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After a much-needed bye week, Penn State returns to the fray. There are no byes across the league for the next two weeks we get a full slate of conference games. Read on, make your own picks, and see if you know better than the masthead!
Minnesota (3-2, 0-2) at #3 Ohio State (6-0, 3-0)
Columbus, OH
Saturday, October 13th, 12:00 PM
Line: OSU -29.5
Clearly, this game is one that Ohio State will win. Minnesota started the year well enough, but has fallen off considerably. Still, I think 29.5 is a few too many points, and I think Minnesota will do just enough to keep the Buckeyes from covering.
Ohio State 42, Minnesota 14
Rutgers (1-5, 0-3) at Maryland (3-2, 1-1)
College Park, MD
Saturday, October 13th, 12:00 PM
Line: MD -23.5
I think this line speaks more to how bad Rutgers is, than how good Maryland is. When the Terrapins play a complete game, they’re actually pretty spooky. Give me Maryland to cover.
Maryland 38, Rutgers 14
Iowa (4-1, 1-1) at Indiana (4-2, 1-2)
Bloomington, IN
Saturday, October 13th, 12:00 PM
Line: IOWA -5
This line confounds me a bit, as I haven’t seen much from Indiana. Granted, they played Ohio State tough, but they always play Ohio State tough for whatever reason. The Hawkeyes should cover the spread fairly easily here.
Iowa 35, Indiana 20
Nebraska (0-5, 0-3) at Northwestern (2-3, 2-1)
Evanston, IL
Saturday, October 13th, 12:00 PM
Line: NW -6
So, here’s the thing: Nebraska is not good at football. That being said, I think they’ve played somewhat better than their record would indicate. I think they keep it from being a blowout against the Wildcats, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the Cornhuskers managed a win.
Northwestern 24, Nebraska 21
Purdue (2-3, 1-1) at Illinois (3-2, 1-1)
Champaign, IL
Saturday, October 13th, 3:30 PM
Line: PUR -10
The weirdest thing about this game is that Illinois has a better record than Purdue. Did you know that? I sure didn’t. I like Purdue perhaps more than I should, but give me the Boilermakers to cover this one.
Purdue 42, Illinois 28
#15 Wisconsin (4-1, 2-0) at #12 Michigan (5-1, 3-0)
Ann Arbor, MI
Saturday, October 13th, 7:30 PM
Line: MICH -7.5
Ah, the big game of the week. Game Day decided this was the best game they could visit (slim pickings, apparently). Maybe I’m just misreading things, but Michigan still seems shaky on offense. I expect this to be fairly low-scoring, which only favors Wisconsin as more-than-a-touchdown underdogs. The Wolverines will probably win this game, but the Badgers keep it close.
Michigan 21, Wisconsin 17
BSD Challenge
Halfway through the season, and the BSD Challenge is as close as ever.
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Aaron still leads the way, sitting three games over 0.500, while yours truly sits just one game back. A bevy of writers are hanging out just 1-2 games further behind.
For this week, check out the staff’s picks below. For the record, the line used for the Penn State-Michigan State game was PSU -13.5 The masthead was unanimous for three games:
- Maryland -23.5 over Rutgers
- Iowa -5 over Indiana
- Penn State -13.5 over Michigan State
That leaves four games up for grabs:
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Cari and I are the only two that think A) Minnesota stands a chance of keeping it close against Ohio State, and B) that Nebraska will stay competitive with Northwestern. Only three writers (myself included) think Purdue will cover the spread against Illinois, and almost everyone favors Wisconsin to stay within a touchdown of Michigan.
What do you think, dear reader? Who ya got in week seven?