Wisconsin aided by Ohio State, Penn State sanctions

• If it weren't for sanctions, Saturday's game between Ohio State and Penn State would have Rose Bowl implications
• A win vs. Ohio State this week would move Penn State to 4-0 in the Big Ten with a date against Wisconsin potentially deciding which team represents the Leaders Division in the conference title game
• For Ohio State, additional motivation comes from a light at the end of the tunnel, returning to NCAA good graces in 2013

If all things were equal, if both teams were not playing under a cloud of NCAA sanctions and penalties, Saturday's game between Ohio State and Penn State would have Rose Bowl implications.

If not ineligible for a spot in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll or the Bowl Championship Series rankings, a win vs. Penn State would give the Buckeyes another nice push toward a potential title-game berth. If eligible for bowl play, a win against the Buckeyes would be more than just the Nittany Lions' sixth in a row after losing to Ohio and Virginia to open the season.

A win would move PSU to 6-2 overall, 4-0 in the Big Ten with a date against Wisconsin on Nov. 24 potentially deciding which team represents the Leaders Division in the conference title game.

That neither is eligible for the postseason in 2012 — and well beyond, when it comes to Penn State — embodies the odd nature of the l Division, which the Badgers should win by default while only two of the division's six teams move on to bowl play.

And perhaps only one of the six teams, depending on whether Purdue can rally against Big Ten competition. After starting 3-1, with the one loss coming by a field goal to Notre Dame, the Boilermakers have dropped back-to-back-to-back league games to Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio State by a combined 60 points. But Ohio State needed a touchdown in the final seconds and overtime.

The Badgers (3-1, 6-2) know the score. While Wisconsin doesn't play Ohio State and Penn State until the final two weeks of the season, it can likely sew up a second division title in a row by beating Minnesota on Saturday and Indiana on Nov. 10. Wisconsin is the only eligible team in the Leaders with a conference win. Purdue, Indiana and Illinois are a combined 0-9 in league play.

Instead of determining which team plays for a trip to Pasadena, the lone national impact the Badgers' late-season games against the Buckeyes and Nittany Lions will have might pertain to Boise State, which will be keeping close tabs on the BCS standings.

According to the BCS selection procedures, Boise State can earn an automatic BCS bowl berth if it is ranked in the top 16 of the final standings and has a ranking that is "higher than that of a champion of a conference that has an annual automatic berth in one of the BCS bowls." If push comes to shove in November, Boise State will be pulling hard for the Buckeyes and Nittany Lions.

Wisconsin might win the division title by default, but it will come with an asterisk. In September, the Big Ten decided that while the Buckeyes or Nittany Lions are not eligible for a postseason berth, each can be recognized as the Leaders division winner – technically.

OSU or Penn State would get a trophy and could list a Leaders title in their respective media guides, though the division would be represented in the conference championship game by the next-best finisher — Wisconsin, in this case.

This will provide both teams with a degree of motivation for a victory on Saturday.

"I think that's good news," Penn State coach Bill O'Brien said in September, when told of the BigTen's decision.

"I never heard that. I never thought about it," Ohio State's Urban Meyer said. "But somewhere at a point in November or something, yeah, that'll be interesting."

For Ohio State, additional motivation comes from a light at the end of the tunnel. Unlike Penn State, which faces a four-year postseason ban, the Buckeyes will return to the NCAA's good graces for the 2013 season.

What this season's hot start has done for Meyer and OSU is ratchet up expectations for 2013, when players such as quarterback Braxton Miller, wide receiver Devin Smith and linebacker Ryan Shazier will provide the foundation-level pieces for a potential BCS title run.

In addition, 2013 will find Ohio State's offense in its second season in Meyer's system. While the Buckeyes — and Miller in particular — have hit the ground running in Meyer's scheme, history shows that this offense will be even more prolific with added experience.

In 2002, Meyer's second season at Bowling Green, the Falcons went from averaging 30.3 points a game to 40.8 points a game. Utah averaged 45.3 points a game in Meyer's second season with the program. By the time Florida grasped his system, the Gators would tie the school record for points in a season, set by the Steve Spurrier-led Gators in 1996.

Penn State's search for meaning comes on a weekly basis: With no potential for a bowl berth this fall or in any season through 2015, O'Brien has stressed the idea of making every game count and playing with intensity at every opportunity.

"I believe when you play football at Penn State — and I'm a rookie at Penn State; we've only been here for nine months — you have a hell of a lot to play for," O'Brien said. "I believe you have a thousand lettermen to play for, you have a tradition to play for, you have a student body to play for, you have each other to play for."

Linebacker Michael Mauti, a second-generation Nittany Lion who has become one of the team's emotional leaders, was asked whether the team was making a statement with its winning streak.

"We've got five one-game seasons," he said. "This is the position that we're in, and we've got to make the most of it.

"If we're proving anything, it's that Penn State is not going anywhere. You can do what you want to us. You can take away things from us. You can try to split us apart. It's not going to happen."

O'Brien and his staff can find another motivator in a key recruiting weekend.

"I can tell you this," O'Brien said on his weekly radio show, "we'll have between 80 and 100 prospects at the Ohio State game."

Penn State, like Ohio State, is finding non-traditional forms of motivation under very non-traditional circumstances.