[NU Sports] Morning report ...

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

Whew ... the Cats can thank their D yet again for the win. Nice to win a close one again after a lot of earlier ones this year went against us ... still, we should have had this game put away by halftime. HIRE A SPECIAL TEAMS COACH ASAP!!! We obviously need that waaaay more than a superbacks coach.

But at the end of the day, we've beaten the Illini, gotten to seven wins and are heading into our third straight rivalry game next week on a roll and with a lot to play for.

What does it mean for the bowl picture? We'll know a bit more in the evening report. A close loss by Iowa could mean a second B(C)S bid (especially since the Gophers couldn't beat a team of bacon bits for Floyd of Rosedale next week) ... but a crushing defeat could mean just one B(C)S team since neither Penn State or Wisconsin have many quality wins behind those possible 10-2 marks and Iowa would be folding.

First though, around the league ...

* WISCONSIN looks like it will give our run D a big test next week as they come in on a roll with eyes on Orlando. But their D has some holes as well if we can exploit them. As for Michigan, after a 4-0 start, RichRod may now have to beat the Buckeyes to save his job and head to the Motor City Bowl. Ugh.

* PENN STATE finally woke up, but they haven't put together two quarters of good football in a long time.

* Your heart breaks for PURDUE at the end, but a nice win by MSU in West Lafayette. If they can catch PSU still sloppy next week and move up to seven wins, Sparty might be the best bet to pass us into the #5 spot in bowl pecking order.

* MINNESOTA got extremely lucky, but they are playing such poor football right now in their typical late slide, that I think they're the last pick no matter what.

As for the bowl picture ...

It's pretty clear now who's in and out ...

IN (with a projected bowl at this point)
- Ohio State (Rose vs. Oregon - unless Iowa pulls off a miracle)
- Wisconsin (Citrus vs. LSU - if they beat us, they're the hot team)
- Penn State (Outback vs. Tennessee - a bigger draw than Iowa)
- Iowa (Champs vs. Virginia Tech - heckuva mid-season game - great Ds)
- Michigan State (Alamo vs. Nebraska - could be a great D game also)*
- Northwestern (Insight vs. Texas Tech - we get bumped, but it's to AZ! I'd prefer a purple power game with K-State, but yaa for Phoenix!)
- Minnesota (Motor City vs. Central Michigan - lucky to scrape in)

* - If you can take a 6-6 team over a 7-5 team in-league, then Sparty bumps us win or lose next week based on a repeat visit to the Alamo and their name over ours

LIMBO
- Michigan (Must beat the Buckeyes - Motor City folks hoping so)

OUT
- Purdue
- Indiana
- Ill-noise

But we'll know a bit more tonight based on the games in Columbus and Fort Wuth. For now, always good to beat the Ill-whine-I (who have to be behind only Purdue and IU in silly hand gestures from fans) and get the Sweet Land of Sioux Lincoln tomahawk/stovepipe hat.

GO CATS!!!
-SjT

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STEPHEN J. TRUOG
sjtruog at yahoo.com
GO CATS!!!