Stuck in the grip of the three-game losing skid that followed the perfect 5-0 start, the Michigan Wolverines (5-3, 1-3 Big Ten) are still seeking their sixth win of the season to become bowl eligible. The chances to do that are beginning to dwindle. The number of winnable games left on the schedule — shoot, the number of games period — is going down quickly. With only one home game left after Saturday — and that against Wisconsin — it's becoming imperative that the Wolverines take care of business in this week's game against Illinois.

The No. 13-ranked Michigan State Spartans (6-0, 2-0 Big Ten) are looking to go to 7-0 for the first time since the national championship year in 1966 when they host Illinois for a homecoming game on Saturday. The Illini (3-2, 1-1) are coming off their first-ever win in Happy Valley last week, knocking off Penn State to turn down the hot seat for coach Ron Zook. Can they ruin Michigan State's homecoming and end the dream of a Rose Bowl appearance? Tune in 15 minutes before kickoff at 11:45 a.m. to find out my thoughts.

When Orchard Lake St. Mary's grad Justin Siller was reinstated to the Purdue football team last spring, the former quarterback was going to have to switch positions in order to contribute, considering the Boilermakers had Miami (Fla.) transfer Robert Marve tabbed as the next signalcaller to come through the 'Cradle of Quarterbacks.'

Siller did that willingly, joining what looked like a stacked wide receiver corps.

Four weeks into the season, and injuries may force the 6-foot-4, 223-pound Siller — who'd been flip-flopped from QB to RB and back to QB as a reshirt freshman, because of injuries — to have to change positions again.

Only question? Which position.

Marve is out after an MRI Monday revealed a torn ACL. One of his two backups, Caleb TerBush, fell victim to academics, leaving just redshirt freshman Rob Henry. The running back situation is no better, as last year's leading rusher, Ralph Bolden, tore an ACL in spring practice. At one point, the Boilermakers were down to just one healthy tailback, Dan Dierking.

Shoot, Purdue probably could use him still at the wideout position, which is without one of the Big Ten's best receivers, Keith Smith, who tore up both major ligaments in his knee two weeks ago.

"We can go further down the depth chart or go to an older player that's played some," Purdue coach Danny Hope was quoted by the West Lafayette Journal and Courier as saying about the quarterback position. "We might have to from a necessity standpoint."

Earlier this week, the Journal and Courier reported that Siller hadn't been approached about making a switch. It may just be a matter of time.

"If the coaches feel like me going to quarterback is the best thing for our team, then yes," Siller said. "Right now, I'm still focused on receiver. Rob Henry and (freshman) Sean Robinson are fully capable of leading the team."

UPDATE: Siller won't be contributing at any position anytime soon, according to Hope. On the Big Ten conference call on Tuesday (Oct. 5), Hope said that Siller would likely be out 3-6 weeks with a sprained foot.

Often times, when a player gets a second chance with a team, the coach of that team tends to take a wait-and-see approach.

Not so with Orchard Lake St. Mary's grad Justin Siller, who's back with the Purdue Boilermakers after a year in community college exile (read my earlier post about his dismissal and his May reinstatement here), and will be a huge part of the team's plans.

"He's back in school, he's eligible, he's on the team, and we're excited about having him back," said Purdue coach Danny Hope at Monday's Big Ten media day in Chicago. "He's a great teammate, a fine person, an outstanding student. Obviously, we missed his services last year."

The Boilermakers didn't necessarily need Siller at quarterback — the position from which he'd engineered a 48-42 win over Michigan in his first start in 2008 — since they had Joey Elliott. The beneficiary of Siller's year-long absence, in that he won the QB derby last spring by default, Elliott led Purdue to just a 5-7 record, but nearly swept the state of Michigan, beating the Wolverines, 38-36, and losing to the Spartans, 40-37.

This year, the Boilermakers will have Miami (Fla.) transfer Robert Marve — who Hope called "as talented as any quarterback (he'd) been around" — but they'll still need Siller's versatility and athleticism.

