Griffiths goes 12-0 again, expects to roll in Big Ten picks Week 4

admin September 21, 2012 0

By DOUG GRIFFITHS
ISL Correspondent

The Big Ten continues to be the proverbial punching bag for the national college football pundits and for good reason.

One look at the latest Associated Press poll and it will reveal not one team from the conference is ranked in the top-15 nationally.

How sad is that?

Well, it marks the first time since 2001 that at least one Big Ten team hasn’t cracked the top 15 weekly poll.

ESPN’s Colin Cowherd has taken notice of the Big Ten’s football futility. When interviewing network college football analyst Lou Holtz, Cowherd admitted he hasn’t seen the conference look so poor.

I don’t mean to be overly critical of the Big Ten Lou, but I’ve watched a lot of football in three weeks and it looks slow and as bad as I’ve seen it, Cowherd said. Am I being too harsh on the Big Ten?

Holtz responded, I don’t know if you’re being harsh enough. They’ve had a lot of embarrassing moments this year. Ball State beat Indiana. Wisconsin was lucky to beat Utah State last week. I think you have one real good football team and that’s Ohio State and that’s because of Braxton Miller.

Here’s the amazing thing, when they play that (Big Ten) championship game and in the one division (the Leaders), if Wisconsin is down, which it appears to be, it’s either going to be Indiana or Purdue that will probably play in that championship game because Penn State and Ohio State are ineligible.

Of course Illinois would have something to say about that, as the Illini are the other team in the Leaders Division.

But Holtz is right. Other than the Buckeyes, who are ranked 16th, the other three ranked Big Ten teams are in the Legends Division ” Michigan (18th), Michigan State (21st) and Nebraska (25th).

I don’t see a good team in the Big Ten, Holtz said. I think Iowa is very marginal. They don’t have the speed. They don’t have the skill people to really be outstanding with the possible exception of Denard Robinson. But after they got annihilated by Alabama, I think they’re going to get beat pretty soundly by the University of Notre Dame.

For what it’s worth, the league did bounce back somewhat after going 6-6 in the second week of the season. However, it got healthy, if you will, on some pretty pathetic competition, and lost the only game against a top-25 team (Notre Dame beating Michigan State).

In Week No. 3, the Big Ten went 10-2 with Indiana’s loss to Ball State being the only other setback besides the Spartans’ loss.

IU and Purdue are enjoying their bye weeks this week, but the rest of the league is in action.

Unfortunately the slate of games is again pretty darn weak with just one team – Michigan – facing a Top-25 team.

Per usual, IndySportsLegends.com helps you decide which of those Big Ten contests you’ll want to keep an eye on and which ones aren’t DVR worthy.

(As for me, I put together my second perfect week going 12-0 to run my season record to 32-4, that’s 88.9 percent for those scoring at home.)

(All times ET)

Game-Of-The-Week
– #18 Michigan (2-1) @ #11 Notre Dame (3-0)
Saturday
7:30 p.m.
NBC
Notre Dame, Ind. (Notre Dame Stadium 80,795)

Sorry fans of the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry, but there’s no better rivalry in college football these days compared to this one, especially when you consider the last three games in this series have been decided in the waning seconds. A couple years ago Michigan QB Denard Robinson went off in the shadows of Touchdown Jesus. Does he have another encore performance in him or will Notre Dame’s defense continue to impress? I like the Irish, 24-14.

Must-See TV
– Syracuse (1-2) @ Minnesota (3-0)
Saturday
8 p.m.
BTN
Minneapolis, Minn. (TCF Bank Stadium 50,805)

It shows you just how sad a week it is in the Big Ten when a pair of unranked teams makes the Must-See TV list, but the Syracuse-Minnesota contest is truly a toss-up. The Gophers have some key injuries to deal with, the most important of which is to starting QB Marqueis Gray who is listed as questionable after suffering a high ankle sprain last week. I don’t think Gray will go and the Gophers will miss him. Minnesota isn’t as good as its undefeated record may indicated and remember Syracuse played USC tough and should’ve beaten Northwestern. Orange, 31-20

May Be Worth A Look-see
– UTEP (1-2) @ Wisconsin (2-1)
Saturday
Noon
ESPN2
Madison, Wis. (Camp Randall Stadium 80,321)

A month ago no way this game isn’t put in the Blowout City category, but the Badgers aren’t nearly the team we thought they would be and are very fortunate for be 2-1. Don’t expect UTEP to be a cakewalk for Wisconsin. Mike Price’s Miners gave Oklahoma a scare in the opener (a game that was tied at halftime at 7) and played OK at Ole Miss (it was 21-10 in the third quarter). Badgers win, but not convincingly, 23-13.

– Central Michigan (1-1) @ Iowa (2-1)
Saturday
Noon
BTN
Iowa City, Iowa (Kinnick Stadium 70,585)

A couple weeks ago, the Chippewas were no match for Michigan State and their lone win this season was by 11 points over Southeast Missouri State. Iowa is decimated at running back, but surely the Hawks will win at home. Hawks improve to 3-1 with 27-14 win.

– Temple (1-1) @ Penn State (1-2)
Saturday
3:30 p.m.
ABC/ESPN2
University Park, Pa. (Beaver Stadium 106,572)

This one features a battle between two BCS schools as Temple is now a member of the Big East. The problem for the Owls is their offense isn’t good enough to seriously threaten Penn State’s pretty good defense. Lions prevail, 27-16.

– Louisiana Tech (2-0) @ Illinois (2-1)
Saturday
8 p.m.
BTN
Champaign, Ill. (Memorial Stadium 60,670)

Illinois’ defense will be challenged this week as Tech ranks third nationally in scoring (56 points per game), ninth in rushing (289 yards) and 17th in passing (314.5). The problem for Tech’s upset bid will be its defense, which allowed 49 and 37 points to Houston and Rice, respectively. Illini in a shootout, 41-31.

Blowout City
– UAB (0-2) @ #16 Ohio State (3-0)
Saturday
Noon
BTN
Columbus, Ohio (Ohio Stadium 102,329)

Ohio State had its scare last week and UAB is no Cal. Credit the Blazers for scheduling back-to-back games against South Carolina and the Buckeyes. Hope the payday was worth it. Braxton Miller goes off yet again. Bucks big, 52-14.

– Eastern Michigan (0-3) @ #21 Michigan State (2-1)
Saturday
3:30 p.m.
BTN
East Lansing, Mich. (Spartan Stadium 75,005)

EMU is terrible, allowing 37, 31 and 54 points to unranked teams, so just think how often the scoreboard is going to light up against the Spartans. Plus, Michigan State won’t be in the best of moods after its dismal showing against the Irish. All Green in this one as in Spartan Green, 49-7.

– Idaho State (1-1) @ #25 Nebraska (2-1)
Saturday
3:30 p.m.
BTN
Lincoln, Neb. (Memorial Stadium 81,091)

This has massacre written all over it. The Huskers will score as many points as they want against a team that gave up 49 points to Air Force and is poor against the run. Hide the children. It gets ugly early in Lincoln. Nebraska, 56-0.

– South Dakota (1-1) @ Northwestern (3-0)
Saturday
3:30 p.m.
BTN
Evanston, Ill. (Ryan Field 47,130)

This is another boring FCS-FBS matchup. If Montana hung 35 on the Coyotes think how many Northwestern might score. It might be, it could be, it is the ˜Cats are 4-0 after this week. Wow! NU 44-10.

You can argue with Doug in the comments section or at www.twitter.com/ISLgriffiths.