Black Shoe Degenerates Is Moving To Fridays

New time, same shenanigans! With the Big Ten not playing any games on Thursday for the rest of the season, Black Shoe Degenerates is moving closer to the action!

Last week, I took two bold swings in picking Purdue and Nebraska to both win, and, had the Huskers not missed two field goals and had a PAT blocked, they might have pulled it off! Likewise, David Bell getting knocked out for Purdue killed any momentum they had going for them, and the Irish were able to survive.

Alas, we move on.

No. 12 Notre Dame vs No. 18 Wisconsin (-6.5)

This line opened at 5.5, went down to 5 briefly, and now is up to 6.5. Notre Dame has been living a dangerous life as of late, escaping by a single score against both Florida State and Toledo, and playing Purdue within one score for most of that game. What’ different with Wisconsin? Well, the Badgers defense doesn’t suck.

Dylan: Wisconsin 20, Notre Dame 17
Clay: Wisconsin 20, Notre Dame 16
Tim: Wisconsin 17, Notre Dame 16
Lando: Notre Dame 24, Wisconsin 21
Jared: Wisconsin 17, Notre Dame 13
Eli: Wisconsin 28, Notre Dame 21

Bowling Green at Minnesota (-31)

Minnesota just beat a Power 5 team by 30 last week, and Bowling Green is pretty bad this year. That said, 31 points is still too much for my taste, and I think P.J. Fleck will use this game to give his depth some reps.

Dylan: Minnesota 45, Bowling Green 3
Clay: Minnesota 41, Bowling Green 13
Tim: Minnesota 42, Bowling Green 7
Lando: Minnesota 42, Bowling Green 7
Jared: Minnesota 52, Bowling Green 14
Eli: Minnesota 41, Bowling Green 14

Ohio at Northwestern (-15)

Northwestern is 0-3 ATS this season so far, and, while Ohio has sorely missed Frank Solich, I can’t in good conscience pick Northwestern to cover anything until they actually do. That said, this may very well be the last time Northwestern even has a chance.

[Ed. Note: The entire BSD staff except for Lando forgot this game was being played.]

Dylan: Northwestern 23, Ohio 17
Clay: Northwestern 30, Ohio 14
Tim: Northwestern 20, Ohio 13
Lando: Northwestern 27, Ohio 14
Jared: Northwestern —, Ohio —
Eli: Northwestern 21, Ohio 10

Villanova at No. 6 Penn State (TBD)

Insert all your jokes about Jay Wright here, because that’s going to be the most interesting thing about this game.

Dylan: Penn State 51, Villanova 13
Clay: Penn State 48, Villanova 10
Tim: Penn State 45, Villanova 10
Lando: Penn State 45, Villanova 10
Jared: Penn State 52, Villanova 7
Eli: Penn State 56, Villanova 17

Illinois at Purdue (-11)

These two teams have played better than I would have expected so far this season, but Purdue has actually looked better against stiffer competition. I’m not ready to give Purdue 11 points though, even if they’re at home.

Dylan: Purdue 34, Illinois 20
Clay: Purdue 30, Illinois 23
Tim: Purdue 35, Illinois 24
Lando: Purdue 21, Illinois 10
Jared: Purdue 23, Illinois 17
Eli: Purdue 20, Illinois 13

Colorado State at No. 5 Iowa (-23.5)

Iowa showed last week that they can indeed muster some offense if necessary, but even if they hadn’t, Colorado State is bad enough that this game should be well out of hand by halftime. Hawkeyes should have no problem covering.

Dylan: Iowa 31, Colorado State 10
Clay: Iowa 34, Colorado State 10
Tim: Iowa 38, Colorado State 7
Lando: Iowa 38, Colorado State 3
Jared: Iowa 28, Colorado State 9
Eli: Iowa 37, Colorado State 6

Kent State at Maryland (-14.5)

Maryland already had their non-conference upset win against a [perceived] better team. Will this be their non-conference loss against a worse team? Those tend to go together.

Dylan: Maryland 38, Kent State 24
Clay: Maryland 42, Kent State 14
Tim: Maryland 45, Kent State 24
Lando: Maryland 34, Kent State 14
Jared: Maryland 38, Kent State 31
Eli: Maryland 31, Kent State 17

Rutgers at No. 19 Michigan (-20.5)

Michigan makes a habit of grinding inferior teams to the dust, and they’ve done that exceptionally well in the past couple of weeks. That said, this seems like a very Michigan line, by which I mean “a tailor made for Michigan fans, who are the only ones who think the Wolverines can cover this.”

Dylan: Michigan 45, Rutgers 17
Clay: Michigan 44, Rutgers 13
Tim: Michigan 41, Rutgers 14
Lando: Michigan 42, Rutgers 10
Jared: Michigan 35, Rutgers 21
Eli: Michigan 38, Rutgers 24

Nebraska at No. 20 Michigan State (-5)

Michigan State loos like a completely different team this season, but the question still lingers: Have they beaten anybody? Meanwhile, Nebraska can only hang its hat on moral victories right now, but that moral victory is almost beating top 10 Oklahoma on the road. While I’ll take Michigan State to cover, I wouldn’t be surprised if Nebraska wins outright.

Dylan: Michigan State 34, Nebraska 16
Clay: Michigan State 27, Nebraska 17
Tim: Michigan State 31, Nebraska 21
Lando: Michigan State 31, Nebraska 14
Jared: Michigan State 38, Nebraska 24
Eli: Michigan State 35, Nebraska 28

Akron at No. 10 Ohio State (-48.5)

Ohio State is plenty talented, and they should have no trouble at all with what may be the worst FBS team in the country (UConn included). That said, 49 points is a lot of points, not matter how you slice it, and Ohio State’s starting quarterback is going to sit unless it’s an emergency (and if it’s an emergency, Bukeye fans should be beyond panic levels).

Dylan: Ohio State 56, Akron 0
Clay: Ohio State 63, Akron 7
Tim: Ohio State 56, Akron 7
Lando: Ohio State 52, Akron 3
Jared: Ohio State 60, Akron 17
Eli: Ohio State 49, Akron 7

Indiana (-9) at Western Kentucky

The Hoosiers face a Hilltopper squad that, while not a pushover, is far from the quality of opponent Cincinnati was a week ago. Even if the game is on the road, Indiana should have no problem covering nine points.

Dylan: Indiana 35, Western Kentucky 14
Clay: Indiana 31, Western Kentucky 17
Tim: Indiana 27, Western Kentucky 17
Lando: Indiana 35, Western Kentucky 24
Jared: Indiana 34, Western Kentucky 16
Eli: Indiana 35, Western Kentucky 20

Looking for Standings?

I am almost done collecting all the data for the past three weeks, and should have the standings up next week. For real this time. Thanks for your patience!