Things to watch this week in the Big Ten Conference:
No. 4 Alabama (2-0) at Wisconsin (2-0), Saturday, noon ET (Fox)
The Badgers are hosting an SEC opponent for the first time since 1971 (LSU) and trying to beat its highest-ranked nonconference opponent since upsetting No. 4 Nebraska, then in the Big Eight, in Madison 50 years ago. They enter as 16 1/2-point underdogs, according to BetMGM Sportsbook, and an upset would be the Big Ten's highest-ranked, regular-season victory ever over an SEC team.
Wisconsin hopes to capitalize on Alabama's offensive line struggles. The Crimson Tide have been battling injuries up front and allowed four sacks and committed nine penalties against South Florida last week.
The Badgers also will need some breaks. Alabama has already lost four fumbles in two games. The Badgers have lost two. Neither Wisconsin's Tyler Van Dyke nor Alabama's Jalen Milroe has thrown an interception.
No. 9 Oregon has had two close calls to open the season and now visits an Oregon State team that will be highly motivated in the wake of the Pac-12 breakup. The Ducks have lost the last two times they visited Corvallis in a rivalry formerly known as the Civil War. No meetings are scheduled beyond 2025.
Washington visits former Pac-12 rival Washington State in the annual Apple Cup, which the schools agreed to continue through at least 2028. The Huskies have allowed no touchdowns in back-to-back games for the first time since 1991. The Cougars have scored 12 through two games and are averaging 53.5 points.
UCLA will be the first of the new Big Ten members to play a conference game when it hosts Indiana at the Rose Bowl. The Hoosiers haven't played in that stadium since the 1968 Rose Bowl game, a 14-3 loss to Southern California. The Hoosiers scored a program-record 77 points against Western Illinois last week. The Bruins are coming off an open date following a narrow win at Hawaii.
RB Kaleb Johnson goes into Iowa's home game against Troy fourth in the nation with 153 yards per game. He will be facing a defense that has allowed more than 200 yards rushing two straight weeks.
DB Glendon Miller enters Maryland's game at Virginia tied for the national lead in interceptions with three, one shy of his 2023 total.
LB John Bullock heads into Nebraska's home game against FCS Northern Iowa off the best outing of his career — five tackles, including two for loss, along with one pass breakup and a quarterback hurry against Colorado.
Michigan, which hosts Arkansas State, has only 17 plays from scrimmage of 10 yards or longer. That's second fewest among power conference teams. UCLA has 13. ... Illinois closes nonconference play at home against Central Michigan following a 23-17 win over then-No. 19 Kansas, the Illini's highest-ranked nonconference win since 1995. ... Purdue's Devin Mockobee needs 132 yards to become a 2,000-yard rusher for his career. The Boilermakers host No. 18 Notre Dame. ... Northwestern, which hosts Eastern Illiois, is among 15 teams that have not allowed a sack. The Wildcats had surrendered seven through two games last year. ... Michigan State, which hosts Prairie View A&M, has outscored its eight previous FCS opponents 332-81.
Minnesota, a 17 1/2-point favorite at home against Nevada, has been shuffling its offensive line and its ground game is nowhere near as productive as usual. Not much can be read into the Gophers' 48-0 win over Rhode Island, a middling FCS team. Nevada quarterback Brandon Lewis presents a challenge. He has completed 67% of his passes for 561 yards and five touchdowns with no interceptions, and he's his team's second-leading rusher with 208 yards.
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Wisconsin is going for its highest-ranked nonconference win in 50 years when No. 4 Alabama visits
Wisconsin is going for its highest-ranked nonconference win in 50 years when No. 4 Alabama visits
Washington quarterback Will Rogers looks to throw during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Eastern Michigan, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
NEW YORK (AP) — The hidden figures of the space race were recognized with Congress’ highest honor at a medal ceremony on Wednesday.
