14A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, October 15, 1998 Gophers should go dig up some holes to hide in I" By Chris Grandstaff For the Daily It's the middle of October and that means the Big Ten season hits full stride this weekend. This is the time of year football traditionalists live for. It's time for three yards in a cloud of dust, smash-mouth, knock-down, drag-it-out, I've-got-more-game-than you, your- mom-went-to-Michigan-State, you- just-suck football. This weekend's conference schedule is filled with the top-ranked matchups we have come to AROUND THE expect from the Big Ten. Saturday's menu of pigskin delights is highlighted by top ranked Ohio State hosting ... Minnesota? No, I meant No. 9 and undefeated Wisconsin at ... Illinois? OK, so there aren't any great games this weekend. It seems that last week- end's colossal matchup between Michigan State and Indiana has left the conference void of any meaningful games. By the end of Saturday night, however, we should be able to better discern the difference between the pathetic teams and the bad teams, and if anyone besides the Buckeyes can con- tend on the national level. MINNESOTA (0-2 BIG TEN, 3-2 OVERALL) AT OHIO STATE (2-0,5-0) Mason: noun. 1. one who builds or works with stone. 2. The last name of the Minnesota Golden Gopher football coach, who will need to build a stone wall around the end zone if he has any thoughts of upsetting the top-ranked Buckeyes in Columbus. Mason fittingly returns to The Horseshoe on homecoming weekend. The Gophers' coach is a former Ohio State player and was an assistant coach under the legendary Woody Hayes. Last weekend the Gophers had a solid game, sticking close to Penn State, but don't expect the same results on Saturday. Ohio State coach John (I can beat Minnesota but what's my record against the maize and blue, oh yeah, I- 7-1) Cooper is 9-0 in his career against Minnesota. The Buckeyes are the con- ference's No. I-ranked team in total offense, scoring offense, total defense, and, oh yeah, scoring defense. Ohio State quarterback Joe Germaine has thrown for 300 yards or more in his past three games and Ohio State is winning by an average score of 17 points. They're good or something. OHIO STATE 42, MINNESOTA 7. WISCONSIN (3-0, 6-0) AT ILLINOIS (1-2,2-4) Does Wisconsin ever play any good teams ? Seriously. The Badgers have yet to play a ranked team this season, and have just one ranked team scheduled for the rest of the season. Wisconsin has vaulted to No. 9 in the country, feasting on teams such as Ohio (is this team good in any- thing?), UNLV (used to be good in bas- ketball; its football team is a joke), and San Diego (we-don't-have-Marshal- Faulk-anymore- so-no-one-cares) 'IuflN State. CONFERENCE Wisconsin is led by running back Ron Dayne and his eighth-best 128 yards per game. Dayne is the sec- ond fastest running back to reach 4,000 career yards, matching Marshall (nobody cares about my school any- more) Faulk, and falling one game shy of the mark set by Herchel Walker. This weekend, Wisconsin travels to the tradition-rich home of Illinois, where All-Americans Red Grange, Dick Butkus, and more recently, Kevin Hardy and Dana Howard played. Home of 14 Big Ten championships and four national championships. Home of the worst team in all of college football last year. The Illini, who were slaughtered 41- 0 by Ohio State last Saturday, are hop- ing for a slightly closer game against Wisconsin this weekend. On the bright side, the Illini are already two games better than last season's record of 0-11. WISCONSIN 35, ILLINOIS 10 PURDUE (1-1, 3-3) AT PENN STATE (1-1, 4-1) Purdue's Drew Brees set an NCAA record last weekend, completing 55 of 83 passes for 494 yards in a losing effort against Wisconsin. Brees will probably need to match the feat, and then some, if the Boilermakers plan on pulling off the upset