Sports Then and Now

For Big Ten Plus

Finally order has been restored in the college football world.

Zultan would be as perfect as the Iowa Hawkeye defense were it not for the losses endured by Golden Gophers and the Fighting Irish.

These two teams conspired both weeks to trip up the mighty one.  Perfidy!

This week these two teams continue to try to stymie the All-Seeing One as he ponders the depths with his crystal ball.

The cloudy images of upcoming football clashes displayed in vivid but runny colors will come into focus once the last whistle blows on Saturday. It is Zultan’s innate power that allows him to read the indistinct images and predict the college football future.

Last week Zultan nudged perfection at 10-2.

There were a lucky 13 of you who managed to outguess the mighty one with 11-1 records. These super prognosticators will be listed at the end of the article so as not to distract from the important task at hand, picking the winners in Week 3.

Is this your week to surpass Zultan? Are you ready to step out on the lucky limb of chance?  If so click here and make your picks.  We shall see who has the superior powers.  Get ready to feel a sense of loss as you go against the power of mighty Zultan.

Ohio Bobcats at Ohio State Buckeyes (2)

Last Saturday the Miami Hurricanes blew into Columbus intent on blasting the Buckeyes out of their lofty No. 2 ranking.

They failed, however, to hang onto the football and turnovers cost them a victory.

Ohio State slammed the door shut on the Canes 36-24 keeping them out of the top ten––and sending them back to the drawing board.

This week in the Big Ten, the Buckeyes face the Ohio Bobcats out of the MAC East.

The Bobcats are 1-1 on the season with a win 33-10 over the Wofford Terriers out of the Southern Conference––followed by a loss to fellow MAC Conference member Toledo Rockets 20-13.

This team is no match for the Buckeyes and the Bobcats will lose another one this week.

Ohio State wins going away.

Iowa Hawkeyes (9) at Arizona Wildcats (24)

The Hawkeyes dominated the Iowa State Cyclones in Week 2.

Iowa scored on their first three possessions, controlling the scoreboard, the clock and Iowa State’s offense.

Cyclone QB Austen Arnaud threw three interceptions in the third quarter, making Iowa’s task that much simpler.

This week, however, the Hawks must travel out West to the home of the now ranked No. 24 Arizona Wildcats.

The Wildcats mauled the Toledo Rockets 41-2 out of the MAC Conference in week one. They followed that up with a win over the Citadel of the Southern Conference 52-6.

Iowa, however, is whole lot more competition.

The Iowa defense will shut down Arizona and even though the Wildcats will make life interesting for Ricky Stanzi and crew, the Hawkeyes will see their way through.

Iowa Hawkeyes win this one on the road.

Arizona State Sun Devils at Wisconsin Badgers (11)

Wisconsin managed to win their game last week against the San Jose Spartans––but just barely.

It wasn’t total yardage or lack of effort that almost proved their undoing. Rather it was the inevitable turnovers that plagued the Badgers.

Just as in week one when the Badgers turned the ball over twice to the UNLV Running Rebels, they continued down this unwilled path last Saturday by committing untimely turnovers.

QB Scott Tolzien fumbled the ball three times which he managed to recover.  But RB James White lost possession as he stretched the ball out to reach the end zone and Tolzien tossed an interception.

This week Wisconsin had better hold onto the ball or else they will not find their opponent so forgiving.

The Arizona State Sun Devils stand 2-0 as they enter Camp Randall in Madison, Wisconsin. In their opener they pounded Portland State out of the Big Sky Conference 54-9 and then defeated the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks, also out of the Big Sky, 41-20.

This is the first big boy opponent for both teams.

But with the Big Ten superior to the PAC Ten this year, unless the Badgers self-destruct they will win at home.

The Badgers win this one.

USC Trojans (16) at Minnesota Golden Gophers

So far USC has beaten Hawaii out of the WAC Conference 49-36.

Then the Trojans got by normally lowly Virginia out of the ACC 17-14.

In the first outing the Trojans won with offense and in the second USC’s defense stepped up and saved them from a shocking upset.

Who will appear on Saturday in Minneapolis as the Golden Gophers, another schizophrenic team welcomes them to TCF Bank Stadium? Will it really matter?

