Big Ten Pick'em 2008: Bowl Games

Zombie Nation picks all the Big Ten bowl games.

(FYI: Each team name links to its respective official football site. I also used the BCS Poll for the team rankings.)

Champs Sports Bowl
Wisconsin vs Florida State - The ZN pick: Florida State

Insight Bowl
Minnesota vs Kansas - The ZN pick: Kansas

Alamo Bowl
No. 23 Northwestern vs No. 21 Missouri - The ZN pick: Mizzou

Outback Bowl
Iowa vs South Carolina - The ZN pick: Iowa

Capital One Bowl
No. 18 Michigan St. vs No. 15 Georgia - The ZN pick: Georgia

Rose Bowl
No. 8 Penn St vs No. 5 USC - The ZN pick: Penn St

Fiesta Bowl
No. 10 Ohio St. vs No. 3 Texas - The ZN pick: Texas

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Big Ten Pick'em 2008: Final Regular Season Standings

You can find the full standings over at The Daily Gopher, who was leading this thing for all 12 weeks, until being overrun by HHV, MSC and PTTO. And yes, I'm pretty damn proud that I came in a solid seventh. On to the bowl games!

1 Happy Hour Valley 132
1 Michigan SportsCenter 132
3 Paint the Town Orange 131
4 Gopher Nation 130
4 Off the Tracks ™ 130
4 Maize'n Brew 130
7 Lake the Posts 128
7 Zombie Nation 128
9 Black Shoes Diary 125
10 Boiled Sports 123
11 Eleven Warriors 121
12 Enlightened Spartan 120
13 Ground Zero East Lansing 119
14 Maize & Blue Nation 118
15 Sparty MSU 117

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Big Ten Pick'em 2008: Week 13

Zombie Nation picks all the games.

(FYI: Each team name links to its respective official football site. I also used the BCS Poll for the team rankings.)

Cal Poly (FCS) at Wisconsin - The ZN pick: Wisconsin

Indiana at Purdue - The ZN pick: Purdue

Minnesota at Iowa - The ZN pick: Iowa

Michigan at No. 10 Ohio St. - The ZN pick: Ohio St

Illinois at Northwestern - The ZN pick: Illinois

No. 15 Michigan St. at No. 8 Penn St - The ZN pick: Penn St

Standings, compiled by Gopher Nation:
1 Gopher Nation 120
2 Michigan SportsCenter 119
3 Paint the Town Orange 118
4 Enlightened Spartan 117
4 Maize'n Brew 117
6 Happy Hour Valley 116
7 Lake the Posts 115
7 Zombie Nation 115
9 Off the Tracks ™ 114
10 Black Shoes Diary 112
11 Eleven Warriors 111
12 Boiled Sports 110
13 Maize & Blue Nation 108
14 Sparty MSU 107
14 Ground Zero East Lansing 106

*Ed.- From this point forward, I'll only includ the top-15, since those are all the blogs that have a chance to win.

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We're in business

Looks like we're about 2.5 hours behind. Not bad, considering it took like 9 hours to get some of my stuff yesterday. I'll have my pick'em up ASAP, so keep an eye out for it!

Definitely on tap:
• Big Ten Bloggers Pick'em
• Guest Blogger, The Enlightened Spartan
• Preview: Penn State vs. Michigan State

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Big Ten Pick'em 2008: Week 12

Zombie Nation picks all the games.

(FYI: Each team name links to its respective official football site. I also used the BCS Poll for the team rankings.)

Minnesota at Wisconsin - The ZN pick: Wisconsin

Indiana at No. 8 Penn St - The ZN pick: Penn St

Purdue at Iowa - The ZN pick: Iowa

No. 11 Ohio St. at Illinois - The ZN pick: Ohio St

Northwestern at Michigan - The ZN pick: Michigan

No. 15Michigan St. - BYE

Standings, compiled by Gopher Nation:
1 Gopher Nation 108
1 Enlightened Spartan 108
3 Michigan SportsCenter 107
4 Paint the Town Orange 106
5 Maize'n Brew 105
6 Happy Hour Valley 104
7 Zombie Nation 103
7 Black Shoe Diaries 103
9 Off the Tracks ™ 102
10 Lake the Posts 100
11 Eleven Warriors 99
12 Maize & Blue Nation 96
13 Boiled Sports 95
13 Sparty MSU 95
13 Varsity Blue 95

*Ed.- From this point forward, I'll only includ the top-15, since those are all the blogs that have a chance to win.

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Big Ten Pick'em 2008: Week 11

Zombie Nation picks all the games.

(FYI: Each team name links to its respective official football site. I also used the BCS Poll for the team rankings.)

Wisconsin at Indiana - The ZN pick: Wisconsin

Purdue at No. 18 Michigan St. - The ZN pick: Michigan St.

