The Big Ten has become a conference with two defined football "divisions" based on attendance: Along with Iowa, purring along with 70,000 sellouts, six others are drawing at least 80,000 and mostly more. These are the ones vying for Top 25 positions. And then there's the quintet attracting fewer than 50,000 on most Saturdays ... Illinois, Purdue, Indiana, Minnesota and Northwestern.

The long-term record shows a clear connection between winning and attendance. For Illinois, the telltale game was last Oct. 15 against Ohio State, when the Illini were 6-0 and ranked No. 16, and drew barely 55,000 even with Buckeye fans contributing.

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