As a rule of thumb, I don't like whiners and go out of my way to avoid being one.  However, I'm going let off a little steam here, and if it sounds like sour grapes.....tough.

Week after week, I keep an eye on the Heisman watch.  Week after week, I'm disappointed.  Disappointed that not once, not even as an honorable mention, does Shonn Greene's name appear.  What's worse, Scout.com put together a nice little list of the top 150 players they pick to go in the next NFL draft (all seniors) and Shonn doesn't appear anywhere on that list either.

Are you friggin' kidding me?!?!  Not picked to go in the draft either?!?

(catching breathe)

Okay, let's look at this rationally for a moment.

Shonn has carried the ball 152 times for 937 yards in seven games.  That's a pretty little 6.2 yards/carry.  That alone puts him 3rd in the nation in total yards, but that's not all.  He also has managed seven consecutive 100 yards games, top in the nation in that category.  He's a bruising back that carries his team's offense on his broad shoulders.

I can appreciate that explosiveness of Michigan State's Javon Ringer, but Ringer can't boast the kind of raw power Shonn Greene displays week in and week out.  I get really sick of seeing Ringer's name high on the list and Greene not even getting a mention. 

Yes, Ringer has two hundred yards more than Greene, but he has also carried the ball nearly 200 more times than Greene.  Once Shonn establishes the run, Iowa opens up the passing game and Jewel Hampton gets carries once in a while too.  Who knows how many yards Shonn would have if he carried the ball 195 extra times?

I know there are several people out there who will say....but Iowa sucks.  A Heisman candidate should lead thier team to victory.  Hey, a man can only do so much.  Is it his fault that his QB fumbles the ball every other snap?  Is it his fault the team tends to turn the ball over near the goal line?  When he's handed the football, he gets the job done!  When he doesn't get the call, he can't be held accountable for what the rest of the team does.  That's why I hate Heisman voting.  It's not so much about the player as about the team he plays for.

What really aggrivated me was the omission from the list of draft candidates.  How can a running back who runs so consistently, so powerfully and in the mold of the great pro running backs not be considered a top draft choice?!?!   I'm sure there are pro teams out there who are keeping thier eyes on Shonn, but it still makes me angry that Scout.com can't recognize what this young man has accomplished this year.

It is my sincerest hope that Shonn Greene is drafted high in the first round next spring and ends up being an All-Pro.  The Powers-That-Be still wouldn't admit that they overlooked a wonderful talent, but at least his fans would be able to say "I told you so".

It's still early in the week and I'm going to hold off on my predictions for a couple of days.  Here's a quick look at the upcoming matches in the Big Ten.  Enjoy!

Purdue @ Northwestern

Purdue is 2-5, Northwestern is 6-1.  This should be a no-brainer and I still think it will be.  On Purdue's behalf, I will say that their defense managed to hold Ohio State to just 16 points and Penn State to 20.  Given how Ohio State has looked to me this year, I'm not totally surprised, but holding Penn State under three touchdowns is impressive.  Evidently Purdue is one of those teams that plays just a notch under the level of their competition.  If thier offense can put some points on the board, thier defense might potentially keep them in it, dispite giving up 141 points already this season.  Emotion goes a long way...

Northwestern needs to bounce back from a tough loss to Michigan State.  Purdue is the perfect team to do that against.  After starting 6-0, the Wildcats had thier toughest obstacle against MSU.  They get two very winnable games against Purdue and at Indiana.  They should be 8-1 going into thier showdown at Minnisota. 

#12 Ohio State @ #20 Michigan State

I'll be straight forward.  I'm not a fan of OSU.  I'm really tired of them squandering thier talent.  The coaching staff makes terrible play calls, particularly in key drives where the game is on the line.  With their level of talent, OSU should be undefeated and have some HUGE scores.  Beating Purdue 16-3 really wasn't impressive.  Michigan State is far too good to take lightly.  Keep them too close and they'll burn you.

Brian Hoyer is a decent quarterback, but Javon Ringer is the key to MSU's offense.  He's already carried 247 times for 1112 yards.  A lot of backs don't see that kind of action (or success) in an entire season.  Slow down Ringer and you put the game in the hands of Hoyer.  He's fully capable of making plays, but no team is great when they're forced to play one-sided ball.  The big question is: can the Buckeyes stop Ringer?  If not, expect an upset and OSU's dreams of a NCG thrown out the window.

Michigan @ #3 Penn State

Two months ago, this looked like a marquis match.  Now it just looks like a snooze fest.  This game should hardly resemble practice for Penn State who dismantled Wisconsin to the tune of 48-7.  Wisconsin is a much better team than Michigan this year. 

