Russell Wilson is not unknown to Heisman voters. Three (I, II, III) of the major “Heisman Watch” lists have him in, or around, the top five.

That’s probably a good spot for the Wisconsin quarterback, who has been great early on, but against suspect competition.

Through four games, Wilson — who spent his first three seasons at NC State before taking advantage of the NCAA’s graduate-level transfer rule — has completed 75.8% of his passes for 1,136 yards and 11 touchdowns, while throwing just one interception. He’s leading a Wisconsin offense that’s sixth in the nation scoring 48.5 points per game, and he’s done this while the Badgers have taken their foot off the gas pedal late in games thanks to huge leads.

Tonight, Wilson and Wisconsin play Nebraska in their Big Ten opener, and with a great performance, Wilson could find himself near, if not at the top of those lists. Nebraska is a big-time, storied program that has long been known for its defensive prowess. Even if the Huskers finish the season around where they are in scoring defense (46th at 22 points per game), putting up big numbers against them is going to cause voters’ eyes to light up.

It’s also the weekend’s showcase game, as it will be on ABC at 8 p.m. (EST). If Alabama does to Florida what I’m expecting it to, most of the country’s eyes will be on this game and this game alone. That’s the perfect storm for Wilson’s Heisman campaign. Of course it could also work against him. If Wilson has a bad game in a loss, it will be remembered by voters into December. If his running back Montee Ball goes nuts — which he is certainly capable of — voters might question the importance Wilson to the Badgers.

That’s not going to happen, though. Expect Wilson to be let loose, both through the air and with his feet, and expect to wake up Sunday hearing his name mentioned with “Heisman frontrunner” attached to it.

This game was closer than the final score would indicate, but it was never very close…if that makes sense. The Buckeyes built a lead behind some unbelievable three-point shooting — 14-of-15…yes, you read that right — and every time the Badgers were able to cut the lead to 11 or 12 points, Jon Diebler (7-of-8 from 3PT), William Buford (3-for-3) or David Lighty (2-for-2) would hit a three and push the lead back to 14 or 15 points. The Buckeyes’ three-point shooting was so amazing that I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that they made a deal with the devil before tip-off.

Diebler, who hit 10-of-12 three-pointers against Penn State on Tuesday, has now hit 17 of his last 20 threes (85%) over the last two games. That’s just incredible.

The Buckeyes won the Big Ten regular season title when Purdue lost to Iowa on Saturday and will be the #1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament, which starts on Thursday. Wisconsin enters the tourney as the #3 seed.

Freshman sensation Jared Sullinger says (via Twitter, of course) that he was spit on, in the face, by Wisconsin fans before and after the game.

To be spit on is just nasty. On top of that in my Face. Before and after the game. Smh. I just kept walking. More fuel to the fire.

For those of us unfamiliar with texting/tweeting acronyms, “SMH” stands for “shake my head.”

As a former Wisconsinite, I’m a little surprised by this news, but Sullinger has no reason to lie about being spit on. Whoever did this should be ashamed of themselves. Cheer all you want. Root for your team all you want. Boo all you want. Heckle all you want. But don’t spit on anyone.

The Badgers visit Columbus on March 6.

Things were looking awfully grim for the Badgers when they were trailing by 15 points with 13:16 to play in the second half. But over the next three-and-a-half minutes, Wisconsin went on a 15-0 run to tie the game at 47-47 with 9:49 to play. The run featured three three-pointers, two by Jordan Taylor and one by Josh Gasser (which was assisted by Taylor).

Mike Bruesewitz (a.k.a. “Carrot Top,” per Dick Vitale) was big off the bench, scoring 10 points (two threes, a putback and two free throws) over the final 11 minutes of the game. His biggest shot came with 0:31 remaining and the Badgers nursing a two-point lead. He caught the ball at the top of the key, shot faked, then drained the open three to give Wisconsin a five-point lead.

Wisconsin’s shooting down the stretch was incredible. They went 7-for-11 from three-point range and 8-of-11 from the free throw line in the final 12 minutes.

Taylor posted 27 points and seven assists, and went 5-of-8 from long range. Jon Leuer and Bruesewitz each added 12 points for Wisconsin. William Buford led the Buckeyes with 21 points, while Jared Sullinger added 19 points and 12 rebounds.

OSU head coach Thad Motta is now 0-6 at the Kohl Center in his career. With the win, the Badgers stay undefeated at home. Coincidentally, it was also Wisconsin that knocked off the top-ranked Ohio State football team late last year.

Do I smell a rivalry brewing? Wisconsin is certainly in a better position than Michigan in both basketball and football to battle Ohio State for supremacy in the Big Ten/Eleven/Twelve.