Hope noted that the 6-foot-4, 220-pound Siller is currently listed on the depth chart at wide receiver, but he could line up at any of the skill positions on offense. That could be especially critical, since the Boilers will be without starting running back Ralph Bolden, who tore an ACL in spring practice. Siller may end up in the mix at running back with Al-Terek McBurse and another converted WR, Keith Carlos, a JUCO transfer who was a runner in junior college.

"He's hard to tackle, can make you miss. He's a heck of a football player and a heck of a guy — huge shot in the arm for our football team if we can get Justin Siller back this year," Hope said. "Justin Siller can be a difference maker for our football team, when it's all said and done, and I expect him to impact a whole lot of football games."

Citing sources close to the negotiations, a Missouri radio station — WHB (810-AM) in St. Louis — reports that the Big Ten is on the verge of extending invitations to four schools: Nebraska, Missouri, Rutgers and Notre Dame.

The Big Ten's intention to expand has been one of the top ongoing stories of the year in college sports and, given the depth and breadth of speculation on the topic, none of the schools named by the report's author, Kevin Kietzman, are remotely shocking. The timing is slightly curious, however, since the Big Ten's plans can't be finalized until the league's presidents and chancellors meet at the start of June.

While both Big 12 schools issued immediate responses, the dismissal from Nebraska chancellor Harvey Perlman of the validity of the report ("None whatsoever," he told the Lincoln Journal Star.) was much stronger than the response from Missouri.

Rutgers issued a press release from AD Tim Pernetti, saying "We are a proud member of the Big East Conference. It is not our place to speculate on any reports on the expansion plans of any other conference."

As per usual, Notre Dame refused to comment at all.

Assuming Kietzman's sources are right, adding all four would put the Big Ten at 15 schools, well within the range set out as possible by commissioner Jim Delany. But it would still leave the conference with an odd number of schools, and likely seeking one more addition to even out the numbers.

Here have been my thoughts all along:

If indeed the expansion is driven by football only, it's likely that the additions won't include either Missouri or Rutgers, despite the fact that those two schools would give the conference a way into the TV markets in St. Louis and New York. Missouri has had a small taste of success under former Toledo coach Gary Pinkel, but nothing that's been sustained. It's the same for Rutgers under Greg Schiano, despite the life he's breathed into that moribund program in Piscataway. (Heck, it even got him an offer of the U-M job, which he turned down).

Nebraska makes sense, because the Cornhuskers are — well, Big Red. Every bit as tradition-laden as Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State. Despite its recent crash (thank you, Greg Robinson), the Syracuse program has a ton of tradition of its own — from Jim Brown and Ernie Davis to Donovan McNabb and Dwight Freeney. Then there's the bonus of the rock-solid basketball program.

The other three I'd keep an eye on are Pitt, Cincinnati and West Virginia. All three are competitive in the toughest conference in basketball, the Big East — arguably every bit as accomplished as Syracuse since Carmelo Anthony pulled his one-and-done act — and have been light years better on the gridiron lately.

While some have argued the Big Ten's intention to try to break into the New York market (and I'm not sure how Syracuse or Rutgers would pull that off, to be honest), maybe a more realistic plan would be to consolidate the conference's hold on the recruiting-rich states of Pennsylvania and Ohio — the closest thing the North has to the fertile recruiting grounds of southern states like Florida, Texas and Louisiana.

The addition of Penn State in the 1990s gave the Big Ten a foothold in Pennsylvania, and Pitt would not only finally give the Nittany Lions a natural in-conference rival, but would also lock up the western half of the state.

Follow that same logic with Cincinnati, which would give the Big Ten the top two programs in the state of Ohio, and a stranglehold on the BCS-level programs in the state (no offense to the MAC schools).

Sitting between those two additions — and mere miles from the borders of both Pennsylvania and Ohio — is West Virginia, the addition of which would cement the inclusion of its archrival, Pitt.

With the four additions from the Big East forming half of a new eight-team division, you could easily slide Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan and Michigan State in alongside. That would leave a western division of Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Northwestern, Indiana and Purdue.

None of the traditional rivalries (with the exception of the Little Brown Jug) would be severed, and there wouldn't be any weird geographic anomalies. It would also perfectly set up an east/west showdown in a conference title game (like that's not the ENTIRE reason behind expansion).