No. 11 Ohio St. at No. 24 Northwestern- The ZN pick: Ohio St

Michigan at Minnesota - The ZN pick: Minnesota

Illinois at Western Michigan - (Game will be at Ford Field in Detroit) The ZN pick: Illnois

No. 3 Penn St ay Iowa - The ZN pick: Penn St


Standings, compiled by Gopher Nation:

1 Gopher Nation 99
2 Enlightened Spartan 96
3 Michigan SportsCenter 95
4 Black Shoes Diary 94
4 Paint the Town Orange 94
4 Ground Zero East Lansing 94
4 Maize'n Brew 93
8 Happy Hour Valley 92
8 Lake the Posts 91
10 Zombie Nation 91
11 Eleven Warriors 90
11 Off the Tracks ™ 90
13 The Buckeye Blog 89
13 Hoosier Report 88
15 Varsity Blue 86

I only included the top-15 this week, since that's all the blogs that have a chance to win. Although, it doesn't matter because Gopher Nation has this thing rigged.

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Today's lineup

Ok, so I didn't get to post "Penn State in the Polls" last night. You see, there's this small thing going on tomorrow. As a newspaper editor in Virginia, it's sort of consumed what's left of my life, being in battleground state and all.

By the end of the day, today (I promise):

• Penn State in the Polls

• ZN Top 25

And this week:

• Big Ten Bloggers Pick'em

• Guest Blogger: Iowa

• Iowa Game Preview

• Big Ten Bloggers Roundtable (hopefully)

• Blue & White Roundtable

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National Picks, Week 10

I figured since I have some extra time this week, I'd take some shots around college football. Mind you, these picks were formulated from about 10 percent research, 90 percent gut feel.

Outright Upsets:
Tennessee over South Carolina
Pitt over Notre Dame

Does not cover/watch for outright upset:
Florida St. over Georgia Tech
Utah over New Mexico

Does not cover:
Texas over Texas Tech
Oklahoma over Nebraska

Covers:
Oklahoma St. over Iowa St.
Florida over Georgia

*Ed-Yeah, I know I didn't do Joe Pa's presser. But hey, you've already read about it everywhere else, so why would you care about reading it here? Plus, beating up on ESPN is more fun.

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Big Ten Pick'em 2008: Week 10

Zombie Nation picks all the games.

(FYI: Each team name links to its respective official football site. I also used the BCS Poll for the team rankings.)

Central Michigan at Indiana - The ZN pick: Central Michigan

Wisconsin at No. 21 Michigan St. - The ZN pick: Michigan St.

No. 22 Northwestern at No. 17 Minnesota - The ZN pick: Minnesota

Iowa at Illinois at - The ZN pick: Illnois

Michigan at Purdue - The ZN pick: Michigan

No. 3 Penn St - BYE.

No. 12 Ohio St. - BYE.

Standings, compiled by Gopher Nation:

1 Gopher Nation 95
2 Ground Zero East Lansing 91
3 Happy Hour Valley 88
4 Eleven Warriors 87
4 Lake the Posts 87
4 Black Shoe Diaries 87
4 Paint the Town Orange 87
8 Maize'n Brew 86
8 Michigan SportsCenter 86
10 Zombie Nation 84
11 Enlightened Spartan 83
11 Off the Tracks ™ 83
13 Hoosier Report 82
13 Varsity Blue 82
15 The Buckeye Blog 80
16 Maize & Blue Nation 78
17 Boiled Sports 76
18 Buckeye Battle Cry 75
19 The Only Game That Matters 74
20 Sparty MSU 73
21 Hawkeye Sports News 72
22 BHGP (HS) 61
23 The Nittany Line 60
24 Nittany White Out 35

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On the bye-week menu

Since Penn State finally has a week off, I'm taking it easy this week getting stuff up. Here's a tentative rundown of things to come:

Today:
• Ohio State game full review - probable
• Big Ten Bloggers Pick'em - questionable

Tomorrow:
• Pick'em - probable
• Joe Paterno's presser - questionable

Thursday:
• Presser - probable
• Some national games picks - probable

Friday/Saturday:
• Random crap - questionable
• Thoughts on live games - probable

Of course, if there is any big news in Penn State football, you can find it all here. I'll keep up with that kind of stuff as normal. I'm also going to try to update the 2008 Season page, with the previews, reviews, etc. and some other maintenance stuff. And don't forget to vote for your Player of the Game in the post-Ohio State poll.

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Big Ten Pick'em 2008: Week 9

Zombie Nation picks all the games.

(FYI: Each team name links to its respective official football site. I also used the BCS Poll for the team rankings.)

Illinois at Wisconsin - The ZN pick: Illnois

No. 24 Minnesota at Purdue - The ZN pick: Minnesota

No. 22 Northwestern at Indiana - The ZN pick: N'Western

Mich St at Michigan - The ZN pick: MSU

No. 3 Penn St at No. 9 Ohio St. - The ZN pick: Penn St.

