UNDATED (AP) — Miami quarterback Darian Mensah was the overwhelming choice for first-team quarterback on The Associated Press midseason All-America team. UCLA led all teams with three players on the top unit. Eight players from the Southeastern Conference and seven each from the Atlantic Coast Conference and Big Ten are on the first team. The team is determined by a panel of media members who vote each week in the AP Top 25. Nine players who were on the AP preseason All-America first team also were voted to the midseason first team. Four other preseason first-team picks are on the second team.
UNDATED (AP) — The winners of the last two national champions face off Saturday when No. 5 Indiana hosts No. 4 Ohio State in the biggest game of a loaded Big Ten schedule. This also represents a rematch of last year's Big Ten championship game. Indiana won that matchup 13-10. The Michigan State-Northwestern meeting has Michigan State coach Pat Fitzgerald nand Northwestern quarterback Aidan Chiles facing off against their former schools. UCLA puts its unbeaten record at stake against Wisconsin as the Bruins try to overcome the loss of injured quarterback Nico Iamaleava.
UNDATED (AP) — No. 4 Ohio State and No. 5 Indiana have plenty of pizzaz on their rosters. Each school has efficient quarterbacks, elite receivers and big-play threats all over the field. But they win the old-fashioned way — by running the ball and stopping the run. So in the only top five contest on Saturday’s lineup, the Buckeyes and Hoosiers will be ready to grind out the inside track to a Big Ten title game berth in the rematch of last season’s championship game.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Michigan’s football team might have some help on the way this season. A judge granted a temporary restraining order for former Miami tight end Alex Bauman and former Boise State defensive back Jeremiah Earby, a pair of student-athletes who are enrolled at Michigan and hope to join the team for their fifth season. Judge Julia B. Owdziej, based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, ruled that both players are eligible to play this season. She wrote on Tuesday that preventing them from being eligible would be “irreparable and severe," while the harm to the NCAA would be negligible.
UNDATED (AP) — Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith seems to break records every weekend. Indiana receivers Charlie Becker and Nick Marsh are etching their names into Indiana lore on a weekly basis too. On Saturday, those three — all ranked among the top four receiver prospects in April’s NFL draft — will share the field for the eagerly anticipated Big Ten championship game rematch between the fourth-ranked Buckeyes and defending national champion Hoosiers. While it’s a dream matchup for pro scouts, it creates nightmares for defensive coordinators, secondaries and even, yes, two-time Associated Press Coach of the Year Curt Cignetti.
UNDATED (AP) — Bob Chesney and his UCLA Bruins head the list of Big Ten midseason awards as determined by a vote of Associated Press writers who cover the conference. Chesney was named top coach and the Bruins the most surprising team. The No. 12 Bruins have their highest ranking in four years and are among nine unbeaten teams in the country. They are tied with No. 4 Ohio State and No. 5 Indiana at 3-0 in Big Ten play. Northwestern's Aidan Chiles is most surprising player, Ohio State's Jeremiah Smith top offensive player and Indiana's Tobi Osunsanmi top defensive player.