Those eight-team divisions could even be further subdivided, if you wanted to go with semifinal games, as well:
Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin
Illinois, Northwestern, Purdue, Indiana
Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Cincinnati
Penn State, Pitt, West Virginia, Syracuse.

Obviously nothing's set in stone until the powers that be in the Big Ten agree on a plan, but that's just my idea for what they should do.

ESPN.com's Big Ten blogger Adam Rittenberg will be chatting about the conference's hot topics from this spring at 2 p.m. on Wednesday. To join in, click here.

The minute Michigan State linebacker Greg Jones decided to stay in school for his senior season, it became obvious how slim the pickings were for draftable players from the state. Before Michigan DE Brandon Graham's stellar postseason pushed him into the middle of the first round, it was eminently possible that the entire state could be shut out of the first day of the NFL's new three-day draft format.

While the Big Ten had the second-most players (34) selected of any conference, only four of those were from Michigan or Michigan State. It's a pretty good argument for the people who insist that John L. Smith was recruiting MAC-level talent in his years at MSU, and those that insist that Lloyd Carr left the cupboard bare at U-M.

Even with Graham's selection at No. 13 by the Eagles, it was still nearly 36 hours before another player from one of the major universities in the state would come off the board. Small-school workout warrior Jared Veldheer of Hillsdale was picked in the third round by Oakland on Friday, but punter Zoltan Mesko was the next player with ties to the state drafted, midway through the fifth round, shortly before noon on Saturday.

Central Michigan's record-setting duo of QB Dan LeFevour and WR Antonio Brown  were the next two to go off the board, 14 picks apart in the sixth round, then the Raiders nabbed a pair of defensive backs — Michigan State's Jeremy Ware and Michigan's Stevie Brown — with seventh-round picks.

Michigan cornerback Donovan Warren, who entered the draft early, was not selected, and signed a free-agent contract with the DB-rich New York Jets. He's not alone in that ignominy: Ole Miss quarterback Jevan Sneed, once considered a sure-fire first-round pick, went undrafted and was signed by Tampa Bay, while LaGarrette Blount, the troubled tailback from Oregon, signed with the Titans.

Another local product, Michigan State's Blair White, knows all about beating long odds after going from walk-on to the Spartans' leading receiver last season.
UPDATE: Trevor Anderson joined former MSU teammates White and kicker Brett Swenson as an undrafted free agent signed by the Colts. Western Michigan QB Tim Hiller is also in the Colts' rookie camp this week.


DRAFTED PLAYERS
Round 1, pick 13 — Michigan DE Brandon Graham, drafted by Philadelphia
Round 3, pick 5   — Hillsdale OT Jared Veldheer, drafted by Oakland
Round 5, pick 19 — Michigan P Zoltan Mesko, drafted by New England
Round 6, pick 12 — Central Michigan QB Dan LeFevour, drafted by Chicago
Round 6, pick 26 — Central Michigan WR Antonio Brown, drafted by Pittsburgh
Round 7, pick 8   — Michigan St. CB Jeremy Ware, drafted by Oakland
Round 7, pick 44 — Michigan S Stevie Brown, drafted by Oakland

UNDRAFTED PLAYERS

Michigan

RB Carlos Brown — New Orleans

WR Greg Mathews — Chicago

RB Brandon Minor — Chicago

OG David Moosman — Arizona

OT Mark Ortmann — Carolina

CB Donovan Warren — New York Jets

Michigan State

PK Brett Swenson — Indianapolis

CB Ross Weaver (Southfield) — Miami

WR Blair White — Indianapolis

Central Michigan

WR Bryan Anderson— New England

CB Josh Gordy — Jacksonville

DE Frank Zombo — Green Bay

Others

Cincinnati FS Aaron Webster (Birmingham Groves) — Houston

Grand Valley State OT Nick McDonald — Green Bay

Saginaw Valley State DT Rob Callaway — Detroit

Wayne State RB Joique Bell — Buffalo

Western Michigan QB Tim Hiller — Indianapolis