Its hard to believe that two teams from the same conference havent played in four years, but thats the reality these days with unbalanced schedules, expansion and realignment.For the No. 8 Michigan State Spartans and the No. 11 Wisconsin Badgers, this weekends meeting at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Mich., will be the first since 2012. There is hardly anyone around the Big Ten that will be complaining about the fact the once-budding rivalry gets a chance to be rekindled.Prior to the hiatus, the Badgers and Spartans were busy playing in some of the most exciting games with some fairly important consequences. In 2011 alone, the teams met twice with the Spartans winning the regular season on a 44-yard Hail Mary from Kirk Cousins to Keith Nichol on the final play of the game for a 37-31 victory.A few weeks later, the Badgers got the last laugh when they beat the Spartans in the inaugural Big Ten Championship game behind the play of quarterback Russell Wilson. It was a back-and-forth battle that wasnt decided until Michigan States punt return inside the Wisconsin five in the final two minutes was negated by a running into the kicker penalty.The year before, Michigan State beat Wisconsin, 34-24, with a late fourth-down touchdown pass from Cousins to B.J. Cunningham sealing the deal. There was controversy at the end of the season when the Badgers got the nod for the Rose Bowl over the Spartans despite identical records and MSU holding the head-to-head advantage.Back then, Paul Chryst was Wisconsins offensive crdinator. Now the Badgers head coach, Chryst remembers those matchups fondly.I always felt going into those game, Heres a really gd ftball team with gd players and well coached, Chryst said of Michigan State. It was a gd ftball team and you knew it and the kids knew it. It was fun to play those games because you knew you had to be on and you knew youd be challenged. I think we knew each other well.I think what it was mostly, or as much was those games meant something.It will mean something again this time as Michigan State (2-0) and Wisconsin (3-0) are both ranked in the top 11.The Spartans (2-0) are riding high after last weeks win over Notre Dame and relish the chance to get off on the right ft in the conference against a highly ranked opponent.You should get excited for the opportunity, Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio said. I think the storylines around it -- being the Big Ten opener, the history with Wisconsin, the fact that of where were at as a program right now, where theyre at -- it all points towards this being a very, very big game, probably bigger than last week. No doubt bigger than last week.Its bigger because a loss in the Big Ten can make it much tougher to get to the conference championship game. Thats especially true for Michigan State, which must get the best of Ohio State and Michigan in the East Division, though Wisconsin has no easy road, either. After taking on the Spartans, the Badgers get Michigan, Ohio State, Iowa and Nebraska in successive weeks.That means theres little margin for error beginning this week.I think the out-of-conference schedule is just what it is, Dantonio said. You can lose them, still recover and play and win a Big Ten championship. You start playing a little bit more for real I think in terms of understanding that these are the things that lead you to rings, big bowl games, playoffs, those type of things.When youre playing in-conference, you get into your division, the chips just get a little bit bigger. But thats the way its always been here. The more you win, the higher the chips get, the more its on every single game. Its just the nature of it.Michigan State will play for the bigger stakes with an offense that is riding high while Wisconsin (3-0) comes in with plenty of questions.The Badgers have had trouble scoring consistently and could be without senior running back Corey Clement (ankle) for a second straight game. And Chryst hasnt committed to a starting quarterback after replacing fifth-year senior Bart Houston in the second half against Georgia State with redshirt freshman Alex Hornibrk.Both have to be ready to play, to be sure, Chryst said. Im positive of that. Both have to go. I told them there are going to be games where theyre both going to play.We need both of them to keep growing and go for us. Ill let the week determine all this stuff, with whos going to play running back, whos going to play left guard, whos going to play quarterback, whos going to play receiver, whos going to be the nickel corner.Cheap Air Max Plus White . 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He totaled 41 tackles and three interceptions while starting all but four of the 13 games he played last season.The Atlanta Falcons travel to Los Angeles this week to take on the Rams. The game is a critical one for the Falcons (7-5) as they fight not only to win the NFC South, but to hold on to a playoff spot. The Rams (4- are lking to play spoiler and to hold out hope they can finish the 2016 campaign without a losing record.No team in the NFL can take another team lightly, but the Rams do not seem to have much fight left in them. In a year where the team has moved, held training camp in various locations and traveled the globe, tired legs and minds seem to have caught up with everyone. Even head coach Jeff Fisher, who was awarded a two-year contract extension, lost his challenge flag in the loss to the New England Patriots.The Rams continue to struggle on offense, ranking last in a majority of offensive categories. The Rams are last in yards gained per game at 284. The 204.8 yards a game they average through the air is 29th and the 79.2 yards the Rams average per game on the ground is 30th in the league. Running back Todd Gurley has yet to break the century mark in a game running the ftball in 2016. Los Angeles averages 15 points per contest which is not only last in the NFL but even behind Clevelands 16.4 points a game.We had a lot of errors across the board, really, offensively, myself and everybody really. Errors are obviously going to happen; you just want to limit them. When one thing happens, you cant get down about that, youre OK (and) move on. Things dont always go your way, but you cant let (errors) keep happening. You just have to try to limit them, said quarterback Jared Goff, speaking of the New England Patriots game but truly encapsulating the entire Rams season.Speaking of errors, Atlanta lost in Week 15 on a pair of major miscues by quarterback Matt Ryan. Ryan threw two interceptions in the game. One was returned for a touchdown. The other was on a two-point conversion attempt to put the team up by three points late in the fourth quarter. Instead, safety Eric Berry of the Chiefs ran the other way with the ftball and secured a one-point win for Kansas City.dddddddddddd The Falcons will need to shake off the shock and disappointment quickly as they prepare for the Rams.Its hard, but were going to get right to the truth of it and put our plan together to go play at our best (against the Rams). That part of our game -- mental toughness and resiliency -- weve got a lot of tough competitors, so I expect that part to come to fruition very quickly, Falcons head coach Dan Quinn said.The Falcons offense can explode at any point and will be lking to take advantage of a worn out Rams defense. The Falcons rank first in the NFL in points per game at 32.2. The offense, with wide receiver Julio Jones and running back Devonta Freeman having outstanding years, averages 412 yards a game, which is third in the NFL.The Rams defense, statistically speaking, has been solid this season. But the team is 11th in the NFL in defensive snaps and as the offense continues to try to find fting, the defense has been forced to bail the offense out. The Rams defense, which is prone to having lapses like they did against the New Orleans Saints, hope to keep Matt Ryan and Co. from having a performance like their NFC South counterpart.In Week 12, the Saints racked up 555 total yards and seven touchdowns against the Rams defense. This is the same defense that currently ranks 15th in the NFL in points allowed (21. and ninth in passing yards allowed (231). The Falcons offense is very comparable to the Saints so the Rams defense will be in for a stiff challenge.If the Rams are going to do anything on offense to try and salvage the season, playing the Falcons defense could be a turning point. The Falcons defense is almost as pr as the Rams offense, in terms of statistics. Atlanta ranks 29th in the NFL in points allowed (27.6), 27th in yards per game (381.7) and last in passing yards allowed (280.. The Rams need quarterback Jared Goff to take advantage of this porous unit to keep the game close. ' ' '