Big Ten Week 6 Preview and BSD Challenge

Last week saw some craziness going on – Iowa was upended by Northwestern, and Indiana managed to take down Michigan State. Wisconsin and Michigan played an instant defensive classic, and things were less than dicey in Columbus. There are a few straightforward games this week, with a couple interesting showdowns going on. How will this week’s B1G games go down? Let’s find out!

Big Ten Week 6 Preview

Iowa (3-2, 1-1 Big Ten) at Minnesota (3-1, 0-1)

Saturday, 12:00 PM at Minneapolis, MN

Line: Iowa -1.5, O/U: 51

Iowa struggled for the third consecutive week, taking on Northwestern and surprisingly losing, 38-31. Minnesota played a tough game against Penn State, losing 29-26 in overtime in Happy Valley. At this point, I feel like Minnesota is playing solid football, and the Hawkeyes are reeling. Minnesota rebounds from a nail-biting loss and wins fairly comfortably at home.

Prediction: Minnesota 27, Iowa 21

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Brigham Young (2-3) at Michigan State (2-2, 0-2)

Saturday, 3:30 PM at East Lansing, MI

Line: Michigan State -6, O/U: 49.5

BYU has had an up-and-down season, starting with a win over Arizona, followed by three straight losses. Last week they took down Toledo, 55-53. Michigan State has struggled more this season than many thought they would, including a 24-21 loss to Indiana last week. I’d like to say that Michigan State gets back on the winning path this weekend, but I’m going to take BYU with the upset.

Prediction: BYU 35, Michigan State 28

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Indiana (3-1, 1-0) at #2 Ohio State (4-0, 1-0)

Saturday, 3:30 PM at Columbus, OH

Line: Ohio State -29, O/U: 60

Indiana came out and punched Michigan State in the mouth last week, upending the Spartans 24-21. Ohio State beat Rutgers so bad that an actual description of the game would be NSFW. Suffice it to say, the Buckeyes outdid even my outlandish score prediction from a week ago. Indiana is better than Rutgers, but still not good enough. Ohio State wins an entertaining game to stay perfect on the season.

Prediction: Ohio State 49, Indiana 28

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Purdue (2-2, 0-1) at Illinois (1-3, 0-1)

Saturday, 3:30 PM at Champaign, IL

Line: Illinois -10.5, O/U: 53.5

Purdue got walloped by Maryland last week, losing 50-7 on the road. Illinois made a good showing against #15 Nebraska, but ultimately fell 31-16. This has the makings of a pillow fight, in a game that won’t attract many viewers. Illinois gets the win in a game that will be pretty ugly to watch, and another nail will be put in Darrell Hazell’s coffin at Purdue.

Prediction: Illinois 35, Purdue 24

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#4 Michigan (5-0, 2-0) at Rutgers (2-3, 0-2)

Saturday, 7:00 PM at Piscataway, NJ

Line: Michigan -28, O/U: 53

Michigan got into a defensive slugfest against #8 Wisconsin, pulling out a 14-7 victory thanks to a fourth quarter 46-yard touchdown pass to Amara Darboh. Rutgers was [redacted] in Columbus, and doesn’t get any favors by playing Michigan this week. Expect Jim Harbaugh to try to score as many points as possible as a way to show pollsters that Michigan is just as good as the Buckeyes. Michigan wins big.

Prediction: Michigan 49, Rutgers 7

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Bye Week:

#12 Nebraska, Northwestern, #11 Wisconsin

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BSD Staff Picks

Last week threw a couple wrenches into the staff challenge. No one picked Northwestern over Iowa, and only Eli took Indiana over Michigan State. A bunch of people went 5-2 on the week, though Stephon’s crazy picks came back to bite him, as he went 3-4 overall. Aaron and Dena currently lead the pack, with Tim and Eli bringing up the rear. Still, only 5 games separate first place from last, so let’s see what the picks look like this week!

Like last week, most of the games this week are fairly straightforward. Three of the six games have unanimous picks. Tim, Dena, and Rowen picked Iowa over Minnesota, and Aaron and me have picked BYU over Sparty. Aaron and Dlando have picked the Terrapins to upend the Nittany Lions at home, and should be known as traitors to our cause! Really though, a lot of games this weekend are anything but gimmes, so we’ll see how it plays out. On to another weekend of Big Ten action!