College Football Saturday!

12: 50 pm: Dearth. Dearthdearthdearthdearthdearth. Sometimes I just like to say it. Like the word, "smock."

So without any of the top BCS teams playing today, let's focus on the conference races. First, the Big Ten.

As I said, there is currently a three-way tie for first place in the Big Ten between Michigan State, Wisconsin, and Ohio State. As of right now, Michigan State has the tie-breaker based on their win over Wisconsin. Wisconsin beat Ohio State, and Ohio State doesn't play Michigan State. But the Spartans are in trouble right now, trailing Purdue 21-13. And what was looking like a blowout in Ann Arbor suddenly got close, with Wisconsin leading 24-14. If the Spartans can't make a comeback, then Wisconsin moves into the lead for the Rose Bowl. But they have to beat Michigan. And in the wings waits Iowa, who has two Big Ten losses, and can get back into the race with some luck and a win today against Ohio State.

Who says that the BCS has made the conference races meaningless? Not I.

1:11 pm: Oh, man. If Purdue holds on to win this game, the sixth grade math teacher where I work is going to give the drama teacher so much grief. It will be epic.

Last week, Wisconsin needed three "Bucky Badgers" to complete all of their push-ups for their 83-20 win over Indiana. Pussies.

Northwestern and Illinois will be kicking off in about an hour for the first football game at Wrigley Field since 1938. And yesterday, the NCAA announced that the east end zone - the one pointing towards the outfield wall and Lake Michigan - is too close to said wall, and therefore unsafe for use. This is after the game has been approved for eight months by Northwestern, the Cubs, the Big Ten, and the city of Chicago. Stewart Mandel asks, "Why did it take until the day before the game to address this? And if it wasn't possible to accommodate said rule, why is the game being played at Wrigley to begin with?" I know why. Because it's Chicago. And there's money involved.

1: 57 pm - The Northern Illinois Huskies just beat Ball State 59-21 to improve to 9-2 on the season. Should the MAC leaders be considered a top 25 team? Probably not. Their two losses are to Iowa State (Big 12, 5-6) and Illinois (Big Ten, 5-5).

2:06 pm - Michigan State is making a furious comeback against Purdue. They lead 35-31 with 4:24 left in the game after a blocked punt and recovering a fumble in the end zone for a touchdown. It's a game of inches.

2:15 pm - Michigan State escapes with a 35-31 win over Purdue, and with Wisconsin's win, they are guaranteed to lead the Big Ten for at least another week. And it was a great game - upset potential, Rose Bowl implications, a comeback, blocked punt, turnovers, and finally a defensive stand to win the game. Is it bad taste to call them the Heart Attack Kids? Probably, yes. Win at Penn State next week, and they'll be going to some BCS bowl, but not necessarily the Rose.

As for Purdue, they've lost their fifth in a row, and are now ineligible for a bowl game. Tough break, Boilermakers.