The Congressional Gold Medal was presented to the families of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson and Christine Darden at the U.S. Capitol. Darden watched the ceremony from her Connecticut home.
A medal was also given to all the women who worked as mathematicians, engineers and “human computers” in the U.S. space program from the 1930s to 1970s.
"By honoring them, we honor the very best of our country’s spirit,” said author Margot Lee Shetterly, whose book “Hidden Figures” was adapted into a film in 2016.
The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics – a precursor to NASA – hired hundreds of women to crunch numbers for space missions. The Black women hired worked in a segregated unit of female mathematicians at what is now NASA's Langley Research Center in Virginia.
Johnson's hand-written calculations helped John Glenn become the first American to orbit the Earth in 1962. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015 – the nation’s highest civilian honor.
Vaughan rose to become NASA's first Black supervisor and Jackson was NASA’s first Black female engineer. Darden is best known for her sonic boom research.
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., reacts after dropping a Congressional Gold Medal while posing for a photograph with NASA's Johnson Space Center Senior Apollo Sample Processor and Lab Manager Andrea Mosie, left, at a Congressional Gold Medal ceremony to honor the Black women mathematicians of NASA who contributed to the space race and who were the subject of the book and movie "Hidden Figures," at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., watches at right. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., accidentally drops a Congressional Gold Medal while posing for a photograph with NASA's Johnson Space Center Senior Apollo Sample Processor and Lab Manager Andrea Mosie, left, at a Congressional Gold Medal ceremony to honor the Black women mathematicians of NASA who contributed to the space race and who were the subject of the book and movie "Hidden Figures," at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., watches at right. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., reacts after dropping a Congressional Gold Medal while posing for a photograph with NASA's Johnson Space Center Senior Apollo Sample Processor and Lab Manager Andrea Mosie, left, at a Congressional Gold Medal ceremony to honor the Black women mathematicians of NASA who contributed to the space race and who were the subject of the book and movie "Hidden Figures," at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., watches at right. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., center, presents a Congressional Gold Medal to Ann Hammond, daughter of NASA's Dorothy Vaughan, at a ceremony to honor the Black women mathematicians of NASA who contributed to the space race and who were the subject of the book and movie "Hidden Figures," at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. They are joined by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., second from right, and Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., center, presents a Congressional Gold Medal posthumously honoring NASA mathematician Mary Jackson to her granddaughters KaShawnta Lee, left, and Wanda Jackson, joined at right by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., at a celebration of the Black women of NASA who contributed to the space race and who were the subject of the book and movie "Hidden Figures," at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., center, stands with Dr. Christon Darden, left, to present a Congressional Gold Medal on behalf of her grandmother Christine Darden as they honor the Black women mathematicians of NASA who contributed to the space race and who were the subject of the book and movie "Hidden Figures," at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. They are joined by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., second from right, and Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., center, presents a Congressional Gold Medal posthumously to Joylette Hylick, left, and Katherine Moore, daughters of Katherine Johnson, the Black NASA mathematician featured in the movie "Hidden Figures," at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., center, presents a Congressional Gold Medal posthumously to Joylette Hylick, left, and Katherine Moore, daughters of Katherine Johnson, the Black NASA mathematician featured in the movie "Hidden Figures," at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. They are joined by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., second from right, and Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
FILE - NASA engineer Christine Darden, who was one of the "human computers" employed by NASA during the space race, attends a Senate subcommittee panel on NASA exploration on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Tuesday, July 9, 2019. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
This undated photo provided by NASA shows Dorothy J. Vaughan. (NASA via AP)
This photo provided by NASA shows mathematician Katherine Johnson in 1966. (NASA via AP)
FILE - This photo provided by NASA shows engineer Mary W. Jackson at the Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., in 1977. (Robert Nye/NASA via AP)
U.S. Capitol Police honor guards place Congressional Gold Medals to be presented at a ceremony to honor the Black women mathematicians of NASA who contributed to the space race and who were the subject of the movie "Hidden Figures," at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
