I have always been intrigued by interviews with players and coaches where things like, "We're not worried about future games, we've got <next weeks' opponent> coming up and they're going to require all of our attention and effort."

During the Tressel era, I had heard rumors that he had the team actually spend time during most weeks practicing something for the game against TTUN.  In game broadcasts (and forum posts) you see people posting things about the team "putting something on film" for others to have to prepare for.  And then there's the inevitable "trap game" scenarios where claims surface that a team was "looking ahead" to another opponent (even if only psychologically) despite saying all the right things to the media.  In all cases, there's a tension between wanting to focus on the opponent at hand, while trying to gain an advantage by preparing ahead of time.

My question is this: What is the reality?  Do teams really only focus on one opponent week-to-week?  It's not quite as applicable now that our toughest games against MSU and TTUN are coming up and we actually need to dedicate a ton of effort to just beat those teams.  However, at some points earlier in the season, do you think game-planning, practice time, or film watching was geared toward these two tougher opponents?  Do you think anyone on staff is starting to scout Iowa?