Badgers eye Big Ten title, CFP berth

Wisconsin will play for the league title for the fourth time in six years, and will do so with its third head coach in that time frame, Paul Chryst.

Two months later, who would have thought the eighth-ranked Nittany Lions would have thrown a wrench into the College Football Playoff hypotheticals by earning a berth in the Big Ten championship game opposite No. 6 Wisconsin? The Badgers have 11 interceptions during the past three games and a pair of safeties and a corner combine for 13 of the team’s 21 picks.

This leap gave Penn State the lead against Michigan State.

The Penn State Nittany Lions have a chance to win the Big Ten title and remain in the college football playoff conversation. But Franklin insists that there’s a much more simple reason this program went from one that finished last season with four straight losses to one that is a win away from giving the College Football Playoff committee a giant headache when it decides next week who will compete for the national title.

When Sojourn Shelton left Indianapolis in December of 2014, after a awful 59-0 loss to Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship game, the University of Wisconsin cornerback told himself he wouldn’t return to that city unless it was for the NFL Combine or another shot at a conference title. “Cue the outrage, because it’s coming”.

That should balance the angst about having to play the waiting game. “They need to count”.

The issue won’t keep him out of Penn State’s biggest game of the season.

Harbaugh blasted the officiating after the Wolverines’ 30-27 double-overtime loss Saturday in Columbus, Ohio, saying he was “bitterly disappointed” during a lengthy rant.

As the spread on this game indicates, these two teams are evenly matched. The projection is purely a mock selection with no bearing on the Playoff selection committee’s decisions.

“He said he is feeling good and feeling a lot better than he did yesterday”, Chryst said of Hornibrook.

Barkley suffered a right foot or ankle injury in the third quarter that knocked him out of Saturday’s win over Michigan State.

“Grant’s one of the fastest players on our team”, quarterback Trace McSorley said.

“The other thing is, as good as defensive backs are all over the country, and specifically in the Big Ten, if the offensive line can protect, then the quarterback can extend”, Franklin said.

“I never want to experience nothing like that again”, UW cornerback Derrick Tindal said.

The Badgers did move up one spot to No. 5 in the USA Today Coaches poll, behind No. 1 Alabama, Ohio State State, Clemson and Washington. That turned out to be the final game he coached at Penn State before leaving for the NFL.

“I don’t think anybody on our team will or should have any difficulty preparing for Thursday”, captain David Goodwin said Monday. A senior with plenty of big-game experience in the late stages of his career, the once-highly recruited player can make an indelible mark with a strong showing against Penn State.

At the very least the game against No. 6 Wisconsin (10-2, No. 6 CFP) will determine which team goes to the Rose Bowl. “I’ve been getting treatment and taking it day by day and trying to get ready for the game this weekend”.