Iowa - BYE.

Standings, compiled by Gopher Nation:
1 Gopher Nation 86
2 Ground Zero East Lansing 85
3 Eleven Warriors 81
3 Lake the Posts 81
5 Maize'n Brew 80
6 Happy Hour Valley 79
7 Black Shoes Diary 78
7 Paint the Town Orange 78
9 The Buckeye Blog 77
9 Enlightened Spartan 77
9 Michigan SportsCenter 77
12 Varsity Blue 76
13 Zombie Nation 75
14 Off the Tracks ™ 74
14 The Only Game That Matters 74
16 Hoosier Report 73
17 Hawkeye Sports News 72
18 Buckeye Battle Cry 69
19 Boiled Sports 67
20 Sparty MSU 64
21 BHGP (HS) 61
22 Maize & Blue Nation 60
22 The Nittany Line 60
24 Nittany White Out 35

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Aaaaand, there goes my Pick'em Standing

In the last 15 minutes or so, Iowa scored on a really amazing Shonn Greene touchdown run for a 14-0 lead over Wisconsin, Northwestern scored three times to go up 17-6 over Purdue, and my No. 7 standing in the Big Ten Bloggers Pick'em went right out the window.

I will admit though, that Greene run was fantastic. He broke about eight tackles–if you can even call them that–on his way to making the play of the game. Prior to that run, this was a close game that Wisconsin had a real shot at winning. Not anymore. I wouldn't be surprised if this one got out of hand for the Badgers, similar to last week.

Iowa is becoming a real, living, breathing team before our eyes. Do I think Penn State will lose in Iowa City? No, not really. But I wouldn't be surprised if Iowa lands themselves a nice Outback Bowl bid, or some other January game. But this game is not over, and I shouldn't get ahead of myself.

I just needed something to write about while counting down the seconds to the Penn State game.

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Big Ten Pick'em 2008: Week 8

Zombie Nation picks all the games.

(FYI: Each team name links to its respective official football site. I also used the USA Today Coaches Poll for the team rankings.)

Purdue at Northwestern - The ZN pick: Purdue

No. 11 Ohio St. at No. 17 Mich St - The ZN pick: MSU

Iowa at Wisconsin - The ZN pick: Wisconsin

Indiana at Illinois - The ZN pick: Illinois

Michigan at No. 3 Penn St - The ZN pick: Penn St.

Minnesota - BYE.

Standings, compiled by Gopher Nation:
1 Gopher Nation 65
2 Paint the Town Orange 60
3 Off the Tracks ™ 59
3 Michigan SportsCenter 59
5 Ground Zero East Lansing 58
5 Happy Hour Valley 58
7 Eleven Warriors 57
7 Lake the Posts 57
7 Zombie Nation 57
10 Enlightened Spartan 56
10 Maize'n Brew 56
10 The Only Game That Matters 56
13 The Buckeye Blog 55
13 Hoosier Report 55
15 Black Shoes Diary 54
15 Buckeye Battle Cry 54
17 BHGP (HS) 52
17 Varsity Blue 52
19 Boiled Sports 49
20 Hawkeye Sports News 48
20 The Nittany Line 48
22 Sparty MSU 46
23 Maize & Blue Nation 39
24 Nittany White Out 26

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Big Ten Pick'em 2008: Week 7

Zombie Nation picks all the games.

(FYI: Each team name links to its respective official football site. I also used the USA Today Coaches Poll for the team rankings.)

Toledo at Michigan - The ZN pick: Michigan

Minnesota at Illinois - The ZN pick: Illinois

Purdue at No. 11 Ohio St. - The ZN pick: Ohio St.

Iowa at Indiana - The ZN pick: Iowa

No. 6 Penn St at No. 24 Wisconsin - The ZN pick: Penn St.

No. 19 Mich St at No. 22 Northwestern - The ZN pick: MSU


Standings, compiled by Gopher Nation:

1 Gopher Nation 65
2 Paint the Town Orange 60
3 Off the Tracks ™ 59
4 Michigan SportsCenter 59
5 Ground Zero East Lansing 58
5 Happy Hour Valley 58
5 Eleven Warriors 57
5 Lake the Posts 57
9 Zombie Nation 57
9 Enlightened Spartan 56
9 Maize'n Brew 56
12 The Only Game That Matters 56
12 The Buckeye Blog 55
12 Hoosier Report 55
15 Black Shoes Diary 54
15 Buckeye Battle Cry 54
15 BHGP (HS) 52
18 Varsity Blue 52
18 Boiled Sports 49
18 Hawkeye Sports News 48
21 The Nittany Line 48
22 Sparty MSU 46
23 Maize & Blue Nation 39
24 Nittany White Out 26

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Big Ten Pick'em 2008: Week 6

The second week of the Big Ten schedule features a ton of toss up games. Zombie Nation picks all the games.

