A quick looks at the Big Ten Standings show that there are 4 teams right now that are bowl eligible, Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan State, and Minnesota. Northwestern is one win away, and Iowa is two wins away. With only 4 games remaining for most teams, a lot of these games become must wins if teams want to play in a bowl game...most notability Michigan who has 4 losses in 6 games.
Purdue at Northwestern -
ESPN2 12pm - The Wildcats suffered their first loss of the season last week against Michigan State, which was not much of a surprise to me, but how will they bounce back from that loss is the big question. Purdue use to be the offensive juggernaut that each Big Ten team worried would put up 40 points on them, but not this year. The Boilermakers are averaging 21 points per game, but only 4.5 points per game in Big Ten games. Luckily for Purdue, Northwestern does not have the quality defense that the Buckeyes or Lions had, but they are still tough, but so is their defense who held Penn State to only 20 points and didn't allow an offensive touchdown to Ohio State. This will be close game and also low scoring. It is odd for me to write this but I think Bacher and Sutton hold the edge over Painter and Sheets. Painter has been struggling this year and it has totally disrupted the Purdue offense. Northwestern in a close one.
Northwestern 21-17
Wisconsin at Iowa -
Big Ten Network 12pm - I saw a Wisconsin team last week (and the week prior) who has serious issues on offense, mainly the quarterback position. Allan Evridge completed half as many passes (1) to Penn State as he did to his own teammates (2). Defensively, teams are just going to load up in the to stop PJ Hill and John Clay, forcing the Badgers to consider to throw. The Hawkeyes are 1-2 in the conference but they did hold Michigan State to their lowest output of the year, as well as keep Javon Ringer under 100 yards. Offensively they are finding a little more production from Ricky Stanzi at quarterback. Running back Shonn Greene has been a bright spot for Iowa running for over 900 yards in 7 games with 6 touchdowns. We know Iowa can stop the run, and we know Wisconsin can't throw. While Iowa does not have the horses up front that the Badgers do to run the ball, they are more balanced on offense and I think hold the edge over the Badgers' defense. Iowa in a good old fashion Big Ten game that will feature a lot of 3 yards and a cloud of dust.
Iowa 28-21
Ohio State at Michigan State -
ABC 3:30pm - A statistic that totally blows my mind about the Buckeyes right now is that Brian Hartline and Brian Robiskie combined have just over 500 yards receiving. Another telling stat is since Pryor took over the quarterback the Buckeyes have the 10th-worst passing offense in the nation. Not very good if you are an Ohio State fan. I am about to put the jinx on the Spartans (see my Illinois comment last week), I think the Spartans could be the 2nd best team in the Big Ten. They run the ball on offense, make no bones about it, and take care of business each week. Defensively they are very underrated, just ask Notre Dame or Iowa. Ohio State has become an one-dimensional team and they do not run the ball well enough to rely primarily on it. Here is my upset special of the week, the Spartans get a good game from Brian Hoyer and control the clock with Ringer. Ohio State struggles again on offense and Jim Tressel wonders if he should insert Todd Boeckman to get him reps for the following week's game against Penn State. Sparty wins!
Michigan State 24-14
Michigan at Penn State -
ESPN 4:30pm - In less than two months I will turn 30, why am I telling you that? To inform you that the last time Penn State beat Michigan in Beaver Stadium, I was a junior in High School. It was the infamous snow ball game. They also won the year after, but since then Michigan has won 9 straight over that 12 year period. Two of the most famous are the overtime game in Ann Arbor in 2002, and the last second Manningham catch for a victory in 2005. On paper this is a mismatch, the Wolverines are going through a transition to a new offense and have not clicked at all, while Penn State might have their best offense since their undefeated team in 1994. I'll make this short and sweet, Penn State wins. They have too much for the Wolverines on both sides of the ball, but Michigan is a proud program and will not go down easy. I expect this game to be close for a half, until the Nittany Lions pile on in the second.
Penn State 38-7
Indiana at Illinois -
Big Ten Network 8:00pm - I gave the Illini the old jinx, saying that they were the second best team in the Big Ten. Their defense struggled once again and lost to Minnesota, who in hindsight is a good quality team. The Zookers won't have to worry this week because Indiana is not good...at all. The Hoosiers are struggling on both sides of the ball and their entire success is on Kellen Lewis. He has no supporting cast to catch or run the ball so you can figure why the Hoosiers are not scoring. The Illini win this one easy.
Illinois 42-20
Last Week: 4-2 (.667)
Overall: 45-11 (.803)
