BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- After back-to-back losses followed by a bye week, the University of Wisconsin football team hit the ground running when it began the final segment of its season.

Actually, it was more like the Badgers hit the ground sprinting with their 37-0 victory over Purdue last week.

"I definitely think there's a big momentum swing going on with this win," UW linebacker Jaevery McFadden said.

Maybe so, but in the wild and wholly unimpressive Big Ten Conference this season, momentum is fleeting. Indeed, in the nation's most disrespected league, you're only as good as your last game.

"Week in and week out, this Big Ten race is up and down and up and down," UW cornerback Aaron Henry said. "Anybody on any given day can be beaten."

The Badgers, who are 5-2 overall and 3-2 in the conference, would be wise to remember that when they play Indiana with their 1-4 Big Ten conference record (4-5 overall) today at spruced-up Memorial Stadium.

With quarterback Ben Chappell directing a dangerous offense, the Hoosiers have a puncher's chance of halting UW's momentum in its tracks. And given what has happened in the conference this season, it would come as no surprise to anyone in Big Ten country if Indiana is able to pull that off.

So unpredictable is the conference that even its undefeated leader has been forced to plead its case with the national media. Iowa, which is 9-0 overall, is so lightly regarded after a series of close games and miracle rallies that it has begun waging a public-relations campaign to show how it stacks up against the other six undefeated teams in the country.

But that's standard operating procedure for the Big Ten, where strange things have been occurring all season. Just last week, Iowa beat Indiana despite throwing five interceptions and Minnesota beat Michigan State despite being called for 17 penalties.

Those are things you don't see often. And there are plenty more where they came from.

Iowa dropped from seventh to eighth in the Associated Press poll this week despite its 42-24 victory over Indiana. One can understand why Florida, Texas, Alabama and even once-beaten Oregon are ranked ahead of the Hawkeyes because of the rugged conferences they play in, but fellow unbeatens Cincinnati of the Big East, Boise State of the WAC and TCU of the Mountain West? They may be calling it a magical season in Iowa, but the lack of respect for the Hawkeyes and the Big Ten should be alarming to conference officials.

Still, the Hawkeyes have brought this on themselves. They've had more comebacks than Brett Favre, rallying three times in the final quarter to win, including last week when they scored 28 fourth-quarter points to beat Indiana. They've won games with a touchdown and a blocked field goal as time expired.

But the Big Ten's bizarre behavior doesn't end with Iowa.

The next three teams in the Big Ten standings - Penn State, Ohio State and Wisconsin - have zero wins over ranked opponents this season. Ohio State lost to lowly Purdue when it had five turnovers, including four by Terrelle Pryor, the Big Ten's preseason offensive player of the year.

Traditional power Michigan is 1-4 in the Big Ten and headed for its second consecutive losing season in conference play after going 40 years without having even a .500 league record.

Illinois, which was generally picked to finish in third or fourth place, was the last team from a Bowl Championship Series conference to record a victory against a Football Bowl Subdivision opponent when it beat Michigan by 25 points last week.

The lessons of this Big Ten season are obvious to all, which is why UW should be wary of an Indiana team that has coughed up as many fourth-quarter leads as Iowa has overcome. If the Badgers want to win their final four regular-season games and finish 10-2, they need to keep their momentum - and more importantly, their sound play in all three phases - going.

"This is a great starting point," UW tight end Mickey Turner said of the win over Purdue. "We've just got to carry it forward."

That's easier said than done in the Big Ten this season.

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