Tom Dienhart, BTN.com Senior Writer, November 25, 2014

Minnesota was picked to finish fifth in the Big Ten West. Now, the Gophers are a win away from playing for the conference title.

Amazing, huh?

A big key to Minnesota?s hopes at Wisconsin? David Cobb, who hurt a hamstring in the second half last week at Nebraska. Jerry Kill says he?s ready to hold Cobb out, if necessary. Good thing the Gophers have depth at running back. Still, Cobb is a special talent.

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Remember when Ohio State and Michigan fought last year? Sure you do! Well, Urban Meyer has warned his team about it this year. He?ll have none of it ? or else.

"He said he wants the game to be very intense, but if anybody throws a punch they're dismissed," Buckeyes linebacker Curtis Grant said Monday. "He pretty much put it out there yesterday. There's no telling what will happen if we get in a fight this year."

Cleveland.com notes that last year's fight resulted in Dontre Wilson and Marcus Hall being ejected. Hall also missed the Big Ten championship game, then Ohio State lost its chance to compete for a national championship.

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Yes, Michigan can ruin Ohio State?s season with a win on Saturday in Columbus. But the Wolverines say it?s not about that.

Michigan has little to gain. Ohio State has everything to lose. So, on the surface, it seems the only real motivation for Michigan would be to wreck its rival's year. Players say that's not the case, though.

"It's not about (ruining their season). It's about us trying to go out on a good note," Michigan center Jack Miller said after Saturday's 23-16 loss to Maryland. "And, for a lot of us Ohio kids, that's a pretty nice way to end the season.

"They are playing for a lot. And we're not. That's no secret. Would (us winning) ruin their season? Yeah. But the goal isn't to ruin their season, the goal is for us to win."

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Christian Hackenberg transfer talk? His father won?t even address it.

To be clear, Hackenberg, Pennlive.com writes, his family, nor Penn State's staff or players have floated any ideas of a potential transfer. But the idea has run rampant in fan circles, especially as the Lions' season of ups and downs continued last weekend at Illinois, where Penn State lost 16-14 on a day the quarterback threw just 16 times for a career-low 93 yards and a score. Sunday night, Hackenberg's father, Erick, addressed the transfer chatter in an interview with Lancaster Online.

"I won't even touch that," Erick Hackenberg told Lancaster Online correspondent Gordie Jones. "That's everyone else's $64,000 question.

"The $64,000 question in the Lasch Building (PSU's football facility) and in this household is how can we get better every week and at the end of the year be in a better place than now — or three weeks from now, or a month from now, at a bowl game, be at a better place than we are now. Everything else will handle itself."

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Dirk Chatelain of Omaha.com wonders if Bo Pelini has the big-picture solutions.

On Monday, Chatelain asked Pelini to cite that he has changed that demonstrates a willingness to adapt?

?That discussion?s for a different time, a different place, when the season?s over," he said. "Anybody who thinks that you just stay the same all the time and there are no changes, that?s asinine.?

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Rutgers has scored a total of just three points in its last two losses. Quarterback Gary Nova says to blame him.

Nova compiled only 108 yards on 11-fo-26 passing, one of his worst statistical outings of the season.

"I didn't play well enough today so I take responsibility for how we performed on offense," Nova said following Rutgers' 45-3 loss at Michigan State. "We weren?t executing well. They're obviously a good defense. They did a good job today."

Nova threw two interceptions - the senior now stands one shy of Ryan Hart's school-record 52 picks.

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The hoops season is just getting started. Hard to get a good gauge on what teams possess. Chad Leistikow of HawkCentral.com takes a look at what he knows and doesn?t know about Iowa so far.

One of the more interesting things we don?t know: How will the 10-man rotation shake out?

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Interesting take from Mike Griffith of Mlive.com, who thinks playing Rutgers and Maryland late in the season has hurt Michigan State.

Michigan State has won its past two games by a cumulative 82-18 over the two first-year Big Ten members, which have a combined record of 13-9. But the Spartans were still passed by in the polls. Two weeks ago, Georgia beat a then-7-2 Auburn team 34-7, and jumped five spots in the College Football Playoff rankings. Georgia passed by a Spartans' team that scored a 37-15 road win before a sold-out crowd at then-6-3 Maryland. This week, UCLA scored a 38-20 win over Southern Cal (then-7-3) and moved past the Spartans in the AP Top 25 poll even though the Spartans beat Rutgers (then 6-4) by a 45-3 count.

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Tough blow for Northwestern, which has lost quarterback Trevor Siemian for the season with a torn ACL. Zack Oliver will get the start vs. Illinois.

Oliver completed 5 of 11 passes for 85 yards and ran for a score after Siemian went down at Purdue last week. The redshirt junior will make his first career start against the Fighting Illini. InsideNU.com also says redshirt freshman Matt Alviti also got some snaps at the quarterback position following Siemian's injury. More of a rushing threat, Alviti threw the ball just once for three yards. Pat Fitzgerald didn't rule out the possibility of employing a two-quarterback system similar to the one Siemian and Kain Colter ran last year.

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The hoops season is just getting started. Hard to get a good gauge on what teams possess. Chad Leistikow of HawkCentral.com takes a look at what he knows and doesn?t know about Iowa so far.

One of the more interesting things we don?t know: How will the 10-man rotation shake out?

About Tom Dienhart BTN.com senior writer Tom Dienhart is a veteran sports journalist who covers Big Ten football and men's basketball for BTN.com and BTN TV. Find him on Twitter and Facebook, read all of his work at btn.com/tomdienhart, and subscribe to his posts via RSS. Also, send questions to his weekly mailbag using the form below and read all of his previous answers in his reader mailbag section.

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