Here are five of the biggest stories to watch in Week 3 of Big Ten Football this weekend.
HEAVYWEIGHT BATTLE IN MADISON
It’s not often when two powerhouse teams from across the country meet early in a football season on one of the opponent’s campuses. It happened last week when Texas visited Michigan and it’s coming up again Saturday with Alabama traveling to Madison to take on Wisconsin.
The meeting is only the third ever between the two schools and the first since 2015 when they met at Jerry’s World in Arlington, Texas.
Alabama comes into the game as the No. 4 team in the country while Wisconsin, although 2-0 to start the season, hasn’t looked particularly strong. The Tide is a 16-1/2 favorite in some sports books, marking the largest underdog number for the Badgers at home in nearly 20 years.
The raucous Camp Randall Stadium crowd will certainly be a benefit to the Badgers who have an opportunity to give second year coach Luke Fickell his biggest Big Ten Conference win since taking over the program. But to do it, Wisconsin will have to overcome recent history. They’re 2-11 in their last 13 games against Top 25 teams.
PURDUE SPOILER AGAIN?
On paper Notre Dame is a clear favorite against in-state rival Purdue on Saturday.
Wait, where have we heard that before? Oh right, last week when the Fighting Irish were a 28 point favorite over Northern Illinois and lost 16-14.
It’s not an overstatement to say Notre Dame’s College Football Playoff hopes are on the line in West Lafayette. A return to what worked beating Texas A&M to start the year is imperative. Taking the crowd out of the game early will also be important especially if the Purdue squad sees any potential blood in the water.
Upsets have happened at Purdue in the past (remember 2018 versus Ohio State?). But it’s hard to imagine Notre Dame going down to an underdog two weeks in a row.
PAC-12 FLAVOR
Two games this week will have a distinctive Pac-12 flavor, the old Pac-12, not then new one that’s now up to six teams. Oregon vs. Oregon State and Washington vs. Washington State are both on the weekend slate.
No. 9 Oregon has squeaked by in its first two games to bring a 2-0 mark into Corvallis. The Ducks will need to find another gear to head off losing for a third straight time at Oregon State. The two teams will continue the rivalry next year, but there are no new games scheduled beyond 2025. So, the nostalgia factor will be high on Saturday.
It’s somewhat the same story for the Apple Cup match-up between Washington and Washington State. The good news is both schools have agreed to continue the match-up through 2028 for now, so there isn’t as much an expiration date hanging in the air as in Oregon.
The Huskies defense has been stellar not allowing touchdowns in back-to-back games for the first time since 1991. That defense will be tested by a Cougar team that is an offensive machine averaging 53.5 points per game and finding the end zone 12 times already.
HOLLYWOOD HOOSIERS
The Indiana Hoosiers have been impressive under first year coach Curt Cignetti with a nice combination of offensive firepower and tight defense. They’ll get a chance to be in the spotlight Saturday night in prime time taking on UCLA at the Rose Bowl.
It’s been a minute since Indiana has played in the storied venue, dating back to the 1968 Rose Bowl when they lost 14-3 to USC.
UCLA will have the home field advantage but that might be about it. The Bruins beat Hawaii to open the campaign but not by much. They were off last week so at least had extra time to prepare for a game that could get ugly fast.
MICHIGAN NEEDS TO REGROUP
The Wolverines weren’t in the game much of if at all last week against Texas as the Longhorns took care of things in “The Big House.” Michigan gets a reprieve this week with Arkansas State coming to Ann Arbor but there’s work to be done for coach Sherrone Moore’s team.
Davis Warren has not looked great at the QB position out of the gate and threw a couple of picks last week. Michigan’s ground game wasn’t explosive by any means and combined the offense put one touchdown on the board.
Defensively Michigan’s pass rush gave Texas QB Quinn Ewers plenty of time and in fact the Longhorns’ rushing attack also wasn’t slowed down by the Wolverines’ defense.
They aren’t in danger of losing Saturday against Arkansas State. However Michigan fans will be watching closely to see if play on both sides of the ball improves before the schedule brings tougher opponents.