8A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, September 7, 2000 Amidst slight turmoil, Big Ten teams take confort in cupCak By Peter Lund For the Daily The overall pride of the Big Ten took a hit last week, as Wisconsin faced 26 suspensions amid an athletic shoe scandal and Penn State was routed by Toledo. But, on the bright side,. Northwestern beat Northern Illinois. This may be an interesting week for the conference. Indiana and Across the Michigan State take the field for lITE N the first time this season. There mnay also be some entertaining matchups in Oregon-Wisconsin, North Carolina State-Indiana and Ohio State- Arizona. There will be some other games worth missing, but that happens every week. The pride of the conference will be restored this week, and fans will notice that if they look closely enough a all of the predictions. OREG;ON AT No. 6 WiscoNsIN In a possible upset game, Oregon will visit a Wisconsin team struck with adversity over the last week and a half. Coach Barry Alvarez must face a good Ducks team without up to 22 players on his roster, who were suspended by the NCAA for their role in a scandal in which players received discounts at a Wisconsin shoe store. But it could be a whole lot worse for Wisconsin. Alvarez is spending much WHY HAS THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN FAILED ITS STUDENTS? For some answers see: www.universitysecrets.com of his time and energy deciding which of the suspended players will play and which will serve their one- to three- game suspensions, all of which must be fulfilled during the season's first four games. What's more, the NCAA is allowing Wisconsin wide receiver Chris Chambers to serve his suspension dur- ing an injury, defeating the whole pur- pose of a suspension. Wisconsin is lucky that the NCAA is giving them such flexibility - otherwise, this game would be a sure loss. Oregon is coming off an excellent defensive performance in a 36-7 victo- ry over Nevada, but the Ducks have not faced a team the caliber of Wisconsin, with or without suspensions. Wisconsin must also resist the temp- tation to look ahead to the following week, when it will host feared national football power Cincinnati, victors over the Badgers last season. Despite all the troubles facing the Badgers, they will pull out a close one. Wisconsin 27, Oregon 24 KENT AT No. 13 PURDUE This game has the makings of an extreme blowout. Pittsburgh, a quality football team but not of top-25 caliber, racked up 30 points and 293 passing yards against Kent last week. Now the Golden Flashes will face Purdue and Heisman candidate QB Drew Brees. All Kent will see are flashes as Brees and the Boilermakers run and throw past its hapless defense. - Purdue 66, Kent 0 No. 16 Omo STATVEi AT ARIZONA Saturday's game in Tucson would have looked like a great game at about this time last year. That was when Arizona opened the season in the pre- season top five, with Ohio State not far behind. But both schools plummeted into identical records of 6-6, neither play- ing in a postseason bowl: Both squads are coming off of impressive defensive performances, with the Wildcats defeating Utah 17-3 and the Buckeyes scoring four defensive touchdowns en router to a 43-10 victory over Fresno State. This could come down to a battle between athletic, run-happy quarter- backs. Arizona's Ortege Jenkins is a step above Ohio State's Steve Bellisari, but the Buckeyes still win. Ohio State 24, Arizona 10 No. 21 ILLINOIS AT SAN DIEGO STxrE The Fighting Illini head west with depth problems at running back. Rocky Harvey will start for Illinois, but after No. 2 tailback Antoineo Harris' injury last week and third- stringer Quincy Washington's dis- inissal from the team, only Harvey remains. San Diego State is equally troubled with injuries on offense, Three offen- sive linemen are sidelined for Saturday's game, two of whom are out for the season. The Aztecs' defense fared well against Arizona State last week in a 10-7 loss, but stopping the Illini will be a tough task, even with just one tailback. Illinois 20, San Diego State 9 MARSHALL AT No. 23 MICHIGAN STATE From the looks of it, this is a blowout - a ranked Big Ten team coming off a top-10 season against an unranked team from the Mid- American Conference. But as people learned last week between Toledo and Penn State, there are no guarantees in 2000. Michigan State opens the season without 1999's offensive star, wide receiver Plaxico Burress, as well as some players lost on defense. Marshall holds the nation's longest current win- ning streak with 17 wins, but in those 17 wins they have never faced a team as good as the Spartans. Michigan State 31, Marshall 21 NORTH CAROLINA STATE AT INDIANA This sounds like a matchup that would be more interesting on the bas- ketball court during Jimmy V's heyday in the 1980s rather than a football game in 2000. But given how these two teams stack up against each other, there might be an offensive shootout with a score more common in a bas- ketball game. The Hoosiers feature an explosive MMJORIE M NR1PLL/Ra~i Evan Coleman (39) and the Wolverines ruffled the Falcons' feathers last Saturday at Michigan Stadium. This week's docket c nonconference games offers another healthy dose of mismatches in the Big Ten. offense led by flashy quarterback Antwaan Randle El, but their defense ranked 10th in the Big Ten - which, the math majors know, is not last place -- with 430.1 yards allowed. They face in their season opener a Wolfpack offense that cruised through 539 yards of football field last week in a 38-31 double overtime victory over Arkansas State. But the Wolfpack defense is also butter, having surrendered 331 yards to cupcake Arkansas State, a team with an offense nowhere near the level of the Hoosiers. Randle El leads Indiana to victory in a shootout. Indiana 41, N.C. State 34 LOUISIANA TECH AT PENN STATE. Penn State has experienced a tumul- tuous season, starting with the offsea- son legal issues surrounding starting quarterback Rashard Casey and its 0-2 start, including a 24-6 loss to intended cupcake Toledo. After two games, Penn State has produced an impotent total of just 308 yards and is suddenly in danger of its first 0-3 start since 1983. The only good news around Happy Valley is that the Lions are still undefeated in the Big Ten. Of course, so are Iowa and Northwestern. Out of the national title picture just three days into September, the Lions are still playing for pride and for coach Joe Paterno, who is still seven wins away from breaking Bear Bryant's record for Division I-A wins. Suddenly, it's no guarantee this year - even in a 12-game season. The 1-1 Bulldogs are Comning off of two blowouts:a 63-10 win over Mississippi Valley State and a 54-10 loss to Kansas State. The Lions win, but they win ugly. Penn State 13, Louisiana Tech 7 DUKE A NORTHWESTERN Believe it or not, Northwestern will go to 2-0 with a victory over the Blue Devils after last week's victory over Northern Illinois. The Wildcats better enjoy it while they can, because they have a three-game stretch that features road games at Texas Christian, Wisconsin, and Michigan State. All three are ranked, and all three will rout the Wildcats. Northwestern 19, Duke 10 OHIO AT MINNESOT'A Here's another game Michigan st dents don't need to worry abou Minnesota has a hyped freshman qua terback in Asad Abdul-Khaliq, vh did well last week against Louisians Monroe before being knocked urwoi scious in the first half. If he's back fx this game, Minnesota will win. If he not, Minnesota will win. !a Minnesota 17, Ohio 3 WESTERN MICHIGAN AT IONNA The Broncos will debate amoig themselves for hours before final deciding to take the long trip to tov, for what will be a yawner of a footba game. This game will be so boring h there won't even be a point scored an the game will end in a 0-0 tie wait, there's overtime. Iowa 3, Western Michigan 0 (20T) Greatlakescycling.com ~t~~eS 30% off aNl Cling dvoure 2000 bikes G t Ean ndae Ia l m I qmw Congratulations & Welcome Back!!! A i Loudcloud congratulates its University of Michigan hires and wel- comes back its first intern class! 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