The Gophers are already reeling after being upset by the South Dakota Coyotes in Week 2, 41-38.

Mr. Brewster needs to put that house on the market.

Zultan insists that USC smacks the Gophers at home this week.

Kent State Golden Flashes at Penn State Nittany Lions (18)

Yes, Penn State lost to Alabama in Week Two 24-3.

No one really expected a different outcome.

The question remains, how will Penn State use this defeat to help them for the rest of the season?

Considering the fact that the Lions turned the ball over three times inside the Alabama 20 yard line, the game could have been considerably closer against the No. 1 ranked team in the country.

Coulda, woulda, shoulda––move on Nittany Lions.

Prepare to welcome the Kent State Golden Flashes to Beaver stadium where they will find the Lions in an ugly mood.

Kent State opened their season with a win over Murray State Racers out of OVC 41-10.  The next week they lost to Boston College 26-13.

They will notch another loss as the Nittany Lions win this one at home.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Michigan State Spartans

Zultan dreads picking this contest since he has missed twice with the Irish.

The Irish beat Purdue at home in their opener. The next week Notre Dame lost to Michigan again in South Bend. That only tells us that Michigan is probably a better team than Purdue.

Michigan State has defeated Western Michigan and then went on to defeat Florida International at Ford Field in Detroit.

Not much to tell in those wins except that the Spartans are running well and kicking well.

What they are not doing well is guarding against the pass––a failing they will wish to remedy before the Irish come calling on Saturday night.

This is the first road trip for Notre Dame and they will be playing a team that lives to win this game.

With fear and trepidation, Zultan picks the Spartans to upend the Irish in East Lansing.

Ball State Cardinals at Purdue Boilermakers

Purdue opened their season with a loss to Notre Dame.

But the Boilers came back to win against the Western Illinois Leathernecks last Saturday even though Purdue played lackluster football, perhaps losing receiver Keith Smith for the season with an injury to his right leg.

Purdue will have a chance to test themselves again this week as they face the Ball State Cardinals.

In their opener Ball State defeated Ohio Valley Conference member Southeast Missouri State 27-10.

The Cardinals lost the following week to the Liberty Flames out of the Big South 27-23.

Purdue will shoot down the Cardinals in Week Three.

Massachusetts Minutemen at Michigan Wolverines (20)

With their victory on the road at Notre Dame, the Wolverines suddenly find themselves ranked in the top twenty in college football.

Denard Robinson, the Michigan quarterback is proving himself to be “the offense” for the Wolverines and his performances so far this season have been jaw-dropping.

Back to reality, Michigan plays at home where they will be welcoming the Massachusetts Minutemen to Ann Arbor on Saturday.

The Minutemen are 2-0 entering Saturdays contest against the Wolverines.

UMass won over William and Mary in week one, 27-23. The next week they took out Holy Cross 31-7. Currently they lead the CAA North.

Zultan knows, however, that the Minutemen will lose to Michigan.

Northern Illinois Huskies at Illinois Fighting Illini

Illinois lost their opener to the Missouri Tigers 23-13 but won against Southern Illinois 35-3 as the Illini continue to climb out of the quagmire of 2009.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase continues to impress while running back Mikel LeShoure ran for 115 yards, scoring a touchdown.

Next week the Illini will play host to Northern Illinois who opened against the Iowa State Cyclones, losing on the road 27-10.

They won in week two overcoming North Dakota Fighting Sioux 23-17, a member of the MAC West.

Expect Illinois to continue their winning ways, at least in Week 3.

Indiana Hoosiers at Western Kentucky Hilltoppers

Indiana had a week off after their opener on September 4, after knocking off the Towson Tigers 51-17.

This week the Hoosiers take on the task of testing their players against the Hilltoppers of Western Kentucky.

For the record, the Hilltoppers lost in week one to the Nebraska Cornhuskers 49-10 and last Saturday they were upended by the big boys at Kentucky 63-28. Western Kentucky is a member of the Sun Belt Conference.

By the end of next week they will be 0-3 but much richer.

