Bowletin Games of the Week Insider Big Ten Game of the Week: Rutgers at Ohio State Saturday, Oct. 18, 12:30 P.M. PT/3:30 P.M. ET (ABC/ESPN2) Weekly Polls Ohio State hasn’t lost a Big Ten regular matchup since took the reins in 2012, going 17-0 and outscoring opponents by an average of nearly 18 points a game in that page 2 span. The No. 13 Buckeyes are coming off their second bye in four weeks and are more than eager to pick up where they left off after bludgeoning Maryland 52-24 on Oct. 4. During its cur- TV Schedule rent three-game winning streak, Ohio St (4-1, 1-0) has averaged 56 points a game and out- Week 8 gained its opponents 1,871-858 in total yardage behind QB J. T. Barrett (1,354 yards, 17 TD). page 3 And with all of that staring it in the face, Rutgers (5-1, 1-1) can’t wait to invade what promises to be a hostile Horseshoe for this first-ever meeting between the two teams. Newbies to the Big Ten, the Scarlet Knights are seeking to build on the respect grudgingly earned with their Weekly News first conference win – a 26-24 victory over Michigan on Oct. 4. They’re eager to showoffa page 4 defense that is fifth among FBS schools with 23 sacks and one that has allowed only one pass- ing TD since an opening 41-38 victory against Washington St. And they’re looking to match their longest winning streak from last year (three), which would happen with an upset here. This Week in the Big Ten/Pac-12 Pac-12 Game of the Week: Stanford at State page 5 Saturday, Oct 18, 7:30 P.M. PT/10:30 P.M. ET (ESPN) Only in the runaway-coaster world of can you take a week off and move up three places in the polls. That scenario is rather fitting for an Arizona St. program now ranked 17th that went through its own emotional roller-coaster the two previous weeks before last week’s bye. There was the 62-27 beat-down the Sun Devils endured at the hands of UCLA, followed by a 38- 34 win over USC that came on a Hail Mary touchdown catch by Jaelen Strong as time expired. When the dust settled and Strong’s catch faded to black after a week’s worth of Zapruder film- style attention by Sun Devils’ fans and players, Arizona St. (4-1, 2-1) found itself in the thick of a parity-driven Pac-12 South race, only a half-game behind USC. To continue their climb, the Sun Devils must figure out a way to crack the physical code that Stanford’s vaunted defense provides, because for all the speed and athleticism Arizona St. boasts, No. 23 Stanford (4-2, 2-1) has won the last four meetings – including last year’s 38-14 victory in the Pac-12 title game. The Cardinal defense remains the No. 1 scoring defense in the country (10 points per game) and is second in total defense, allowing a stingy 238 yards a game. Once again, Stanford’s offense – behind QB Kevin Hogan (1,325 yards, 11 TDs, 4 INT) – will try keeping up. It will have to do so minus WR Devon Cajuste (18 catches, three TDs) and TE Austin Hooper (16 catches), who are both injured. National Game of the Week: Notre Dame at Florida State Saturday, Oct. 18, 5 P.M. PT/8 P.M. ET (ABC) Do you enjoy soap operas? Don’t think a game featuring the No. 2 and No. 5 teams in the coun- try and the current Heisman holder is enough drama for you? Here’s more drama and intrigue in one football game than anything Erica Kane or the cast of “General Hospital” ever en- countered. No. 2 Florida St. (6-0) is playing its best football of the season behind the aforemen- tioned reigning Heisman winner – QB , who is also the reason this game has been pulled off many boards in Las Vegas. If it’s not FSU’s decision to conduct a student code of conduct hearing on Winston for an ongoing sexual assault investigation, it’s the question of whether Winston received payments for autographs from the same company that led to the sus- pension of Georgia RB Todd Gurley for allegedly accepting payments for autographs. Regard- less, FSU Coach said Winston will play Saturday, a week after he went 30-for-36 for 317 yards and three TDs against Syracuse. The 38-20 victory was the Seminoles’ school-re- cord 22nd consecutive win. That’s a rather large weapon to throw at a Notre Dame (6-0) team that is 1-16 against top-five teams since 1999 (with seven losses in a row by at least 13 points) and coming off a 50-43 Houdini-esque escape against North Carolina. Despite that victory vaulting the Irish to No. 5, QB Everett Golson has committed nine turnovers in his last three games and the Irish defense allowed 516 yards of offense to North Carolina. This is the toughest game re- maining on FSU’s schedule and a victory here should grease the skids into the four-team playoff. 1 Weekly Polls

