An Iowa student with a Michigan bias breaks down the Big Ten conference with attempted objectivity, week by week

I woke up today, grabbed The Daily Iowan, looked at the Iowa-Illinois football pre-game section titled "Border Brawl" and thought, "uh oh."

This weekend has a freakishly high chance of turning into a karmic boomerang from some of my post-game actions last year in Champagne, Illinois when Iowa trounced U of I. Now, I usually consider myself a good person, but this was one of the few times in the last couple years of my life that I just operated with reckless abandon. When Iowa won, my Hawkeye crew (plus four or five Illinois fans who were joining us for the hell of it) shouted obscenities at people, yelled "let the winners walk!" every time we crossed a downtown street, and basically ran amok in multiple Champagne businesses. We ended up getting kicked out of Antonio's pizza three separate times, as well as a Gyro place later that night.

The point here is, what goes around, comes around. And after three years of Iowa wins, Illinois looks ready to stuff it all back in our faces.

The Fighting Illini (minus Chief Illiniwek) are coming into Iowa City favored by 4 points, and joining them are several of my friends from high school looking to take revenge on last year's shit talking, which is compounded from some shit talking from 2005 when UNC beat Illinois in the NCAA men's basketball finals.

I know I should be scared, but I'm not. That's not to say I'm cocky.

We have: hatred for Ron Zook (myself excluded from that...I think he's funny), no expectations, and fans who desperately don't want to see Iowa fall any further converging in a stadium that can get loud loud loud.

They have: actual talent, rising expectations, and an offense Iowa has shown no signs of being able to stop.

The ball is in Illinois' court, but I can't shake the feeling Iowa is getting ready to stuff them on the way to the rim.

All week I've heard a lot about Illinois linebacker J Leman (one letter, really?), as well as Ricky's TUP Heisman fave Rashard Mendenhall. From there, I know about Juice Williams and his legs, but that seems to top it off. The defense hasn't been anything to write home about, and Illinois doesn't exactly have a lot of big game experience. This is their test. We'll see if they come prepared. Illinois has been Iowa's little brother for the last couple years, and seeing them emerge as undefeated in conference while Iowa is still winless has been rather stunning.

The pick: Iowa. I'm going with history over what I've actually seen, but it's pretty much all we've got left to cling onto in Iowa City.

Rubbing the dreary eyes to take a peak at the rest of college football...

The College Football Bandwagon: Every year, once my actual favorite teams have been eliminated from the national title picture (by, you know, losing just one game), my buddy Ryan and I create what we call the "College Football Bandwagon" which mostly consists of a list of all the undefeated BCS conference teams minus Texas, Notre Dame, Ohio State, and sometimes others (this year, Florida & Boston College). Special exemptions are made for the Utahs, Boise States, and Hawaiis of the world. The goal of the CFB is to fake feel good about yourself when your "team" makes the national championship. Plus it gives you invested rooting interests.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL BANDWAGON 2007
Hawaii - I feel like the buzz around Hawaii is kind of fading. Colt Brennan might have to throw something like 9 touchdowns this week. And playing on Friday night might help with the whole lack of attention thing.
Kansas - Huge win over K-State last week legitimized the Jayhawks to some of the skeptics. But hey, the bandwagon is proof that I always believed (at least until it loses). A very winnable home game against Baylor shouldn't be too tough.
California - Pac Ten favorites. When was the last time a non-USC team had that title?
Arizona State - Washington at home this week. We'll see what Jake Locker -- who has the worst passer rating in the Pac Ten -- thinks about this.
LSU - I know the Tigers are one of the strongest teams we have left, but I'd love to see a Kentucky upset.
South Florida - Maybe try and win by two touchdowns this week? Too much to ask?
Cincinnati - Cinci has only played one conference game. This week, the Bearcats play at home and get Brian Brohm, who is suddenly playing the role of spoiler.

Bandwagon Related Notes:

• Losing the Trojans last week was a tough blow, but most of the other teams hung in there -- plus, having LSU to fall back on felt pretty good.
• Why no Missouri? Someone asked me about this last week and I figured it had to do with me, but when I checked with Ryan, it was apparently his decision. I guess Ryan, a diehard Hawkeye fan, is mad that Mizzou pulled out of some game it was supposed to play in Iowa City a few years ago because it was afraid of playing us or something. He's still mad about it, so I guess the Tigers stay off...for now.
  

There is no Heisman fave, but my Michigan bias likes Mike Hart: He has carried this team and although statistics back him up further, you'd have to watch the games to truly understand what he means to Michigan. I won't make any "heart/Hart" puns, but he is an emotional leader, a hard nosed runner who maxes out the potential of every running play, and the glue that has kept the Wolverines together during its darkest times.