2011 BCS Bowl Previews: BCS National Championship | Fiesta Bowl | Rose Bowl | Orange Bowl | Sugar Bowl

Date: Saturday, January 1 2011
Time: 4:30PM ET
TV: ESPN

Why Watch: This will be the Badgers first trip to Pasadena in 11 seasons, while the Horned Frogs will become the first team from a non-AQ league in the BCS era to play in the Rose Bowl. Both teams scored 520 points this year, which was tied for the fourth most in the nation. This will be a classic strength vs. strength matchup, as TCU allowed an average of just 11.4 points, 126.3 passing yards and 215.4 total yards per game this year, which were all tops in the FBS. They also held opponents to 89.2 rushing yards per game, which was the third-fewest in the country. The Badgers, meanwhile, were tied for fourth with 43.3 points per game (the same as TCU) and employ a three-headed monster in running backs James White (1,061 yards), John Clay (952) and Montee Ball (881). Can TCU’s speedy defense matchup with Wisconsin’s big bodies on the offensive line?

Game Facts: Wisconsin has won its last three Rose Bowl appearances, while this will be TCU’s first-ever trip to Pasadena. The Badgers are 11-10 all-time in bowls and they’ll be making their ninth-straight bowl appearance. They beat Miami 20-14 in the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando last season. The Frogs are 11-14-1 all-time in bowls, but are 7-4 in bowl games under current head coach Gary Patterson. After winning their previous four bowl games, TCU was largely dominated by Boise State at last year’s Fiesta Bowl, even though the final score was, 17-10.

Key Player: Wayne Daniels, TCU.
Want to know if TCU can play with the big boys? We’ll learn a lot by watching Daniels try and get around 6-foot-7 beast of a man and Outland Trophy winner Gabe Carimi. Daniels was an All-American himself, and led TCU with 6.5 sacks this season. If Carimi is able to do to him what he’s been able to do to everyone else he’s gone up against this season (which is destroy them), then TCU might be in for a long day because that likely means Wisconsin won’t have trouble moving the ball. Daniels doesn’t necessarily have to win this battle, but he has to at least hold his own if TCU is going to win.

Odds: TCU -3
Wisconsin opened as a 3-point underdog and while the line dipped to 2.5 at some books, the point spread looks like it has settled in at 3. The over/under total opened at 56.5, but it’s already up to 58.5 as the public expects this to be a high-scoring affair. TCU finished the regular season with a 12-0 record and covered in seven of its 12 overall games. Wisconsin finished with just the one blemish on its record (at Michigan State), and covered in seven of its 12 games as well. The total went over in six of the Frogs’ 12 games, while it went over in eight of the Badgers’ 12 contests (with one push).

How Wisconsin can win: By doing things exactly like it has for the last seven weeks of the season. Since losing to Michigan State, Wisconsin has shown no mercy to opponents, beating them in the trenches and on the scoreboard. I doubt that Wisconsin will deviate much, if at all, from its punishing style. But one thing that tends to happen in a long bowl layoff is that teams lose a bit of the momentum they had in the regular season and coaches tend to over-think things. If they keep it simple and concentrate on simply winning the battles up front, then the Badgers could walk out of Pasadena as Rose Bowl champions.

Why TCU will win: The Horned Frogs are the better overall team. Wisconsin can score, there’s no doubt about that. But the defense is susceptible. Michigan State scored 34 points on the Badgers in their only loss, and Iowa put up 30 on them. TCU’s offense is better than both MSU and Iowa, as Andy Dalton is a much more consistent quarterback than either Kirk Cousins or Ricky Stanzi. The Horned Frogs also have one heck of a defense — the top defense in the country, actually — allowing just 11.4 points per game. Sure, the Horned Frogs didn’t play that tough of a schedule, but they destroyed everyone on it, with the exception of Oregon State (and even that game was never in doubt) and San Diego State, a game made closer by two late SDSU scores.

Prediction: TCU 28, Wisconsin 24

Contributors: Anthony Stalter and Paul Costanzo

After Friday’s games, today might be a little anti-climactic, but there’s still plenty to be determined on college football’s more traditional day.

The Big Ten title is still up for grabs, with three teams — Wisconsin, Ohio State and Michigan State — all tied at the top with one loss. If all three win, the BCS standings will decide who goes to the Rose Bowl. That will likely be Wisconsin, which has that edge going into today. If Wisconsin loses and the other two win, the BCS will again decide who goes to the Rose Bowl, as Ohio State and Michigan State did not play each other. It’s a problem the Big Ten will have solved next year when there’s a title game (two title contenders not playing each other, that is. As the Big 12 showed us two years ago, the BCS can still decide a divisional race if all hell breaks loose).