I said it in my other post and I'll repeat it here.  If I'm wrong, I invite someone to correct me, but I could almost swear I remember RichRod saying that he was going to "ease" the Wolverines into his system.  If so, he didn't stick by it.  They've abandoned Michigan football in favor of his style.  Everyone expected that to happen, just not this year.  If he would have let them play thier brand of football this year while getting used to his style of leadership, then introduced his offense next year, Michigan might have a winning record right now.  Instead, he heaped everything on at once and now look at them.  If it weren't for Purdue, I would pick Michigan to finish at the very bottom of the Big Ten this year.

JoePa has done a magnificent job with the Lions.  Just when we think he's seen better days, he pulls out another "wow" team.  I'm not ready to crown them National Champions, but pretty close. 

Indiana @ Illinois

Indiana is in freefall.  I almost feel sorry for them.  What started out looking like a decent season went down the toilet.  Last week was a must-win situation if they had any remaining hopes of a bowl game and they got plastered by Iowa.  Illinois isn't going to be any easier for them.  If both Shonn Greene and Jewel Hampton can run for 100+ yards, what's Juice & Company going to do? 

Illinois is a decent team that had high hopes.  Here they are at the midway point of thier season and mired at 3-3.  In fairness, thier first two losses came to Missouri and Penn State; two top 25 teams, but losing to Minnisota didn't help thier situation much.  They're a good enough team to potentially win out, but they'll have to step it up a lot.  They've just never quite turned the corner they were looking to turn this year.

Minnisota - BYE

Minnisota's win over Illinois was a statement game.  What a turnaround this team has made!  Last year they were a miserable team, going 1-11.  In just one year they've become bowl eligible with five games still left in the season.  Unfortunately they still have Ohio State, Wisconsin and Penn State in those final five.   They also get Michigan, which has turned out to be a good thing, and Purdue.  I'm seeing an 8-win season for the Gophers and that's pretty darn good.

My Game of the Week (you'll find these are always Iowa games [at least I'm honest])

Wisconsin @ Iowa

Three weeks ago, I would have picked this game to be one of the most lopsided blowouts of the season.  Wisconsin looked like a Big Ten Powerhouse and Iowa looked like a doormat.  Things have changed a little.

Wisconsin is in meltdown. Losing to Michigan didn't look quite so bad at first, but now it looks kind of embarrasing.  They kept it close against Ohio State, but so did Purdue.  They were whipped soundly by Penn State.  Suddenly, Wisconsin doesn't look so good.  Allan Evridge has completed 53.8% of his passes, but has thrown 5 interceptions to only 5 touchdowns.  That kind of thing will kill you.  P.J. Hill is on track for a 1000 yard season, and that's a positive, but they haven't gotten it done in the big games. 

Iowa, on the other hand, appears to be finding thier stride.  That is, of course, if the Indiana game can be any kind of real sounding board.  Indiana isn't very good, but Iowa didn't just beat them, they beat them.  Two running backs had over 100 yards rushing, both lines dominated the action and Ricki Stanzi looked very comfortable under center.  The most important improvement for Iowa was the lack of turnovers.  After coughing the ball up or turning it over 8 times in just two games, the Hawkeyes finally figured out how to hang on to the ball.  They made great plays on both sides of the ball and controlled the clock, keeping Indiana's defense on the field and thier offense off it. 

Shonn Greene is a workhorse.  He's averaging over 6 yards/carry and now has seven consecutive 100 yard games.  He squares his shoulders when he runs and absolutely punishes defenders who dare to confront him.  I'm a little disappointed that he hasn't even gotten an honorable mention in the Heisman talk.  He's the only back in the country to have seven straight century games and has a better yd/carry average than anyone else.  Even though Iowa's considered "average" by pretty much everyone, his stats ought to stand on thier own merit.

This game is a "must win" for both teams.  This is the second week in that sense for Iowa.  Wisconsin is 3-3 overall and 0-3 in the Big Ten.  If they want any respect at all in the conference, they've got to beat someone other than a "preseason cupcake".  Not only that, but thier bowl hopes are in jeapardy.  After Iowa they have Illinois and Michigan State; two teams that will test Wisconsin yet again.  They get Indiana, then have to face a Minnisota team that's all fired up.  Finishing the season against Cal Poly may be thier saving grace if they can't get a couple of key wins.  6-6 won't be enough to get them in if they don't beat someone of substance along the way.

Iowa has Illinois and Penn State after Wisconsin.  Given Iowa's stingy defense, I wouldn't put a win against the Illini above them, but Penn State is a bit too much to ask.  They get a winnable one against Purdue, but they have to finish against Minnisota and that one's always a tough game every time they face each other.  Iowa needs to show they can win the games they "should" win if they want any hope of getting a bowl invite.  They're not in any position to take anything for granted.

If Iowa protects the football and its running backs stay involved in the offense, this could be another blowout.  Thier defense bends, but doesn't break often.  If they can force Wisconsin to settle for more fieldgoals than touchdowns, Iowa could make it 0-4 in Big Ten play for Wisconsin.  Stanzi's finding his footing as the leader of the Iowa offense and getting more comfortable every snap he takes.  This Iowa team might be on the verge of being one of the better teams in the Big Ten.

