It will be very difficult for the Wisconsin Badgers versus Penn State Nittany Lions game at Lucas Oil Stadium Saturday night to match the Ohio State-Michigan “El Classico” last weekend, but it could happen. The B1G Title game Saturday night is like the Electoral College, with OSU-UM the popular vote.
Last weekend’s “The Game” is the de facto B1G Title match-up while this one is the de jure championship. The winner of last week’s clash is in the playoff, and the loser might be as well.
The winner of this game in Indy, probably won’t be in the big dance. Hey, that’s just how the system works, and that’s the system we have in place.
TV: FOX Saturday December 3rd, kickoff 8:17 PM
It’s the first time that the Penn State Nittany Lions will be televised on FOX in program history.
The last time a Penn State game was televised on a network other than the ESPN family of networks or BTN was Sept. 9, 2006, when the Nittany Lions played at Notre Dame on NBC.
SPREAD: Penn State Nittany Lions +2 1/2
Playoff Implications: You know the rules- two loss teams just do not go to the playoff.
However, if #4 Washington gets upset by #8 Colorado (USC would have been a more unfavorable match-up for them as they’re very hot right now, and thus better for the B1G) in the Pac 12 Title game, and the winner of this game dominates their opponent, you could see the winner of this game in the final four, sorry, Michigan is #5, so they would leap into the last spot, thus only further validating my points from the intro.
WE DID A WHOLE ARTICLE ON JUST PLAYOFF POSSIBILITIES OVER AT THIS LINK
Ohio State is in, will a second B1G team be joining them? It’s too bad the Lions lost to Pitt in week two, as that defeat is really hurting them now. Wisconsin is #6 so I guess if they won this game 63-0 or something, and Clemson and Washington lost…well, I don’t know.
#7 Penn State Nittany Lions Preview:
If you thought the offense would regress this season as they adjusted to life after Christian Hackenberg, you were McSorely mistaken. Truth be told, Trace McSorely is just better suited to the systems of B1G Coach of the year (media) James Franklin just like Hackenberg was better suited to the offense of Bill O’Brien.
Hey, different strokes for different folks.
McSorely, the reigning B1G Offensive Player of the Week, posted his fourth 300-yard passing game of the season last week in a rout of Michigan State. The first year starter also set the Penn State football single-season record for total offense with 3,348 yards.
He leads an offense averaging 40.4 points per game during the current eight-game winning streak, who have been held to less than 24 points just once this season, again the Wolverines. It will make for an interesting immovable object versus irresistible force match-up against Wisconsin’s defense, which ranks third in scoring defense in FBS, trailing only Alabama and Michigan, allowing just 13.7 points per game.
Penn State quarterback Trace McSorley has thrown just five interceptions this season and he leads the nation in yards per completion. He was also the Big Ten’s most efficient passer this past season.
Obviously, running back Saquon Barkley is a spark-plug for this offense and integral to the keystone state’s plan of attack.
Barkley looks up to the senior class on this team.
“Those seniors mean a lot to us,” Barkley said.
“They’re the rock of this team. They’re the reason why this program was able to stay over. They were here when times were bad for us.
“Looking up to those guys in the recruiting process is a big reason why I wanted to come to this school. Underclassmen want to play hard for them, send these guys out on a high note.”
On the other side of the ball, DE Evan Schwan, LB Brandon Bell, LB Jason Cabinda, S Marcus Allen, DT Parker Cothren and CB John Reid are the players to watch.
#8 Wisconsin Badgers Preview:
When the B1G commenced a league title game in 2011, the two participants ended up being Wisconsin and Michigan State. Since then, one of the two programs has made it to Indianapolis. The Badgers have done it three times with three different coaches.
The 2016 edition is tops in the nation with 21 interceptions and ranks fifth in FBS in passing efficiency defense.
While the Badgers may not have an arena football/Mountain West/Pac-12/Big-12 type passing offense, they are efficient and clinical. Their style is effective and a perfect role model for the youth football observers of the world looking at how to establish winning habits, while doing it the right way.
FOX Sports Analyst Joel Klatt says the most interesting matchup of the weekend will be between Penn State and Wisconsin:
“I’m thrilled to be in Indianapolis and to be doing the Big Ten game this week. I’m so interested in this game, as we all are, because of what it could mean for the Playoff – in particular with Ohio State sitting where they’re at and what the committee would do with the potential champion, in particular if that champion were to be Penn State. That’s obviously going to be a huge story line during the game.
“As far as in the game and what I’m most excited to see – there are a lot of matchups that I’m excited about, but the best one, or the one that I think would mean the most in terms of the results, would be Trace McSorley and the zone run game with Saquon Barkley against those two outside linebackers – those great players Vince Biegel and T.J. Watt from Wisconsin. That’s going to be the focal point of the Penn State run game, trying to get McSorley and Barkley going in the run game so they can get to their play-action pass and other stuff in their offense off of that. And then obviously those outside line backers Biegel and Watt are such good players and they’re so disruptive – as a lot of the coaches would say it they are game changers.”
Paul Chryst became the first Wisconsin mentor to earn Hayes-Schembechler Coach of the Year honors, as selected by the coaches.
The main players to watch on this Wisconsin team are RB Corey Clement, RB Dare Ogunbowale, WR Jazz Peavy, WR Troy Fumagalli, LB Vince Biegel, LB T.J Watt, DL Connor Sheehy and DB Sojourn Shelton.
The winner of this game will earn the Amos Alonzo Stagg Championship Trophy and a chance to play in one of the New Year’s Six bowls that comprise the College Football Playoff, including the Rose Bowl Game. The Penn State Nittany Lions will play for this trophy for the first time, very much aware and perhaps motivated by, the fact that Joe Paterno’s name, deservedly so, has been removed from that award’s namesake.
As a former football player at Amos Alonzo Stagg high school, I’d rather the namesake was A.A. Stagg by himself anyway.
FOX Analyst Robert Smith has his eye on that Penn State Nittany Lions defense:
“They’ve gotten so healthy and so good defensively – they’re sacking opposing quarterbacks almost 10 percent of drop-backs. People say that’s not a big deal against Wisconsin because they want to run the ball, but Penn State does a pretty good job at stopping the run. Over the last four or five weeks straight, Penn State has held opponents below three yards per carry. So, if Wisconsin can’t throw the ball – [Alex] Hornibrook has been in and out of the concussion protocol and Bart Houston has stepped in and at times has been good, but neither one of them has been great. I’ m really excited to see how this matchup works, because I don’t think either offense has a great matchup against the opposing defense.”
The pick: Wisconsin Badgers 34, Penn State Nittany Lions 31 (OT)
It’s hard to pick against either of these teams since both are like Hansel in Zoolander, “so hot right now.” However, the Badgers are the silver standard in the B1G, with Ohio State obviously the gold. If you ask the question “who’s got it better than us?” among B1G football programs, it’s OSU first and Wisconsin second.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication and Bold Global.
He also consistently appears on numerous radio and television talk shows all across the country. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram and Sound Cloud.