Big Ten Preview and BSD Challenge - Week 9

This week features four teams on their bye, while the rest of us rubes get to duke it out. Read on, make your own picks, and see if you know better than the masthead!

---

Indiana (4-4, 1-4) at Minnesota (3-4, 0-4)

Minneapolis, MN

Friday, October 26th, 8:00 PM

Line: MIN -2.5

Once again, Indiana came within a drive of upsetting a top 25 Big Ten team, only to fizzle out. Call me crazy, but I actually liked what I was seeing from the Hoosiers for most of the game. This will be a close game, that Minnesota may actually win, but I like Indiana to keep it really competitive.

Indiana 28, Minnesota 27

---

#20 Wisconsin (5-2, 3-1) at Northwestern (4-3, 4-1)

Evanston, IL

Saturday, October 27th, 12:00 PM

Line: WIS -6

Northwestern can’t seem to figure out its identity this season - is it the team that nearly beat Michigan? Or is it the team that snuck by Rutgers with a 3-point win? Wisconsin hasn’t looked truly dominant for some time, but something tells me the Badgers are going to look much more comfortable this weekend.

Wisconsin 35, Northwestern 24

---

Purdue (4-3, 3-1) at Michigan State (4-3, 2-2)

East Lansing, MI

Saturday, October 27th, 12:00 PM

Line: MSU -2

Well this should be fun. Michigan State gave Michigan more than I thought they would, losing by just 14 points to the Wolverines. Purdue, of course, just shocked the college football world, beating Ohio State 49-20. That being said, Purdue is still a mostly average team, and I do think the Spartans are at least decent. I expect a fairly low-scoring affair, with the Spartans covering.

Michigan State 24, Purdue 17

---

Bethune-Cookman (4-4) at Nebraska (1-6)

Lincoln, NE

Saturday, October 27th, 12:00 PM

Line: NO LINE

This game is a make up game for Nebraska, as their opening game against Akron was canceled due to weather. Which is frankly a good thing for the Cornhuskers, or they’d be 1-7 right now. As it is, I can’t see Big Red struggling with a FCS foe.

Nebraska 42, Bethune-Cookman 14

---

Illinois (3-4, 1-3) at Maryland (4-3, 2-2)

College Park, MD

Saturday, October 27th, 3:30 PM

Line: MD -17

I mentioned earlier that Northwestern can’t figure out its identity this year - they learned that from Maryland, the OG chaos team this year. The Terrapins got shut out by Iowa 23-0, so I do expect them to rebound with a win. But don’t be surprised if the Illini keep it somewhat close.

Maryland 35, Illinois 24

---

BSD Challenge

Check out the staff’s picks below. For the record, the line used for the Penn State-Indiana game was PSU -4.5. The masthead was unanimous for two games:

• Nebraska NO LINE over Bethune-Cookman
• Iowa +4.5 over Penn State

That leaves four games up for grabs:

Most of the writers like Indiana to defeat Minnesota, while few see Northwestern staying within a touchdown of Wisconsin. Purdue is not getting much love from the writers, despite their 49-20 win over Ohio State. And the masthead is evenly split on the Illinois-Maryland contest.

What do you think, dear reader? Who ya got in week nine?