College

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Much of the buzz surrounding No. 8 Iowa has been about its resume, and whether the Hawkeyes can truly be considered national title contenders when they keep sneaking past everyone.

MINNEAPOLIS – The supposedly high-performance offenses at Illinois and Minnesota spent most of the first seven weeks of the season stuck in the shop, sputtering and struggling to get going.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – Welcome home, Terrelle Pryor.

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Iowa coach Todd Lickliter knows the Hawkeyes have been picked to occupy the Big Ten basement this season.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue’s heralded 2007 recruiting class of Robbie Hummel, E’Twaun Moore and JaJuan Johnson stepped on campus trying to help the program keep up with the big boys.

CHAMPAIGN – The only scholarship senior on a team boosted by four talented freshmen, Illinois forward Dominique Keller often finds himself surrounded by questions about the rookies.

Until the games start next week there is still one topic that dominates all hoops talk – Kentucky.

DeKALB – Tommy Davis returned the opening kickoff 86 yards for a touchdown and Chad Spann ran for a career-high 174 yards and two scores to help Northern Illinois rout winless Eastern Michigan 50-6 on Thursday night.