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Thursday, October 12, 2000

When the Associated Press unveiled its preseason Top 25 poll, the Big Ten had seven ranked teams, a tribute to the conference's status and its teams' performances in bowl games after last season.

Seven weeks into the season, four of the teams that were ranked -- Illinois, Michigan State, Penn State and Wisconsin -- are out of the Top 25 with a combined 11-12 record, 1-9 in the Big Ten.

Wisconsin (3-3, 0-3) has taken the hardest fall. Ranked No. 4 entering the season, the Badgers struggled to win their three non-conference games and have lost three in a row to Northwestern, Michigan and Ohio State. The two-time defending Rose Bowl champions are 0-3 in conference play for the first time since 1996.

Illinois (3-2, 0-2), ranked No. 21 to start the season, also started 3-0. But the Illini lost to Michigan late in the game, and then lost big, 44-10, at Minnesota the following week.

Michigan State (3-2, 0-2), which began the season No. 25, also started 3-0, but the Spartans were trounced by Northwestern and Saturday lost to Iowa, which had a 13-game losing streak entering the game.

Penn State (2-5, 1-2), ranked No. 22 in the preseason poll, made the earliest exit. The Nittany Lions dropped out after losing to USC in the Kickoff Classic. They have lost to three unranked teams, Toledo, Pitt and Minnesota.

Michigan (4-2, 2-1) began No. 6 but has dropped 12 places to No. 18 after losses to UCLA and Purdue in the past four weeks. Purdue (4-2, 2-1) has dropped from No. 14 to 21, mostly because of its loss at Penn State two weeks ago.

Only two teams have risen. Undefeated Ohio State (5-0, 2-0) began the season No. 16 and is now No. 6 after a 23-7 victory against Wisconsin. And story-of-the-year Northwestern (5-1, 3-0) began unranked and is now No. 17 after consecutive victories against Wisconsin, Michigan State and Indiana.

Only Ohio State, Northwestern, Michigan and Purdue are ranked in the Top 25, and that number could dwindle this week if Northwestern beats Purdue.

"We all sat in Chicago at Big Ten media day and thought there was a great deal of parity in the league," Wisconsin Coach Barry Alvarez said. "I can remember [Northwestern Coach] Randy Walker saying he thought our league would be pretty strong if his team was voted to come in last because he thought he was going to have a pretty good football team.

"Everyone has different situations. We've had to deal with adversity and some things we didn't know we would have to deal with at the beginning of the season. That's why you play the games. That's why college football is so great. It's not predictable."

"That's college football," Ohio State Coach John Cooper said. "It's happening all over the country. Look at the SEC. Alabama was picked to win that conference and was No. 3 to begin the season. Tennessee has lost three and Florida has lost. Look at USC. They beat Penn State, but then lost to a couple of teams. Texas got pounded last week. It's college football. It's not just happening in the Big Ten. It's happening all over college football."

Game of the Week

Northwestern is host to Purdue Saturday at noon in a game featuring the top two scoring offenses in the conference. Northwestern is averaging 37 points per game; Purdue 34 per game. Both teams spread the field with three- and four-receiver sets, but that's where the similarities stop.

"There are distinct differences," Purdue Coach Joe Tiller said. "Northwestern looks to run first and pass second. Purdue looks to pass first, run second."

Northwestern running back Damien Anderson is third in the nation in rushing, second in the Big Ten behind Wisconsin's Michael Bennett, with 175 yards per game. Purdue quarterback Drew Brees leads the Big Ten in passing with 1,930 yards.

Short snaps

Mason said he anticipates that sophomore running back Tellis Redmond will play Saturday against Ohio State. Redmond, who rushed for 150 yards last week against Penn State, was arrested Saturday night for driving without a valid license. Redmond is the third Minnesota player to be arrested this season. Kicker Mike Albert was charged with drunken driving Sept. 24 and linebacker DaVonta Bell was charged with misdemeanor assault for allegedly punching a man Sept. 10. Both players have pleaded innocent. ... Ohio State had 17 tackles for loss, including 11 sacks, last week against Wisconsin.

Quote of the Week

Minnesota Coach Glen Mason on being the homecoming game for just about every away game, including the one this week at Ohio State: "We don't rent buses when we go to away games, we rent floats."