On the other hand....if they can't protect the football and get decent production out of the running backs....Iowa's hitting the section of their schedule that could really, really hurt....

I'm more than a little late getting this started.  I've spent the first seven weeks reading others' posts and weighing in from time to time.  I finally decided to just start my own. 

Here are my thoughts on the Big Ten games from week 7:

IOWA 45 - Indiana 9

Wow!  That was a good ol' fashioned butt-whoopin'!  Iowa's O and D lines dominated Indiana all day long.  Shonn Greene racked up his seventh straight 100yd game and even allowed time for Jewel Hampton to rack up 100 yards as well.  Ricki Stanzi looked more comfortable under center than he's looked all season.  We've heard all week how this team could easily be undefeated if only they'd have protected the ball a little better.  This week we saw how dominating they can be when they're not busy beating themselves.  Indiana is no PSU, nor MSU, nor Northwestern, nor Ohio St....etc, etc.  Still, that was pretty dominant.  For once, they looked like a possible bowl team.

MINNISOTA 27 - Illinois 20

In my opinion, Illinois is one of the bigger disappointments of this season.  They've had Juice Williams controlling the offense for a few years now.  He's a force to be reckoned with, but he seems to be all they really have.  They're a good team, but they just can't seem to get it done when pitted against the more solid Big Ten teams (last year's OSU game aside). 

On the other side of this equation, Minn is greatly improved over last years 1-11 team.  I give great kudos to the coaching staff up in Minnie.  It's pretty rare to see a team, like Minnisota, that has been mediocre for so long, and had such a terrible season last year, turn it all around so quickly.  I wouldn't rank them in the elite by any stretch, but they've made huge strides and I thought this was a great win for them.

Having given props to Minn., I still think this is a game Illinois should have won.  Minnisota's good, but beatable and if you want to stake a claim in the Big Ten, you've got to win these games.

TOLEDO 13 - Michigan 10

Are you kidding me?!  Todedo?  It's bad enough for a team like Michigan to lose to a MAC team, but to a MAC team that's only won one game coming into the Big House?!  Maybe I'm daydreaming, but I could have sworn that RichRod said he wouldn't try to change the way things were done right away.  I thought he was going to wait to implement his offense.  Am I wrong?

He took one of the greatest teams in the nation and tried to implement a new scheme in the same year they were trying to adjust to a new coach.  That's tough, any way you cut it.  Boys who were used to playing smash-mouth football were introduced overnight to a new head man and a spread offense and obviously haven't adjusted well. 

Time for basketball to start??

MICHIGAN STATE 37 - Northwestern 20

I wish I could have watched this game, but I didn't get a chance.  I have to admit, I'm a little shocked.  A couple of weeks ago, Iowa held Heisman hopeful Ringer to under 100 yards.  MSU still won, thanks to Iowa screwing it up, but they laid out the formula for a possible victory over the Spartans.  Pat Fitzgerald either didn't notice, or his men couldn't get it done.  In my pick-em's group, I had NW winning this one, which shows you how much I know.

Still Fitzy has done a great job with the Wildcats.  They've been a doormat in the Big Ten for as long as I can remember.  I don't think that's going to be the case any more.  Pat's instilled pride and hard work in a program that sorely needed it.  He doesn't take excuses and holds his men accountable.  They may have lost this one, but I look for NW to be really strong, not only the rest of this year, but next year and years to come.

OHIO STATE 16 - Purdue 3

I'm not sure if this is a statement for Purdue or one against OSU.  The way things are shaping up at the top of the college rankings, OSU could still find themselves in position for a shot at the NCG.  That, of course, depends on two things: beating a red hot Penn State team...and...doing a helluva lot better against sub-par teams than they did here against Purdue.  Right, wrong, or otherwise, pollsters look more closely at stats and scores than they do overall talent and potential.  OSU is loaded with talent and potential, but a 13 point win over a very mediocre Boilermaker team isn't going to sway anyone's vote.  Maybe that's a good thing.

PENN STATE 48 - Wisconsin 7

Is Penn State really this good or is Wisconsin really on this bad of a slide?  As much as I respect and like JoePa, I'm starting to lean toward the latter.  Wisconsin has now lost three in a row and that game was a full-on butt kicking.  I didn't really expect the Badgers to beat the Lions, but I did expect a decent game.  That was just plain embarrasing. 

On the upside, I do feel a little better about my Hawkeyes' chances against the Badgers in Kinnick Stadium now. 

Still, Paterno has impressed me this year.  Penn State is always good, but his willingness to embrace a new style of offense and make it work so well is inspiring.  In my book, PSU is the strongest team in the Big Ten and I'll pick them over OSU any day of the week...but again....what do I know?