Big Ten Notebook For 10-20-2006 - College Football News, Tips And Picks

Big Ten Notebook For 10-20-2006
By Calvin Watkins
Posted: 9:00 am PDT 2006-10-20

The Big Ten player of the week takes on a team he made his first start against last season.

Curtis Painter, the sophomore quarterback from Purdue leads his team as a 6.5-point underdog on WagerWeb.com against Wisconsin.

Last week, Painter had career-highs in completions (35), attempts (49) and yards (431) in a victory over Northwestern.

Now Painter needs to help his team gain one more victory to become bowl-eligible.

The last time he faced Wisconsin, he lost 31-20 as part of a six-game losing streak for the Boilermakers.

Painter is a changed man since that game.

"He's an improved player and still has a long way to go, but is improving," Purdue coach Joe Tiller said. "He's pretty close to what we're looking for. If there was one thing we feel like he could improve on, it would maybe be his accuracy, which could be a little bit better."

Painter has some difficult games forthcoming. Following the Badgers, a home game against Penn State looms before a Nov. 4 contest at Michigan State.

"With each game last season, I think I progressed a little each time," he said. "Beginning with this season, we continue to keep getting better. I've come a long way from then, but I still make a couple of rookie mistakes."

Minnesota: The Gophers can end their four-game losing streak by beating North Dakota State on Saturday. Minnesota is 20-2 in home games against non-conference opponents under Coach Glen Mason. Overall, Minnesota is 28-4 in non-conference games under Mason.

Iowa: The Hawkeyes were outscored 24-7 in the last 34 minutes of a bad loss to Indiana last week. The final score was 31-28. Now, Iowa must regroup but picked the wrong team to do it against. Iowa is a 12.5-point underdog on WagerWeb.com to Michigan. It's not a shock, but a reality. Iowa, which began its season with so much hope is now 5-2 and will probably limp into a bowl appearance. However, Iowa has lost consecutive games twice since the start of the 2002 season. The last time Iowa suffered consecutive losses was 2005, when Michigan and Northwestern earned victories.

Northwestern: The Wildcats are 7.5-point home underdogs on WagerWeb.com to Michigan State. But maybe an upset can be forthcoming at Northwestern, which has lost four straight. The running game is a key.

Michigan: Big Blue is undefeated and somewhat undisputed right now. If all goes well, a showdown between Michigan and Ohio State will determine half of the BCS title game picture. "It's fun to win," Michigan cornerback Brandon Harrison said. "It's a lot of pressure to keep winning, and you've just got to keep the intensity every week."

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