IOWA CITY, Iowa -- In just three weeks, Wisconsin might go from being the toast of the Big Ten West to, well, toast in the Big Ten West.The 10th-ranked Badgers (4-2, 1-2) earned the nations respect after close losses to Michigan and Ohio State, dropping just two spots in this weeks poll. And yet a loss on Saturday at unranked Iowa (5-2, 3-1) would put the Badgers three back of the Hawkeyes in the win column with just five games left.Theres also No. 8 Nebraska (6-0, 3-0), which hosts a Purdue team that just fired its coach on Saturday before it visits Wisconsin next week.The Badgers might prove to be the best overall team in the West. They might also be out of the division title chase before Halloween.For us to be the best, we have to keep improving each week. Thats the (halfway) report, Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst said.Iowa was supposed to be the team that everyone one in the West was looking up at by now.Instead, the Hawkeyes are eager to prove theyre a real division contender again.Iowa rallied from two losses in three games with a tight win at Minnesota on Oct. 8. Last week, they sealed Boilermakers coach Darrell Hazells demise with a 49-35 win that included three late and largely meaningless Purdue touchdowns.Here are the factors that could decide things on Saturday when Iowa and Wisconsin renew acquaintances in Iowa City:SCOUTING THE HAWKEYESPurdues late rally obscured the fact that the Hawkeyes have been much better defensively in recent weeks. On offense, Iowa has a pair of dangerous backs on pace for 1,000-yard seasons in LeShun Daniels Jr. and Akrum Wadley. Quarterback C.J. Beathard hasnt put up great numbers, largely because the Hawkeyes receivers have lacked the ability to separate from defensive backs. Still, Beathard is completing 60 percent of his passes and has 11 TDs against just four picks.DEFENSE MATTERSWisconsins defense has been spectacular all season. The Badgers are ninth nationally in points allowed per game at 15.2, despite the fact that theyve already faced LSU and the Wolverines and Buckeyes. Iowa is 21st in the country with just 19.2 points allowed per game and has let up seven points or less three times this season. In games like this typically, little things are really going to matter -- and theyre good at little things. So if were going to want to be in this ballgame, were going to have to do that a little bit better, too, and really be detailed because its going to be tough, Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said.CICHYS THE MANWisconsin junior linebacker was named the Big Tens defensive player of the week on Monday after making 15 tackles, including 3.5 for a loss, and forcing a fumble against the Buckeyes. He and fellow linebacker T.J. Watt might prove to be a handful for an offensive line that could be without starters Cole Croston and Boone Myers.HOME WOESThe visiting team has won the last five meetings in this series dating back to 2009. Iowa last hosted Wisconsin in 2014, when it also had control of its own destiny in the Big Ten West. But Melvin Gordon had 200 yards and a pair of touchdowns as the Badgers rallied for a 26-24 win.HE SAID ITI dont want to be Dr. Doom here. I think hes got a chance, Ferentz on tight end George Kittle, who is questionable for Saturdays game with a foot injury.---Online: www.collegefootball.ap.org Custom Colorado Avalanche Jerseys . -- Cam Newton pranced into the end zone, placed his hands over his chest and did his familiar Superman pose. Colorado Avalanche Shirts . In the response filed Wednesday to the complaint by 30-year-old Alexander Bradley, attorneys say the former University of Florida player is invoking his Fifth Amendment right that protects people from incriminating themselves. https://www.cheapavalanche.com/ . Vancouver Whitecaps and Toronto FC failed to make the postseason while Montreal Impact fell at the first hurdle losing heavily to Houston Dynamo in the Eastern Conference Knockout Round. Fake Avalanche Jerseys . -- The proud fathers huddled near the Dallas Stars dressing room, smiling, laughing and telling stories while wearing replica green sweaters of their sons team. Wholesale Avalanche Jerseys . I cant pinpoint a date, but I do remember a player from my youth. Brian Downing was with the Chicago White Sox at a time when I listened to every game I possibly could on the radio. That particular season the late