I am going to be on the road tomorrow, so I am bringing this weeks Big Ten Football match-ups to you a day early.
It is going to be a pretty exciting weekend of football across the Big Ten for sure. I see a lot of games that can really go either way. So here is my breakdown and predictions:
The Badgers face another Middle America showdown this week with the Corn Huskers. Although they are the visiting team, the odds favor Wisconsin. I think Vegas is pretty accurate on this one. Wisconsin is a tough team that has proven they can grind out wins this season (with two exceptions). I expect a lot of defense in this game including a possible shutout of Nebraska.
I am not really sure I even want to talk about this game. I have all but given up on my Spartans and I am already staring to focus on basketball season. That being said, despite whatever kind of success or failures these two teams are experiencing during the season, they always bring their "A" game for this match-up. If it weren't against my religion to bet on Michigan, I would probably put my money there. I really hope Michigan State can give them a run and come out with the win though.
Unless you are an alumni, I can't imagine there are going to be a lot of people watching this game. You might be lucky to find it way down your dial on Fox Sports 2 or 7 or something like that. Two teams going at it with only one win on the season just isn't something that the masses probably want to watch. Northwestern is the favorite by quite a bit and I expect they should finally get their second win of the season this weekend.
With their first loss of the season last week to Minnesota, Penn State is going to be itching for something good this weekend. Especially in front of the home crowd. Indiana has proven they aren't horrible, but I think strength of schedule and home field advantage will favor Penn State this weekend. It looks like Vegas thinks so too with the odds favoring the Nittany Lions.
For being the home of college football, Rutgers has just been horrible as of late. I expect this game to go much the same way last week did for The Buckeyes despite the injuries they are dealing with. Favored by 52 points expect this to be a whole lot of bloody.
After suffering a narrow loss to Wisconsin last week, Iowa is going to be looking for some redemption. I feel like this game is going to be pretty similar to the Penn State/Indiana game. I think Iowa has a tougher road ahead of them though. Vegas has the pint spread at 3, so that should give you a pretty good idea of how evenly matched they expect these teams to be. I think I have been wrong about Iowa in the past, so I am going to give them the home field nod and say they are going to hand Minnesota their first loss this season.
Please keep in mind, I kind of suck at this, so I wouldn't put any money down based on any of my predictions!