And the upheaval continues during Associated press USA today Coaches what is a wild October in which it’s good to be from the Magnolia State. 1. Mississippi St. 1. Mississippi St. The last time Ole Miss found itself in 2. Florida St. 2. Florida St. the top five of the AP Poll was 1964. 3. Ole Miss 3. Ole Miss Mississippi St., meanwhile, hadn’t 4. Baylor 4. Baylor surfaced higher than No. 7 -- ever. 5. Notre Dame 5. Notre Dame 6. Auburn Now, Mississippi St. is the new No. 1 6. Michigan St. 7. Alabama 7. Alabama in both polls, having knocked Florida 8. Michigan St. 8. Auburn W St. to No. 2. Beating three consecu- 9. Oregon 9. Oregon tive top-10 opponents – with previous 10. Georgia 10. Georgia No. 2 Auburn as the latest scalp -- 11. Oklahoma 11. Oklahoma e carries that kind of weight and makes 12. TCU 12. TCU the Bulldogs the first team in the 13. Ohio St. 13. Ohio St. AP Poll’s 78-year history to go from 14. Kansas St. 14. Kansas St. unranked to No. 1 in five weeks. 15. Oklahoma St. 15. Oklahoma St. e 16. Arizona 16. East Carolina 17. Arizona St. 17. Arizona Ole Miss, meanwhile, is No. 3 in both 18. East Carolina 18. Arizona St. k polls, knocking Texas A&M seven 19. Nebraska 19. Nebraska spots to No. 21 in both polls with its 20. Utah 20. Stanford 35-20 victory. Florida St. can respond 21. Texas A&M 21. Texas A&M accordingly this week if the Semi- 22. USC 22. Clemson noles beat No. 5 Notre Dame. Along 23. Stanford 23. Utah with No. 4 Baylor, the top five is 24. Clemson 24. Marshall 8 comprised of five of the six remaining 25. Marshall 25. USC undefeated FBS teams. Dropped from rankings: UCLA Dropped from rankings: UCLA 18, Georgia Tech 22 17, Georgia Tech 23, Missouri On the other end of the trend, Au- 24 burn plummeted four spots to No. 6 in the AP Poll and six spots to No. 8 in the USA Today Coaches Poll, and Arizona (a 28-26 loser to USC) tumbled six spots to No. 16. Meanwhile, as you say good-bye to UCLA (a 42-30 loser to Ore- gon), Georgia Tech and Missouri, say hello to No. 25 Marshall, which moved into the polls as the only

The Associated Press Poll is compiled from votes by 60 sportswriters and broadcasters from across the country.

The USA Today Coaches Poll is conducted weekly throughout the regular season using a panel of head coaches at FBS schools. The panel is chosen by random draw, conference by conference plus independents, from a pool of coaches.

While the AP and USA Today polls will not figure into the rankings for the inaugural College Football Playoff, both polls provide the best gauge for rankings until the CFP selection committee begins releasing its list in October. The first CFP ranking will be released on October 28.