in Happy Valley. Purdue has not been too successful in recent years against the Nittany Lions. The last time the Boilers did not chalk up a loss against Penn State was in 1952 - when they tied. Sadly enough this could be the best game on the Big Ten ticket this week- end (with exception to the Wolverines and Wildcats). The Boilermakers have shown signs of brilliance with Brees at the helm. It will be smooth sailing for Brees and the rest of the Boilermakers after this week- end, as No. 9 Penn State is the last ranked team on Purdue's schedule. Penn State cannot afford another and still stay in the Big Ten race. The Nittany Lions already have one confer- ence loss and are going to need some help to earn even a share of the Big Ten Big Ten Standings Team Conf. Overall Wisconsin 3-0 6-0 Ohio State 2-0 5-0 Michigan 2-0 3-2 Iowa 2-1 3-3 Penn State 1-1 4-1 Michigan State 1-1 3-3 Purdue 1-1 3-3 Illinois 1-2 2-4 Minnesota 0-2 3-2 Indiana 0-2 2-3 Northwestern 0-3 2-4 V AP PHOTO Penn State hopes to bounce back after a blowout loss to Ohio State last Saturday. The Nittany Lions will face Purdue, a team they haven't loss to since 1952. IGMA WPA5 ORORITY title. PENN STATE 31, PURDUE 20. IOwA (2-1,3-3) AT INDIANA (1-2,2-3) What's up with Hayden Fry? The "Dean of the Big Ten" lash* out publicly against Des Moines Register sports writer Marc Hansen for calling Fry "unbelievable, " according to the Daily Iowan. Fry interpreted this to mean that Hansen was calling him a liar. In all fairness to Hansen, Fry did lie. Earlier in the week, Fry said that he planned on redshirting junior quarterback Randy Reiners. Just four days after maki that statement, Fry chose to stA Reiners against Northwestern. At the press conference in which he degraded Hansen, Fry was asked by another reporter if he understood "where (the media) are coming from.. There are 70,000 people at every game wanting to know the truth." Fry responded to this by saying "What's your point?" Hey Hayden, I've got a question for you: Are you dumb? Hayden and the rest of th Hawkeyes travel to Indiana in what could be called the battle of the corn states. This one could get ugly .if Indiana's Antwaan Randle El isn't ready to play. Randle El, who will also-. play for Indiana's basketball team this winter, received a concussion in the fourth quarter of last weekend's double overtime loss to Michigan State. Coac Cam Cameron said Randle El's ava ability for this weekend's game is still questionable. The Hoosiers have already matched their win total for last season, and have lost by a combined total of 15 points in their other three games. Indiana's improvement this season can for the most part be attributed to Randle El. As- bad as Indiana already is, it will be scary to see what happens to the Hoosiers without their best player. This game is just too tough to pip. without knowing the condition of Randle Elso I'll just go by who has the most corn. IOwA 12,200 ACRES, INDIANA 5,900 ACRES. The Women of Sigma Kappa new members into their bond of Sisterhood welcome their Margaret Battersby Sara Beckman Jill Boezwinkle Jenna Bosco Abby Bowen Marta Brill Terri Brown Stephanie Burnham Katy Canham Jessica Chamberlain Jessica Coen Amy Cornbleet Susan Dailey Maureen Feeny Brooke Flynn Laura Gluhanich Brook Hammond Kelly Harfoot Becky Karp Joanna Karr Kristen Korytkowski Holly Kralik Cristina Lane Lindsay Laneville Katherine Levine Molly Lewandowski Ada Loughhead Katie Macfarlane Anne Malaney Ali Martinez Vita Mauro Lauren Mickelson Ginny Moore Julie Muething Alison Mulcahy Missy Myer Bethany Palmer Erica Peterson Melissa Pilewskie Jessica Quinlan Tiffany Romelhardt Sherry Shore Sarah Skow Sarah Solberg Peaches Thomas Adrienne Trpcevski Sara VanderLaan Katy Wood Callie Youssi Dena Zamore r---- Oita iiny s " . s " s " s Server Tys When you work ~ome pla all th lates toys W EM-,-I .~L7 I ~ I