The guys in black and white stripes haven't been having an easy year in the Big Ten.

Four officials have already been dismissed for their officiating in the Purdue-Wake Forest game Sept. 21, and Penn State football coach Joe Paterno ran down one referee after the Nittany Lions' game against Iowa to tell him how bad two of his cohorts were doing. Even so, the Big Ten coaches are split as to whether the conference should allow the officials to correct mistakes with instant replay.

With as much importance as there is riding on every game in a college football season, some coaches want to make sure that everything possible is done to assure that officials have all the tools to make the right rulings to decide those games.

"I think if it's at all feasible that we could do it, we certainly should look into it," Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez said. "As much as is riding on these games, if you lose a game because of a call it really hurts. You hate to take that away from the kids. You want kids who are playing to decide the game."

Others think that the referees do well enough on their own not to subject the college game to some of the adverse effects of instant replay.

"I'm not a big fan of instant replay," Penn State football coach Joe Paterno said. "You just have to live with some calls. Some go your way, some don't. [Instant replay] just makes the games longer ... As long as the officials are hustling, and getting into a good position to make calls, fine."

Of course, no one's opinion matters if the bills can't get paid.

"It's a huge financial commitment," said Michigan State coach Bobby Williams. "Every school probably could not afford to have it at every game because not all games are televised and teams would have to provide their own systems."

Time Off

Three conference teams are coming off bye weeks, including Michigan, but every team is in action this week. Ohio State, the lone team not playing a conference opponent, is playing San Jose State.

When asked about the virtues of bye weeks, many coaches agreed that the most deciding factor is when they come in the schedule.

"The best time for a bye week is when your team is a little banged up and you see that the emotional energy of your team is not at the level it needs to be," Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said. "When you have momentum, the worst thing you can have is a bye."

Though every team has an off week on the schedule, Iowa doesn't actually have a bye, they just end their season a week early. That suits them just fine.

"I hate bye weeks," Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said. "The only value it has is that it gives your team a little rest, but they throw off your routine, and I think that's tough to deal with."

Watch the meters

The Big Ten and the SEC are the only conferences with five teams in the top 25 in both polls. Both also have two squads in the top ten in the ESPN Coaches poll. No one in the conference is celebrating yet. No Big Ten team has finished in the top ten in both polls since three teams did so in 1999. Iowa, the most unlikely squad in the top 25, is also trying to avoid putting importance on its ranking. The 5-1 Hawkeyes, the only conference team in the poll that was not ranked at the beginning of the season, hasn't finished in the top 25 since 1996.

"This is just temporary parking right now," Ferentz said. "It's premature to get excited with the conference or national race ... We're going to do what we can, give an honest day's effort and let the chips fall where they may."