Thursday, November 13, 2008

Big Ten Previews and Picks

You could almost hear the loud "Yes" from the officials from the Big 12, SEC, and PAC 10 when Penn State lost to Iowa last week. This should clear the path for a non-Big Ten school to play in the National Championship Game. Of course, we thought the same thing last year when Ohio State lost to Illinois in week 11 and still managed to get there. Great system we have here, it works so well!


Now on to this weeks Big Ten games:

Indiana at #8 Penn State: Penn State lost their National Championship dreams last Saturday. Indiana gave up double nickels to Wisconsin last weekend. This one will be a blow early and often. Penn State is favored by 36, Yikes!: JoPa in the booth 48 IU 14


Purdue at Iowa: Iowa is coming off their biggest win of the season. Purdue is coming off a road loss at Michigan State where they played OK but just couldn't stop Javon Ringer for 60 minutes. I'm sure the weather will be terrible in Iowa and Purdue just isn't a solid enough team to win on the road. Iowa is a 17.5 favorite, which IMO is way too high. Iowa 28 Purdue 17


Minnesota at Wisconsin: What do these two team have in common this year? Wait for it......... They both got beat by the Michigan Wolverines this year. Usually, that is something to be expected but this year, not so much. Wisconsin has found new life in their program after the schedule let up on them (Michigan loss, OSU loss, PSU loss, Iowa loss all in a row). Minnesota is coming off two home losses which they expected to win (NW and U of M). Minnesota is already bowl eligible and Wisconsin needs one more to go bowling. Edge goes to the team that needs the win. Vegas has Wisconsin as a 13.5 favorite which is basically saying The Golden Gophers have gotten to 7 wins with soft scheduling and a great turn over margin. Wisconsin 21 Minnesota 7


Big Ten Game of the Week:


#11 Ohio State at Illinois: At the start of the year, this game looked really good on paper. It was going to replace the Michigan - OSU as the game that decided the Big Ten Championship. Well, things have changed a bit since August and Illinois hasn't exactly played solid football. They lost last week to Western Michigan on Ford Field in Detroit to go to 5-5 for the year. Ohio State on the other hand, does what it always does, beats the weak Big Ten teams and loses to the top 5. I would love to tell you that Zook and the juice will continue it's Win One - Lose One streak this year, but they won't and are totally out matched against a talented Ohio State team. OSU is a 9.5 favorite: OSU 31 Juice 17



MSU is off and the Michigan - Northwestern Game will be previewed on Friday.

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