That said, you can't go wrong with Brennan, DeSean Jackson, Darren McFadden, or Matt Ryan, either. But this isn't like last year's Troy Smith lockup. Who isn't pulling for LSU DT Glenn Dorsey to make a run at it?

USC Upset vs. Michigan Upset: USC's loss to Stanford was a bigger upset (factoring in the point spread and the fact that Stanford was playing an untested backup QB). Michigan's was more memorable, and in ten/twenty years, I'm sure people will still be talking about that one. But let's not say one clearly stands out over the other. I know Standford is a Pac Ten team, but they'd been horrible up to that point. And those who say the USC one isn't even close to Michigan's seems to forget that Michigan was playing the defending national champions, and were one made FG away from actually winning that game. The whole "which one was bigger?" controversy is like debating Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan in a relapse pick 'em. Either way, you're golden.

#11 Missouri at #6 Oklahoma: Who knew how big this game would be at the beginning of the year? I love how the Sooners have the higher ranking, too. You can't feel that confident if you're a Missouri fan, but we'll see.

Florida State is boring. Drew Weatherford is funny: How the hell did FSU sneak back into the rankings? Well, Wake Forst made sure the Seminoles aren't going to be there for very long with a three point win Thursday night. FSU is now 1-2 in the ACC, and I have no idea why Bobby Bowden is still considered an amazing coach.

Penn State fans are respectful, non-confrontational: After avoiding several fistfights in Madison a few weeks back, I expected much of the same when my buddy Jeff and I traveled to Penn State for the Iowa game last week. Didn't happen. Most of the people there just seemed flattered that we drove the thirteen hours to get to Happy Valley. I guess that's what happens when you're on the eastern fringe of the Big Ten; you don't expect much. Beaver Stadium was a great atmosphere, though since the game was out of reach for almost the whole time, I never had a chance to see how the crowd got up in big spots. When I asked the PSU fans who their biggest rival was, most of them half heartedly said, "Michigan...or Ohio State." I didn't have the heart to tell them rivalries usually have to be a two-way thing.

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Matchup of the Week: #18 Illinois at Iowa - I know Iowa stinks, but this is one of the last things Illini has to cross off on the agenda before the fans can really start to believe.

Other of Interest: Purdue at Michigan - Peace out, Purdue.

#19 Wisconsin at Penn State - Should be a big conference game, but it feels a little stale to me.

Watch only with hands over your eyes: Kent State at #3 Ohio State - What's the opposite of "pulling out all the stops"? I think Tressell is going to do that en route to victory.

Honorable mention: Minnesota at Northwestern - Will suck for sure.

Big Ten Power Rankings
1. #3 Ohio State (6-0, 3-0) - The Buckeyes always, always win the games they're supposed to. Man, I wish I rooted for them. Kent State this week ensures much of the same.
2. Michigan (4-2, 2-0) - Not particularly impressive against Eastern Michigan last week, but I kind of got the feeling it was a "we're saving this for when it actually counts"-type game.
3. #18 Illinois (5-1, 3-0) - Huge win over Wisconsin last week, but Vegas -- and a lot of other people -- saw that one coming.
4. #19 Wisconsin (5-1, 2-1) - Well, the Badgers lost and suddenly they're likable again.
5. Indiana (5-1, 2-1) - Hold strong as the other mid-range teams fall.
6. Penn State (4-2, 1-2) - Gets its first Big Ten win against hapless Iowa
7. Purdue (5-1, 1-1) - The Boilermakers had a week sit and think about the egg it laid against Ohio State while prepping for Michigan.
8. Northwestern (3-3, 1-2) - Go from awful to crummy with a huge OT win against MSU.
9. Michigan State (4-2, 0-2) - Jesus, what happened? That Wisconsin loss is turning into the Notre Dame letdown from last year, where a letdown game snowballed into more losses. Spartans fans better hope Dantonio finds a way to melt it.
10. Iowa (2-4, 0-3) - There is no reason to think this team has any chance to improve...
11. Minnesota (1-5, 0-3) - ...but at least we're not the Gophers.

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Also on the Network: √ In Mo We Trust [Depressed Fan] √ Yankees Fizzle Out On The Fourth [Green Pinstripes] √ Road Trip Part One [Beantown West] √ Beckett Beats Rasner [Depressed Fan] √ Memories of Shea Stadium: The 1964 World's Fair [Loge 13] √ Lester Lays the Hammer on Yanks [Green Pinstripes] √ Not Quite The Start I Was Looking For [Depressed Fan] √ Either way, this Brett Favre business will likely end gloriously [Tremendous Upside Potential]

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