There's no Northwestern game today, but it's a Saturday in the fall, meaning you should still be watching football. We take a look at three games/things you should be paying attention to today.
1. Wisconsin at Ohio State (7 CT on ABC)
This is the big one. The Leaders Division championship game, NU's next two opponents and College Gameday hopes. It's all here. This game will be a good chance for NU fans to scout Ohio State and Wisconsin, and it will give us a better idea of just how good these teams really are. There is actually a lot of mystery surrounding Ohio State: How will Urban Meyer use both Braxton Miller and Kenny Guiton at quarterback? How will Carlos Hyde fare in his first "big" game coming off suspension? Will the Buckeyes' young defensive line hold up against the Badgers' strong running game? There are questions for Wisconsin, too: Can the passing game get into rhythm? Can the running game continue its dominance against a top opponent? Those will all be important discussion points as NU gets ready to play each of these teams.
There's also the College Gameday aspect of this game. If Ohio State wins, ESPN will likely have a tough time passing up a trip to Evanston for a battle of unbeatens. It should be an interesting night.
2. Twitter
This is kind of silly, but to stay updated on Gameday, it's probably best to follow @CollegeGameday on Twitter. Last week, Gameday announced its destination (via Twitter) on Saturday night. The Ohio State-Wisconsin game is a late game that has a lot of Gameday implications, so maybe it will be later this time around, but who really knows? We'll have updates throughout the night, too.
We've been told by people close to the situation that there's "a 90 percent chance" NU will get Gameday and that Deering Meadow is not likely to be the location, due to conflicts with Homecoming. It's unclear what, exactly, the variables are, but it seems likely that the OSU-Wisconsin game is one of them. Stay tuned.
3. Iowa at Minnesota (2:30 CT, ABC or ESPN2)
At the beginning of the year, this game looked like a clunker. However, right now, it actually has the makings of an interesting matchup. Minnesota is 4-0 with an impressive running game and an improved defense. Iowa is 3-1, and despite the loss to Northern Illinois to start the year, the Hawkeyes look much-improved and have begun to get the offense going behind a strong offensive line, a great stable of running backs and an improving passing game that's headed by quarterback Jake Rudock.
This might not be the year when either Iowa or Minnesota contends for the Legends Division — it almost certainly won't, as a matter of fact — but both of these programs have some nice, young talent that could help them develop into strong teams in the next couple of years. This year, both teams have enough talent to beat anyone in the division and they could disrupt the Legends race by beating one of the favorites. For that reason, this game is worth watching if you're an NU fan.