Week 5: Kick off of the 2010 Big Ten Football Season

It's the first weekend in October and the 2o10 Big Ten Conference football season kicks off on five campus around the conference ...

• On the Big Ten Network: #2 Ohio State (4-0) @ Illinois (2-1) at 11 a.m.
• Northwestern (4-0) @ #22 Minnesota (1-3) on ESPN at 11 a.m.
• #25 Michigan (4-0) @ Indiana (3-0) on ESPNU at 2:30 p.m.
• #10 Wisconsin (4-0) @ #22 Michigan State (4-0) on ABC/ESPN at 2:30 p.m.
• In Prime Time on ESPN, #21 Penn State (3-1) @ #17 Iowa at 7 p.m. for Iowa's Homecoming at Kinnick Stadium, looking to go 8 out of last 9 games vs. the Nittany Lions!

Purdue (2-2) is idle heading into October and Big Ten play!

Ohio State and Illinois appear to be going in opposite directions, but it is always a rivalry game that one can never overlook. Wow, I type this and Lou Holtz makes the same comment, after me. Still, beware on the road in the Big Ten.

Northwestern and Minnesota could be a closer game than expected. After all, it can be difficult to win on the road during conference play.

Indiana nearly beat Michigan last year in Ann Arbor. Can the Hoosiers out score the Wolverines in Bloomington in 2010? While the Hoosiers hope to get it done, the Wolverines likely have more offense, than IU.

The Wisconsin-Michigan State game in East Lansing is one of the better Big Ten games in 2010. The winner should become a Top 3 team in the 2010 Big Ten race. Coach Mark Dantonio, back from a mild heart attack, after the Notre Dame win, may provide an outstanding spark in a huge Big Ten match up. This game should go down to the wire, hopefully, there are no heart attacks at the end.

Iowa goes for eight out of nine on Homecoming Night vs. Penn State. Will this be Joe Pa's final visit to Iowa City as Penn State's head coach. Joe Paterno has lead the Nittany Lions for 45 seasons, while Iowa's coach Kirk Ferentz is second in the Big Ten, in his 12Th Big Ten season at the helm in Iowa City. It should be a great game at Kinnick Stadium tonight in prime time. Iowa has struggled on Homecoming at times. But, the Hawkeyes should win this one. Special teams could be a difference.

Saturday, October 2nd (Central Time)

• Alcorn State at Mississippi State, 11:00 a.m., FSS / SUN / ESPN-GP *2
• #23 Florida State at Virginia, 11:00 a.m., ESPN-GP *2 / ACC Network (cable)
• Kansas at Baylor, 11:00 a.m., FSN (HD)
• Louisiana-Monroe at #13 Auburn, 11:00 a.m., ESPNU (HD)
• #14 Miami (FL) at Clemson, 11:00 a.m., ESPN2 (HD) & ESPN 3D
• Northwestern at Minnesota, 11:00 a.m., ESPN (HD)
• Ohio U at Eastern Michigan, 11:00 a.m., ESPN-GP / ERTV (cable)
• #2 Ohio State at Illinois, 11:00 a.m., BTN (HD)
• Temple at Army, 11:00 a.m., CBSC (HD)
• Vanderbilt at Connecticut, 11:00 a.m., SNY / ESPN-GP / ERTV (cable)
• Kentucky at Ole Miss, 11:21 a.m., SEC Network / ESPN-GP
• Idaho at Western Michigan, 1:00 p.m., ESPN-GP / WAC Sports Network
• TCU at Colorado State, 1:00 p.m., MTN (HD)
• Navy at Air Force, 1:30 p.m., Versus (HD)
• #25 Michigan at Indiana, 2:30 p.m., ESPNU (HD)
• #7 Oklahoma vs. #18 Texas, 2:30 p.m., ABC *1 / ESPN *7 / ESPN-GP *2
• Tennessee at #11 LSU, 2:30 p.m., CBS (HD) / online video
• Virginia Tech at #24 North Carolina State, 2:30 p.m., ABC *1 / ESPN-GP *2
• Washington State at UCLA, 2:30 p.m., FSPT (HD) / FSNW / FCS Pacific (cable)
• #10 Wisconsin at #22 Michigan State, 2:30 p.m., ABC *1 / ESPN *7
• UTEP at New Mexico, 5:00 p.m., MTN (HD)
• Arizona State at Oregon State, 5:30 p.m., FSAZ / FSNW / FCS Atlantic (cable)
• Georgia at Colorado, 6:00 p.m., FSN (HD)
• Georgia Tech at Wake Forest, 6:00 p.m., ESPNU
• Texas Tech at Iowa State, 6:00 p.m., DirecTV - 623 / FCS Central (cable)
• Louisiana-Lafayette at North Texas, 6:30 p.m., ESPN-GP *2 / (CSS & CST) (cable)
• #3 Boise State at New Mexico State, 7:00 p.m., ESPN-GP / WAC Sports Network
• #6 Florida at #1 Alabama, 7:00 p.m., CBS (HD) / online video
• Marshall at Southern Miss, 7:00 p.m., CBSC (HD)
• Notre Dame at Boston College, 7:00 p.m., ABC *1 / ESPN-GP *2
• #21 Penn State at #7 Iowa, 7:00 p.m., ESPN (HD)
• #12 Stanford at #5 Oregon, 7:00 p.m., ABC *1 / ESPN2 *7
• Washington at #19 USC, 7:00 p.m., ESPN2 *7 / ESPN-GP *2
• Nevada at UNLV (Las Vegas), 9:00 p.m., MTN (HD)

Games not selected for nationally available networks.

• Ball State at Central Michigan, 2:30 p.m.
• Buffalo at Bowling Green, 2:30 p.m.
• Cal Poly at Fresno State, 9:00 p.m.
• Duke at Maryland, 5:00 p.m., espn3.com
• East Carolina at North Carolina, 2:30 p.m., espn3.com / Time Warner (NC)
• Florida Atlantic at South Florida, 6:00 p.m., BHSN / espn3.com
• Florida International at Pittsburgh, 2:30 p.m., espn3.com
• Kent State at Miami (Ohio), 12:00 p.m.
• Louisiana Tech at Hawaii, 10:30 p.m., Oceanic PPV
• Louisville at Arkansas State, 6:00 p.m., espn3.com
• Northern Illinois at Akron, 5:00 p.m.
• SMU at Rice, 6:00 p.m.
• Tulane at Rutgers, 1:00 p.m., espn3.com
• Tulsa at Memphis, 6:00 p.m.
• UC Davis at San Jose State, 7:00 p.m.
• Wyoming at Toledo, 6:00 p.m.

It's October ... let the football continue during the 2010 College Football season.

peace