great Harry Caray was calling the White Sox games. What a way for Seattle and New England to cap the most exciting and enticing day of the NFLs largely lackluster season:Tom Brady floating an end-zone fade for Rob Gronkowski with Kam Chancellor in coverage -- three of the leagues best players -- on fourth-and-goal from the 1 with 11 seconds left to decide the outcome of a Super Bowl rematch from two seasons ago and possible championship preview for this season.This is the sort of Sunday that draws folks in and doesnt let them go.A really cool night of football, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said after his teams 31-24 victory at the Patriots.There really was nothing missing, from start to finish and everything in between, including:- a potential winning extra point blocked and returned for a winning defensive 2-point conversion by the reigning champion Broncos to stun the Saints (with the bonus talking point of whether the guy who ran the ball back should have been ruled out of bounds or was spared that embarrassment because, as the league acknowledged afterward, his white shoes might or might not have blended in with the white sideline);- a fake-spike TD pass by Ben Roethlisberger to Antonio Brown for the Steelers that was one-upped moments later by Ezekiel Elliotts 32-yard TD run with 9 seconds left for the Cowboys in a game that somehow included a half-dozen missed 2-point conversions;- an apparently harmless completion with less than 30 seconds left in a tied game that was meandering toward overtime suddenly transformed into a turnover by Chiefs defensive back Marcus Peters, who ripped the ball away from Panthers wideout Kelvin Benjamin and set up Kansas Citys winning, final-play field goal.And so much more.It all ended when Bradys pass for his elite tight end fell incomplete. Gronkowski and Chancellor, a superb safety, exchanged contact, but there was no flag, seemingly a miracle these days.It came down to one yard at the end, Brady lamented, and we didnt get it.The game was suspenseful as can be: Not only was the outcome settled in the closing seconds, but there were seven lead changes, the same number as in Dallas 35-30 win at Pittsburgh, marking the first time in NFL history there were two such exceedingly back-and-forth games on one day.It was chock-full of indivvidual excellence from some of the sports biggest names (Brady and Russell Wilson each threw for more than 300 yards; Richard Sherman recovered a fumble) as well as lesser-known-but-still-talented players (Patriots RB LeGarrette Blount and Seahawks WR Doug Baldwin each scored three TDs).ddddddddddddAnd it even offered some water-cooler conversation starters about two of the leagues best coaches.Was it really best for Bill Belichick to have Brady run the ball more times (twice) from inside the 2 than Blount (once) on the final sequence? (Brings to mind a certain decision not to run the ball at the goal line late in another game between these two teams, doesnt it?)Did it really make sense for Pete Carroll to have Seattle try a 2-point conversion (that failed) for what would have been a nine-point lead at the end, instead of taking the extra point for an eight-point edge?We wanted to see, Carroll said, if we could put it out of reach.In case you missed it, here are other top topics after the NFL seasons 10th Sunday:HE DID WHAT?!Do yourself a favor and check out Tampa Bay QB Jameis Winstons one-of-a-kind play , when he scrambled this way and that for more than 10 seconds, covering more than 20 yards in the wrong direction -- all the way back to his own end zone -- before completing a 39-yard pass to a leaping Mike Evans that traveled a lot more than that. Then, one play later, Winston tossed a 43-yard TD pass to Freddie Martino in a 36-10 victory over Chicago.DEMARCOS NOT DONEIf anyone thought DeMarco Murray was done -- and Tennessee, lest anyone forget, used a second-round pick on Derrick Henry this year -- the running back sure put on a show in the Titans 47-25 win over Aaron Rodgers and the slumping Packers. On his teams first play from scrimmage, Murray went 75 yards for a touchdown, tying Hall of Famer Earl Campbells franchise record of five consecutive games with a TD on the ground. Then, for good measure, Murray threw for a score, too.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL---Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich ' ' '