U-M is looking for its 13th straight conference victory and will be well rested coming off a bye week. U-M's last game came Oct. 30 in a 45-37 triple overtime victory over MSU.

Leading the way for the Wolverines is running back Michael Hart, who leads the league in rushing with 1,160 yards in nine games, including three straight games of more than 200 yards. He has five touchdowns and is averaging 5.3 yards per carry.

Wide receiver Braylon Edwards, a Maxwell Trophy semifinalist for the nation's most outstanding player, is coming off a game in which he torched the MSU secondary with 11 catches for 189 yards and three touchdowns, including the game winner in the third overtime session. He has 69 catches for 995 yards and 11 scores on the season.

Head coach Randy Walker and the Wildcats are coming off 14-7 win over Penn State last week. The Northwestern defense was able to hold Penn State to only 97 yards on the ground.

Ranking second in the conference in total offense is Northwestern quarterback Brett Basanez. He is averaging 254.9 yards per game and has thrown for nine touchdowns against seven interceptions.

Running back Noah Herron ranks right behind Hart in rushing, averaging 115.3 yards per game. He has 1038 yards and has scored 11 touchdowns on the season.

On defense, Northwestern linebacker Tim McGarigle leads the league with 12.6 tackles per game. He also has one sack.

U-M beat the Wildcats last season, 41-10, behind 122 yards rushing and two touchdowns from Chris Perry. Edwards caught nine balls for 112 yards and a touchdown. Basanez led Northwestern in both passing and rushing in the game with 121 passing yards and 35 rushing yards.

Matt Bishop

Minnesota vs. No. 19 Iowa

Iowa is riding a five-game winning streak and will look to improve their bowl status when they play Minnesota on Saturday.

Last week, Iowa knocked off a Purdue team 23-21 that was missing their senior star quarterback Kyle Orton.

The Hawkeyes (7-2, 5-1) were led on offense by quarterback Drew Tate, who was 24-for-45 totaling 270 yards and had two touchdowns and one interception.

The ground game was nonexistent again as Iowa was led by Sam Brownlee, who carried the ball 25 times for only 52 yards.

The defense was not as good as it has been in recent weeks, giving up 357 yards of total offense, but they more than made up for it by forcing five turnovers in the game.

The Hawkeyes find themselves sitting alone in second place in the Big Ten and still in decent position to make a run for the Big Ten title.

The Golden Gophers (6-4, 3-4) on the other hand have not been winning recently, after starting the year with five straight wins. Since that point they have only won one game in their last five - against Illinois.

Last week, the Gophers were beat by Wisconsin 38-14, and there were not many bright spots for them.

They were led on offense by quarterback Bryan Cupito, who was 17-for-33 with one touchdown and 258 yards.

The ground game was held in check by the Badgers' defense. Laurence Maroney carried the ball only eight times for 57 yards and one touchdown.

The Gopher defense found themselves on the field for more than 44 minutes and it showed as they gave up 525 yards of total offense and were unable to force any turnovers.

This game marks the season finale for the Golden Gophers. The Hawkeyes will play one more game after this contest against the Wisconsin Badgers on Nov. 20 in Iowa City, Iowa, which very well could determine the Big Ten champion.

The Hawkeyes own the series trophy, Floyd of Rosedale, after beating the Gophers last year in Iowa City, 40-22. The trophy is a bronze statue of a pig that was first given to Minnesota, which won the 1935 game between the two schools.

Chris Barsotti

Purdue vs. Ohio State

After Ohio State (6-3, 3-3) secured a bowl-game birth last week with a 32-19 win over the Spartans, Purdue (5-4, 2-4) hopes to follow suit. But the Boilermakers will have a tough time with the Buckeyes, who have won three straight conference games. Purdue has endured a different type of streak, losing four straight games, their worst losing streak since 1993.

True freshman wide receiver Ted Ginn Jr. was the all-around star of the game, scoring three touchdowns. Ginn had 77 receiving yards on only four catches, which included a 58-yard touchdown reception. He also tied a school career record with his third punt return for a score and scored on a 17-yard reverse-run play.

Buckeyes quarterback Troy Smith completed 13-of-21 passes for 140 yards against MSU.

Unlike Ohio State and Smith, Purdue and former Heisman Trophy front-runner and quarterback Kyle Orton didn't enjoy their result last week, losing to Iowa 23-21.

Orton was benched the week prior and is 50-50 for this weekend's game, according to head coach Joe Tiller.

A strong comeback effort by Purdue wasn't enough to overcome the Hawkeyes' early offensive output, leading after the first quarter 17-0. But Purdue persisted in the second quarter when quarterback Brandon Kirsch threw a 48-yard touchdown. He ended up completing 25-of-43 passes for 280 yards and three touchdowns. He also threw two interceptions against Iowa.

Last year's Ohio State-Purdue game was decided by special teams and not their talented quarterbacks. The Buckeyes won 16-13 after kicker Mike Nugent hit his third field goal of the game in overtime.

Kick-off is set for 3:30 p.m. in West Lafayette.

Laura Collins

Indiana vs. Penn State

Neither Penn State or Indiana are in contention for a bowl game this season, but both are hungry to come out with some wins in their final weeks of play.

At dead last in the conference, Penn State (2-7 overall, 0-6 Big Ten) has earned a top 15 ranking nationally for its defense in three categories, including points allowed per game - 15.4. The Nittany Lions defense has not allowed more than 21 points in any game this season.

But the Nittany Lions offense has not been able to push the team to a conference win yet.

Quarterback Zack Mills has thrown for 1,448 yards in the season with seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

Tailback Tony Hunt has rushed for 658 yards on the season, averaging 4.8 yards per carry.

Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno said the team was expecting another challenging weekend.

"Indiana is a fine school, they have a fine tradition," Paterno said. "This is going to be a tough football game."

Also coming off of a loss, Indiana (3-6 overall, 1-5 Big Ten) fell to Illinois 22-26 last Saturday.

Matt LoVecchio had 15 completions for 209 yards against the Fighting Illini. BenJarvus Green-Ellis rushed for 70 yards and wide receiver Courtney Roby averaged 11.3 yards per catch.

LoVecchio sustained head injuries last weekend, but should return for the Hoosiers, head coach Gerry DiNardo said.

Indiana has never beat Penn State and should not expect an easy contest this year either, DiNardo said.

"The last couple of years, the games haven't been close," DiNardo said. "They've had their way with us and scored over 50 points both times, so we're doing something to improve before this weekend."

Game time is set for 12:10 p.m. Saturday in Bloomington, Ind.

Tina Reed