2 TV Schedule Week 8 (All times listed below are ET and subject to change)

Thursday, October 16 Saturday, October 18 Continued Virginia Tech at Pittsburgh, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN) Colorado at USC, 6 p.m. (PAC-12 Network) Utah at Oregon State, 10 p.m. (FS2) Georgia Tech at North Carolina, 7 p.m. (ESPNU) Missouri at Florida, 7p.m. (ESPN2) Northern Arizona at Portland State, 7 p.m. (RSRM) Friday, October 17 Southern Miss at North Texas, 7 p.m. (CSNC+) Fresno State at Boise State, 8 p.m. (ESPN) Tennessee at Ole Miss, 7 p.m. (ESPN) Temple at Houston, 9 p.m. (ESPNU) Utah State at Colorado State, 7 p.m. (CBSSN) Kentucky at LSU, 7:30 p.m. (SECN) Nebraska at Northwestern, 7:30 p.m. (BTN) Notre Dame at Florida State, 8 p.m. (ABC) Saturday, October 18 Iowa State at Texas, 8 p.m. (LHN) COLLEGE GAMEDAY ON ESPN, 9 a.m. Washington at Oregon, 8 p.m. (FS1) Notre Dame at Florida State Nevada at BYU, 10:15 p.m. (ESPN2) Baylor at West Virginia, 12 p.m. (FS1) Hawaii at San Diego State, 10:30 p.m. (CBSSN) Chattanooga at The Citadel, 12 p.m. (ALT2) Stanford at Arizona State, 10:30 p.m. (ESPN) Furman at South Carolina, 12 p.m. (SECN) Iowa at Maryland, 12 p.m. (ESPN2) Kansas State at Oklahoma, 12 p.m. (ESPN) Purdue at Minnesota, 12 p.m. (BTN) South Florida at Tulsa, 12 p.m. (ESPN News) Syracuse at Wake Forest 12 p.m. (FSN Affiliates) Tulane at UCF, 12 p.m. (ESPNU) UTSA at Louisiana Tech, 12 p.m. (FSN Affiliates) Western Kentucky at Florida Atlantic, 12 p.m. (CSNC *5) Albany at Maine , 12:30 p.m. (DTV: 608-1 / FCSP (cable)) Towson at Delaware, 12:30 p.m. (SNY / (CSNC+ / CSCA) *5) Virginia at Duke , 12:30 p.m. (ESPN-GP / espn3) *2 Lafayette at Harvard, 1 p.m. (NESN / ESPN-GP) Western Michigan at Bowling Green, 2 p.m. (ESPN-GP) Brown at Princeton, 3:30 p.m. (CSNE / SNY) Cincinnati at SMU, 3:30 p.m. (CBSSN) Clemson at Boston College, 3:30 p.m. (ESPNU) Indiana State at North Dakota State, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN-GP) Kansas at Texas Tech, 3:30 p.m. (FSN Affiliates) Michigan State at Indiana, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN) New Mexico at Air Force, 3:30 p.m. (RSNW) North Carolina State at Louisville, 3:30 p.m. (FSN Affiliates) Rutgers at Ohio State, 3:30 p.m. (ABC / ESPN2) Texas A&M at Alabama, 3:30 p.m. (CBS) UAB at Middle Tennessee, 3:30 p.m. (DTV: 608) UCLA at California, 3:30 p.m. (ABC / ESPN2) Georgia at Arkansas, 4 p.m. (SECN) Illinois State at Western Illinois, 4 p.m. (ESPN-GP) Oklahoma State at TCU, 4 p.m. (FS1) South Dakota State at Northern Iowa, 5 p.m. (CSNC *5)

3 Weekly News Week 8

Michigan State football sitting in good spot in Big Ten By Seth Gruen, Chicago Sun-Times B When it comes to sports, we’re big on talk. The games move the conversation. Heck, every college-football team only plays once a week. But we’re still consumed by it those other six days. At the halfway point of the season, the I Big Ten has plenty of storylines to talk about, others that need to be discussed and others that are dead. Let’s take G a look at what we’ll call the Big Ten “Buzz List.” http://www.suntimes.com/sports/30447364-419/michigan-state-football-sitting-in-good-spot-in-big-ten.html#.VD7_Z760sdI T B1G’s wild, wild West needs a Wyatt Earp E By Adam Rittenberg, ESPN.com The first half of the college football season has been deliciously unpredictable nationally. Here in Big Ten country, N though, things have more or less played out like we thought they would. http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/109016/b1gs-wild-wild-west-needs-a-wyatt-earp

