It's Purdue week, and I'm here to say that a win Saturday is a step towards a Rose Bowl berth.
Acutally, I'm here to relay that. From the an AP Big Ten notebook:
Let’s say three teams tie for the Big Ten title with 7-1 records. Team A’s only loss came to Team B, which also has a nonconference loss. Team C beat Team B and didn’t play Team A, but lost to another conference team.
The result: Minnesota going to the Rose Bowl to play Southern California.
Under the scenario listed above, which is not that far fetched. Minnesota’s only loss so far came at Ohio State. If the Gophers win out and the Buckeyes lose to Penn State, but the Nittany Lions are then upset by Iowa or Indiana, Minnesota would be the big winner.
According to the Big Ten tiebreaker, Ohio State would drop out because it had the worst overall record with two losses. Since Minnesota and Penn State did not meet, and no other tiebreaker applies, the conference’s Bowl Championship Series representative would be determined by which team had last won the conference’s automatic BCS berth. Penn State represented the conference in 2005.
And that’s how the Golden Gophers can get to go to the Golden State.
Despite what our friends from Iowa might say, the Gophers CAN run the table down the stretch. The only portion of the above scenario that I think is questionable is Penn State losing a conference game if it's not beaten this week at Columbus. But, there's also the possibility that Penn State could catapult into a BCS title game.
A Rose Bowl berth isn't likely at this point. But it's possible. And that's just another large reason why we should be glued to our seats Saturday to watch Tim Brewster and company take on Purdue.
- Will Big Ten road teams go 5-0 this weekend? It's a question this article looks at. Minnesota is the only road underdog, and that is a questionable one-point edge for Purdue. Other potential road winners: Illinois at Wisconsin, Northwestern at Indiana, Michigan State at Michigan and Penn State at Ohio State.
- TheHeismanRace.com writes that Purdue's is a "Season on the Brink" at this point and predicts a Minnesota win Saturday.
- A top-25 ranking means the Gophers get into a whole lot more weekend previews. Here in the USA Today, the Gophers are predicted to be a 24-20 winner Saturday.
- Finally, there's a link on the left sidebar to The Landry Hat. It's a Dallas Cowboys blog run by a former colleague of mine. Little did I know that my old friend has completely jumped the shark. Am I overreacting in thinking about removing his link? In this video blog he dons a wrestling mask and uses a sock puppet to bash the Cowboys. And in this inagural video blog, he dons the same mask and begs Bill Cowher to coach the Cowboys.