to get ready for a real talented Penn State team," Indiana head coach Gerry DiNardo said.
"Anytime you get to this point in the season, when you've lost seven games and there is no chance for a postseason play, I think you are faced with another challenge of being competitive."
Chris Mackinder