Pac-12 football is halfway to ... what? P By Chris Dufrense, Los Angeles Times The halfway point of a brand new season, with a brand new system, has prompted plenty of questions. We’ll start in the A Pac-12 Conference with Stanford and ask: What if Dr. ’s favorite team knew how to close out games? C http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-college-football-dufresne-20141016-column.html Kragthorpe: ‘Mayhem’ will shape Pac-12 South race - By Kurt Kragthorpe, The Salt Lake Tribune 1 Glory, Colorado. The Buffaloes’ fight song captures the only bit of consolation for anyone trying to sort out the Pac- 12 South football competition, as of mid-October. Colorado is improving, but not worth worrying about in this context. 2 Everybody else remains in the discussion. http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/utes/58520904-89/arizona-usc-state-case.html.csp

Forecasting the season’s second half N By Chris Low, ESPN.com Take a breath, a lengthy one. The first half of the 2014 college football season has come and gone, and even if you A dig living life on the edge, the heart-pounding drama, surprises, controversy and upheaval have us all checking our blood pressure. Maybe there’s something to this whole playoff thing. T http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/11702181/forecasting-second-half-college-football-season I Enough with the college football polls, roll out the real rankings O By Jau Dieffenbach, The Arizona Republic College football fans deserve the truth. They can handle the truth. When college football’s first “real” rankings come out N Oct. 28, the hope here is that a true evaluation of the conferences will have been considered. “Real” rankings are the College Football Playoff committee’s first revelation of the season. A http://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/college/2014/10/15/enough-with-the-college-football-polls-roll-out-the-real-rank- L ings/17312199/

4 This Week in the Big Ten/Pac-12

Saturday, October 18 Results week 7 Standings Purdue at Minnesota East Conf overall Iowa at Maryland Wisconsin 38, Illinois 28 Michigan St. 1-0 4-1 Rutgers at Ohio St. Minnesota 24, Northwestern 17 Ohio St. 0-0 4-1 Michigan St. at Indiana Michigan St. 45, Purdue 31 Penn St. 1-1 4-1 Nebraska at Northwestern Iowa 45, Indiana 29 Rutgers 1-1 5-1 Michigan 18, Penn St. 13 Maryland 1-1 4-2 Indiana 0-1 3-2 Michigan 0-2 2-4

West Conf overall Minnesota 2-0 4-1 Iowa 2-0 4-1 Northwestern 2-1 3-3 Nebraska 1-1 5-1 Wisconsin 1-1 4-2 Purdue 1-2 3-4 Illinois 0-3 3-4

Thursday, October 16 Results Week 7 Standings Utah at Oregon St. North Conf overall Stanford 34, Washington St. 17 California 2-1 4-1 Saturday, October 18 Oregon 42, UCLA 30 Oregon 1-1 4-1 UCLA at Cal Washington 31, Cal 7 Oregon St. 1-1 4-1 Colorado at USC USC 28, Arizona 26 Stanford 1-1 3-2 Washington at Oregon Washington St. 1-2 2-4 Stanford at Arizona St. Washington 0-1 4-1

South Conf overall USC 3-1 4-2 Arizona 2-1 5-1 Arizona St. 2-1 4-1 Utah 1-1 4-1 UCLA 1-2 4-2 Colorado 0-3 2-4 Ticket Information PrimeSport Travel and Ticket Packages PrimeSport offers the ultimate Rose Bowl experience including hotel, transportation, and hospitality so you can start the new year in style! PrimeSport is the Official Fan-to-Fan Ticket Exchange, Hospitality & Travel Provider of the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Rose presented by Northwestern Mutual. Visit http://www.primesport.com/ rosebowl/home for more details. Team Specific Ticket Reservations (TeamTix) Now Available To guarantee a face value ticket for your favorite team to the 2015 College Football Playoff Semifinal at the presented by Northwestern Mutual visit our TeamTix page and purchase a reservation for your favorite team. If your team goes to the Playoff Semifinal at the Rose Bowl Game, so do you. For more information visit www.teamtix.com.

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