(FYI: Each team name links to its respective official football site. I also used the USA Today Coaches Poll for the team rankings. Any time you see a ranking before a team name at ZN, it's the Coaches Poll rank.)

Iowa at Mich St - The ZN pick: Iowa

No. 18 Wisconsin at No. 14 Ohio St. - The ZN pick: Ohio St.

Indiana at Minnesota - The ZN pick: Minnesota

No. 6 Penn St at Purdue - The ZN pick: Penn St.

Illinois at Michigan - The ZN pick: Illinois

Northwestern - BYE

You can find the fancy version of these standings at The Daily Gopher. Is it weird that Gopher Nation is No. 1? We think so.

1 Gopher Nation 50
2 Off the Tracks ™ 47
2 The Only Game That Matters 47
4 Hoosier Report 46
5 Black Shoes Diary 45
5 Lake the Posts 45
5 Paint the Town Orange 45
5 Zombie Nation 45
9 Enlightened Spartan 44
9 Maize'n Brew 44
9 Michigan SportsCenter 44
12 BHGP (HS) 43
12 Ground Zero East Lansing 43
12 Happy Hour Valley 43
15 Hawkeye Sports News 42
15 Eleven Warriors 42
15 Buckeye Battle Cry 42
18 Boiled Sports 40
18 The Buckeye Blog 40
18 Varsity Blue 40
21 The Nittany Line 36
22 Sparty MSU 34
23 Maize & Blue Nation 33
24 Nittany White Out 26

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Big Ten Pick'em 2008: Week 5

Conference play begins--except for Purdue, but no one likes them anyway--and I'm damn excited!

(FYI: Each team name links to its respective official football site. I also used the USA Today Coaches Poll for the team rankings. Any time you see a ranking before a team name at ZN, it's the Coaches Poll rank.)

Northwestern at Iowa - The ZN pick: N'Western

Mich St at Indiana - The ZN pick: MSU

No. 8 Wisconsin at Michigan - The ZN pick: Wisky

Minnesota at No. 13 Ohio St. - The ZN pick: OSU

Purdue at Notre Dame - The ZN pick: PU

No. 21 Illinois at No. 12 Penn St - The ZN pick: PSU

Standings after Week 4, compiled by Gopher Nation:

1 Gopher Nation--37
2 Hoosier Report--36
3 Black Shoes Diary--35
4 Michigan SportsCenter--35
5 Off the Tracks ™--35
6 The Only Game That Matters--35
7 Ground Zero East Lansing--34
8 Happy Hour Valley--34
9 Lake the Posts--33
10 BHGP (HS)--33
11 Zombie Nation--33
12 Hawkeye Sports News--33
13 Eleven Warriors--33
14 Paint the Town Orange--33
15 Maize & Blue Nation--33
16 Buckeye Battle Cry--33
17 Maize'n Brew--32
18 Boiled Sports--31
19 Enlightened Spartan--31
20 Varsity Blue--31
21 The Buckeye Blog--30
22 The Nittany Line--27
23 Sparty MSU--22
24 Nittany White Out--14

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Big Ten Pick'em 2008: Week 3

This is how I'm rolling this week for the Big Ten. I'm probably making a few enemies by picking USC. I know I'm making enemies by tabbing Notre Dame over Michigan.

(FYI: Each team name links to its respective official football site. I also used the USA Today Coaches Poll for the team rankings. Any time you see a ranking before a team name at ZN, it's the Coaches Poll rank.)

Northwestern vs. Southern Illinois - The ZN pick: N'Western

Indiana vs. BYE - The ZN pick: Indy

No. 5 Ohio St. @ No. 1 USC - The ZN pick: USC

No. 17 Penn St @ Syracuse - The ZN pick: Penn St

No. 10 Wisconsin @ No. 21 Fresno State - The ZN pick: Wisky

Iowa vs. Iowa State - The ZN pick: Iowa

Michigan @ Notre Dame - The ZN pick: Irish

Minnesota vs. Montana State - The ZN pick: Minny

Mich St vs. Florida Atlantic - The ZN pick: Mich St

Purdue vs. No. 14 Oregon - The ZN pick: Oregon

Illinois vs. Louisiana-Lafayette - The ZN pick: Illinois

BTB Pick'em Standings After Week 2: (Coming)

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Pick'em for the rest of tonight's games

No. 6 Missouri 35-23 over No. 20 Illinois 8:30 p.m. ET
No. 9 Clemson 29-18 over Alabama 8 p.m. ET
No. 11 Texas 27-20 over FAU 7 p.m. ET
Washington 24-21 upsets No. 21 Oregon 10 p.m. ET
Michigan State 28-20 over California 8 p.m. ET

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