Expect the Indiana Hoosiers to win this Big Ten contest.

Northwestern Wildcats at Rice Owls

Northwestern has won twice in a row against Vanderbilt 23-21 on the road and against Illinois State at home 37-3.

This week they face Rice at Rice Stadium in Houston Texas.

Rice opened the season losing to the No. 5 ranked Texas Longhorns 34-17 but bounced back in week two against North Texas eking out a one point victory 32-31.

The Owls belong to Conference USA West where they currently sit behind Houston and SMU in the standings.

Zultan predicts that the Northwestern Wildcats will win this road contest.

Nebraska Cornhuskers (8) at Washington Huskies

It is the Big 12 versus the PAC 10.

Just how good or how bad are these teams within these conferences?  The next few weeks should tell the story.

So far the Cornhuskers have beaten up on the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers of the Sun Belt Conference 49-10 and also the Idaho Vandals out of the WAC 38-17.

By the same token, the Washington Huskies lost their opener to Mountain West Conference member BYU 23-17, rebounding the following week by defeating the bottom dwellers of the Big East the Syracuse Orange 41-20.

On paper it looks like a good bet for Big Ten future member Nebraska Cornhuskers to lord it over the downtrodden PAC 10 Washington Huskies.

Zultan points out that Nebraska is good at that, winning and lording it over rivals.

The nod to Nebraska in Week 3.

Arkansas Razorbacks (14) at Georgia Bulldogs

A week ago both of the these SEC teams were in the top 25, but since Georgia lost to South Carolina last week, the Bulldogs fell out of the rankings.

Still this is an attractive contest for SEC fans.

Arkansas comes into Georgia 2-0 because Arkansas has met and defeated the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles out of the OVC 44-3 and then the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks 31-7 out of the Sun Belt Conference.

Georgia opened with a win over Louisiana-Lafayette 55-7 out of Sun Belt Conference but then went down to defeat at the hands of No. 24 ranked South Carolina also from the SEC East 17-6.

Another nail-biter contest.

But as Zultan learned from week 1, when it is too close to call, always pick the home team––in this case, the Georgia Bulldogs to win at home.

(Exceptions to this rule apply to Notre Dame and Minnesota).

Texas Longhorns (5) at Texas Tech Red Raiders

This has all the potential to be a shoot-out, old west style as these rivals from Texas line up in Lubbock.

This is Tommy Tuberville’s test under the gun to see if he measures up to the gold standard Texas style.

So far in this season the Texas Longhorns have speared the Conference USA Rice Owls 34-17 and followed that up with a skewer of the Wyoming Cowboys 34-7 of the Mountain West Conference.

The Texas Tech Red Raiders have upended the Conference USA SMU Mustangs 35-27; then defeated the New Mexico Lobos out of the Mountain West Conference 52-17.

This contest will go a long way in determining the overall shape of these two programs, both with potential to do well in the Big 12 South.

Tommy Tuberville is playing his “modest expectation” card close to the vest. Zultan suspects something in the wind.

Most of the time in this series the home team wins.

But Zultan believes that the Texas Tech Red Raiders are not ready yet to defeat the Longhorns who are loaded once again with talent.

Zultan takes the Texas Longhorns to win on the road.  Zounds!

The Winners Are:

Once again the Mighty One tips his chapeau to those Lucky 13 who defeated him in Week Two, going 11-1.

Angie Webb – Norwalk, IA; Dan Franklin – Las Vegas, NV; Dan Alexandre – Harrisburg, PA;  Chris Parrish – Gig Harbor, WA; Eric Ludwig – Des Moines, IA; Bob Hook – Knoxville, IA; Steve Weber – Overland Park, KS; John Lechner – Katy, TX; Matt Baker – Apple Valley, MN; Phillip Murphy – Muscatine, IA; Jason Brown – Hampshire, IL; Dave Krueger – Omaha, NE; Wade Hajek – Otisville, MI; Spencer Cullers – no city given.

So, do you feel lucky?  Many have a chance to outguess Zultan for the entire season, offering a special reward.

All you have to do is click here and enter the contest for Week 3 to pit your football prowess against the All-Seeing Seer. You may win big!