Every football fan in Bloomington, Ind. — there actually are some — will tell you Saturday's Wisconsin-Indiana game is huge.
With Ohio State and Penn State ineligible and Illinois and Purdue hopeless, either the Badgers or Hoosiers will play Dec. 1 for the Big Ten title and a Rose Bowl berth.
If the Hoosiers win Saturday, they would be 3-3 in the Big Ten — equal to Wisconsin — and would hold the tiebreaker. That essentially means they would be a game up with two to play. And Indiana has an easier schedule: While both play at Penn State, Indiana has a date at Purdue and Wisconsin hosts Ohio State.
Hoosiers coach Kevin Wilson, though, had this take: "We're 4-5 and 2-3 in the league. They don't replay our games on the Big Ten Network, and we always play in bad TV slots and don't get much coverage. It's a 12 o'clock (Eastern time) kick. This isn't a big game. If it was, we wouldn't be 4-5 and we wouldn't be playing at 12 o'clock."
Wilson knows big games, having coached under Bob Stoops at Oklahoma in three national title games.
Indiana has won two straight to get in position for a possible trip to Indianapolis. But the Hoosiers' victory over Iowa on Saturday drew just 40,646 to Memorial Stadium.
"I hope we get a great crowd," Wilson said. "We need this house filled up for a change."
No hope for Purdue? Yahoo Sports' Pat Forde reported Tuesday that Purdue coach Danny Hope is "on his way out," with "third-party feelers" going to potential successors. It wouldn't be a shock considering some expected the Boilermakers, who are 0-5 in the Big Ten, to contend for the top spot in the Leaders Division.
Asked about the report, an unfazed Hope replied: "Well, that's news to me. But any time the team isn't winning and it's rough sledding, there will be speculation. … I'm disappointed in the performance of our football team so far this season but not disappointed in the development of our program. We have come a million miles in just about every phase of our program."
If Hope exits, Purdue certainly will consider Illinois State coach Brock Spack, a former Purdue linebacker and assistant, and Northern Illinois' Dave Doeren.
Here's to you, Mr. Robinson: Penn State receiver Allen Robinson has made a stunning statistical leap after catching three passes last season and playing in the shadow of Justin Brown, who transferred to Oklahoma. Robinson's 57 receptions lead the Big Ten by 10, and he's also tops in touchdown catches with eight.
"He has a unique skill set," coach Bill O'Brien said of the 6-foot-3, 201-pound sophomore. "He's a tall guy who can jump and has really good hands. He can do a lot on the route tree. He can catch screens."
O'Brien said he knew Robinson would thrive after seeing that he was "very smooth" in winter workouts, adding: "Then in the spring we saw he was very smart and could play either outside receiver position or the slot."
Personal foul: After a questionable pass interference call helped Nebraska rally for a 28-24 victory over Michigan State, several Spartans players griped about the officiating on Twitter. In separate tweets, tailback Le'Veon Bell wrote: "ShoutOut to the refs … y'all won the game tonight!" and "we legitimately lost ONE game this year … and that was Notre Dame! The black&white beat us 4 times."
Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio said he had not read the tweets and did not seem bothered by them.
"I know there was a lot of frustration," Dantonio said. "And in this day and age, people use Twitter to get their frustrations out — not that it's right or wrong."
Around the Big Ten: Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz does not expect running back Mark Weisman (groin) to play against Purdue, even though Weisman is practically living in the trainers' room. "He is definitely breaking the 20-hour rule," Ferentz said, referring to the weekly practice limit. "But there is no 20-hour rule for medicine." … Pat Fitzgerald on one of the keys to Northwestern having allowed just 12 sacks: "Our quarterbacks have to get the ball out of their hand and not make love to the ball." … The Omaha World-Herald reported that Nebraska has agreed in principle to renew the Oklahoma rivalry in a home-and-home series that likely will be played in 2021 (Norman) and 2022 (Lincoln). … Illinois' Tim Beckman and Minnesota's Jerry Kill have squared off twice before, when Beckman was at Toledo and Kill at Northern Illinois. Asked if the Gophers resemble Kill's Huskies teams, Beckman replied: "No question. They play hard; they play physical." Toledo eked out a 20-19 victory in 2009, and NIU romped 65-30 the following season.
Twitter @TeddyGreenstein
