Oct. 19, 2008
[ONE // football concludes week eight]
Five Big Ten football games were on the docket this week and Illinois, Iowa, Northwestern, Ohio State and Penn State all came out winners. In fact, the closest margin of victory this weekend was 22 points, which occurred in both Iowa’s 38-16 win over Wisconsin and Northwestern’s 48-26 victory against Purdue. Illinois took out Indiana, 55-13, while Ohio State ousted Michigan State 45-7, and Penn State stayed undefeated on the year with a 46-17 outcome against Michigan.
[TWO // news and nights from the gridiron]
Despite having only five games this week, Big Ten fans saw quite a number of impressive performances on the gridiron. Iowa’s Shonn Greene rushed for a career-high 217 yards and four touchdowns in the Hawkeyes’ win, while Illinois’ Jason Ford ran for 172 yards and three scores. Penn State’s Evan Royster recorded 174 rushing yards on 18 carries to help the Nittany Lions snap a nine-game losing streak to Michigan. Purdue’s Kory Sheets rushed for 168 yards and two touchdowns in the loss to Northwestern, which was led by QB C.J. Bacher and his 230 yards and three TDs on 20-of-33 passing. The Wildcat defense also forced five turnovers, including three interceptions. Michigan State lost the ball five times in the loss at Ohio State and the Buckeye offense was equally as impressive as its defense. Freshman quarterback Terrelle Pryor was 7-of-11 passing for 116 yards and a score, and racked up 72 yards rushing on 12 carries. Chris "Beanie" Wells had 140 yards on the ground and two scores on a season-high 31 carries.
[THREE // four conference squads in first bcs standings]
The first Bowl Championship Series standings were released Sunday and four conference schools are represented in the report. Ranked third in the national polls, Penn State is slated third in the BCS standings, followed by No. 9 Ohio State, No. 22 Northwestern and No. 24 Minnesota. For a complete look at the BCS standings, click here.
[FOUR // basketball season begins with madness]
Several Big Ten men’s and women’s basketball teams officially opened the 2008-09 season in a “maddening” way this weekend. Friday night marked the first day basketball teams could begin practice and the Big Ten Network was on hand at five schools to help ring in the new year. For a closer look at the coverage at Indiana’s Hoosier Hysteria, Michigan State’s Midnight Madness, Tubby’s Tipoff at Minnesota, Purdue’s Mackey Madness and Wisconsin’s Night of the Grateful Red, click on the respective links.
[FIVE // madness with a touch of volleyball]
In recent years, Big Ten schools have found a great way to incorporate volleyball into a night dedicated to basketball. On Friday in Bloomington, the Hoosier volleyball team rebounded from dropping the first set to oust Ohio State, 3-1 (22-25, 25-15, 25-18, 29-27), in front of 8,000 fans at Assembly Hall. Purdue also promoted its volleyball squad as part of Mackey Madness, and the 21st-ranked Boilermaker squad gave more than 10,000 fans something to cheer about before the basketball teams took to the court. Purdue defeated No. 19 Wisconsin in a five-set thriller, 22-25, 25-21, 27-29, 25-16, 15-9, in front of 10,570 fans -- the second largest crowd in school history.
[SIX // staying at the net]
We mentioned the Indiana volleyball team and the wild night it had on Friday by winning in front of 8,000 fans. In the Hoosiers’ matchup against Michigan on Saturday, things remained wild. Despite trailing early in all three sets, the 22nd-ranked Wolverines rallied to sweep IU, including a thrilling match-clinching 38-36 victory in the third set.
[SEVEN // opening laps]
Both the Indiana and Purdue men’s and women’s swimming teams opened its respective 2008-09 campaigns this weekend in convincing fashion. The Hoosier men defeated Kentucky, 189-108, while the women topped the Wildcats by a count of 164-121. The Purdue men (887.50) topped Ball State (386.50), Indianapolis (341.50) and IUPUI (132.50). The race on the women's side was a little closer, but with the same result. Purdue finished on top at 718, followed by Ball State (647), Indianapolis (308) and IUPUI (143).
[EIGHT // men’s cross country squads compete at pre-nationals]
Eight conference men’s cross country teams competed this weekend at NCAA Pre-Nationals in Terre Haute, Ind. In the Blue race, Michigan led all league squads in third with 146 points, followed by Minnesota (234) in fifth, Iowa (512) in 18th, and Ohio State (527) in 21st. In the White race, Indiana (219) was eighth overall and was trailed by Michigan State (392) in 14th, Illinois (745) in 28th, and Purdue (1141) in 39th. Minnesota’s Hassan Mead paced all Big Ten runners with a third-place finish in the Blue race with an 8,000-meter time of 23:33.1.
[NINE // women’s teams also in action]
Ten of the league’s 11 women’s cross country teams were also in action this past week in Terre Haute, as six squads recorded top-10 finishes over two races. In the Blue race, Minnesota placed third with 198 points, followed by Michigan State (215) in fourth. Wisconsin (247) and Iowa (283) were sixth and ninth, respectively, while Indiana (438) placed 14th. In the White race, Michigan (168) and Illinois (186) were third and fourth, followed by Purdue (654) in 28th, Northwestern (787) in 31st, and Ohio State (879) in 35th. Michigan’s Nicole Edwards was the Big Ten’s top runner overall, placing second in the White race with a 6,000-meter time of 20:21.
[TEN // purdue excels in another preview]
While several cross country teams were competing in a preview of the NCAA Championships, all 11 women’s golf teams were in action over the weekend in a preview of the Big Ten Championships. The Lady Northern fall tournament has long been played on the course that will serve as the site of the conference championship in the spring. Purdue will serve as the 2009 host and showed it will be tough to beat on its home course. The Boilermakers captured the title with a 31-over-par 895. Michigan State (912) was second, followed by Indiana (4th, 924), Michigan (5th, 937), Ohio State (6th, 938), Minnesota (7th, 941), Iowa (8th, 942), Wisconsin (10th, 947), Illinois (11th, 958), Penn State (12th, 963) and Northwestern (13th, 967).
[ELEVEN // all eyes on the horseshoe]
Keeping with the “preview” theme, we end this week by previewing what is to come this upcoming week. We learned Sunday that ESPN's College GameDay program, hosted by Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Lee Corso, will broadcast Saturday morning from the Ohio State campus before that evening's No. 3 Penn State/No. 10 game at Ohio Stadium. The show will air from 10-noon. More details can be found by clicking here!
