Purdue at Northwestern, noon
Both of these teams head into today's matchups still licking their wounds after losses to ranked teams. The Wildcats saw their perfect season come to an end last Saturday at the hands of No. 20 Michigan State. The defense struggled at home, allowing the Spartans to score 37 points in the loss. For the Boilermakers, they're coming off a tough road loss to No. 12 Ohio State. Running back Kory Sheets is one of Purdue's most dangerous weapons, and will look to run over and around Northwestern to get back in the winning column.
Wisconsin at Iowa, noon
After two straight games at home, Wisconsin will pack its bags and head down to Iowa City for a game against the Hawkeyes. But leaving the confines of Camp Randall may not be the worst thing for the Badgers. The friendly atmosphere of Madison has been anything but the past two weeks, after the Badgers dropped games to Ohio State and Penn State. They will look to right the ship against an Iowa team fresh off of a 45-9 spanking of Indiana. In that game, Iowa's offense put up 422 total yards against the Hoosiers, while the defense allowed just 286. Last season the Nittany Lions faced off against both the Hawkeyes and Badgers, defeating them both in back to back home games. Then-Iowa quarterback Jake Christensen was pressured continuously. Wisconsin couldn't keep up with the Lion's offense either, falling 38-7.
No. 12 Ohio State at No. 20 Michigan State, 3:30 p.m.
This is, without a doubt, the game to watch in the Big Ten today. The Spartans are flying a bit under the radar, at least on a national scope. A 6-1 record and wins over Notre Dame and Northwestern have Michigan State primed to give the Buckeyes a fight, and it'll be led by running back Javon Ringer, who already has 1112 yards and 14 touchdowns. Ohio State features versatile quarterback Terrelle Pryor, who has his team at 6-1 and ranked 12th in the country. Running back Chris "Beanie" Wells is back at 100 percent, and will look to make sure Ringer isn't the running back people are talking about after the game ends.
Indiana at Illinois, 8 p.m.
The nightcap for the conference features two teams trying to dig their way out of the bottom half of the Big Ten. Indiana is still searching for its first win in the conference, but will need to find a rhythm with its offense, which has scored just 16 points the last two games combined.
Its offense will try to find a spark against an underachieving Illinois team that began the season thinking of a Big Ten title. Quarterback Juice Williams has 13 passing touchdowns on the year, and four rushing touchdowns to accompany. Starting running back Daniel Dufrene has yet to find the endzone. Penn State hosted Illinois earlier this season, defeating the visiting Illini, 38-24 in front of a full-stadium whiteout.