If Wisconsin wins, however, and either Ohio State or Michigan State lose, it will be a lot more clear cut. The Spartans get the bid with an Ohio State loss as they have the head-to-head edge over Wisconsin. The Badgers get it if Michigan State loses, because they hold that same edge over Ohio State.

So those are your scenarios (sure, there’s the “all three lose” scenario, as well, where Iowa is back in the mix, but I don’t want to force that upon you before noon). Here’s how it will play out.

I went 1-2 Friday, which is awful when picking straight up. But I don’t think I’m alone after the shocking results from one of the more impactful days of college football I can ever remember.

Michigan at No. 8 Ohio State, noon: Just four years ago, people were arguing whether or not this was the biggest rivalry in all of sports. But after six straight Buckeye wins in the series, it’s lost a lot of its luster outside of the Midwest. Ohio State should have its way with Michigan, as scoring shouldn’t be an issue, and it has the athletes up front to contain Denard Robinson. The big question here is how much Michigan can lose by and save Rich Rodriguez’s job. If they’re blown out, there are a lot of people in the state that think he’ll be gone within the week. If it’s close, some still think he’s gone. If he wins, there’s no way he goes. But he’s not winning. Pick: Ohio State 34-21.

No. 10 Michigan State at Penn State, noon: Had this game been played in Week 6, I would have called it a no-brainer. The Spartans were rolling and Penn State was reeling. Now, with a banged up Kirk Cousins and suddenly struggling run game, the Spartans don’t look nearly as powerful as they did when they defeated Wisconsin and Michigan in consecutive weeks. Penn State, meanwhile, doesn’t look near as bad as it did early in the season. Have they come all the way to meet in the middle? Yes, but I don’t think they’ve overlapped. Pick: MSU 21-20.

Northwestern at No. 7 Wisconsin, 3:30 p.m.: The Wildcats have proven to be pesky at times this season, but if you watched the one-way madness at Wrigley last week, you saw that they can be run on. If Mikel Leshoure can run for 300-plus yards against Northwestern, what can Wisconsin do at home with a Big Ten title on the line? Probably quite a bit. Enjoy Pasadena, Badgers. Pick: Wisconsin 48-20.

No. 5 LSU at No. 12 Arkansas, 3:30 p.m.: This game could very well be for the second SEC BCS berth. The Tigers would certainly head to the Sugar Bowl — assuming Auburn wins next week in the SEC title game — with a win, and there’s a decent chance that the Sugar would opt for Arkansas with a win, as well. I’ve had serious doubts about LSU all season, as it plays way too close to its competition way too often. But when the Tigers need to turn it up, they do. That should be the case today. Pick: LSU 27-24.

No. 13 Oklahoma at No. 9 Oklahoma State, 8 p.m.: A win sends the Cowboys to the Big 12 championship, while a loss causes some Big-Ten-like confusion at the top of the Big 12 South. I don’t really know what to think of this Jekyll and Hyde Oklahoma team, other than I know it’s more than capable of pulling this off today. But I have a real tough time going against that Oklahoma State offense and Justin Blackmon. Kid’s a creature, and I mean that as compliment. Pick: Oklahoma State 35-31.

It took a fat-guy fumble recovery in the endzone to do it (yes, technically the touchdown was given to Kirk Cousins, but my way is more fun), but Michigan State survived a surprising scare from Purdue today to remain alongside Wisconsin and (for the moment) Ohio State as the only one-loss teams in the Big Ten.

The Spartans fell behind 28-13 and 31-20 in this one before making a fourth-quarter comeback. It was aided by an ugly Rob Henry interception and a blocked punt, but it still counts.

Michigan State now goes into next week’s game at Penn State looking to lock up a share of the Big Ten title for the first time since 1988. If Ohio State loses today or at Michigan, the Spartans would have the tie-breaker in the conference over Wisconsin (head-to-head) and get the Big Ten’s automatic bid to a BCS game. If all three teams win out, the team with the highest ranking in the BCS will get the bid. It’s dumb, but that’s how the conference’s rule works.

What makes it even more dumb is that unlike in 2008, when Texas, Oklahoma and Texas Tech were had all beaten each other and needed the BCS to sort out the Big 12 South, this year, Michigan State doesn’t have a loss to one of the other two.

The Spartans beat Wisconsin by 10 early in the season, and their one loss is to Iowa, who is not involved in this mess. Ohio State, meanwhile, lost to Wisconsin. So technically, head-to-head should go Michigan State’s way, right? Considering they don’t have a head-to-head loss like the other two.

I’m not saying the Spartans are the most deserving, necessarily, as I think it’s pretty clear that Wisconsin is playing the best football in the Big Ten right now. But those two did meet on the field, and Michigan State did win that game.

Should it shake out with all three teams winning out, it should make for a fun debate on Dec. 5 when all of this is decided.