Around the Big Ten

[WingsFan]

Hopefully this was Michigan's MSU game from last year where they were lost lining up on D half the time while Sparty was handing it off to Walker.

[iam416]

The downward spiral continues. 3-5 in league play and 2-1 in wildcards with some really egregious misses. 18-19-1 in conference and 8-4 out of conference. Meh. The upside, though, is that conference play is in full swing so I should be down to picking 7 games a week instead of the horrific 12-14.


Michigan (-10') at Iowa. This has been discussed at length. Iowa's offense is unspeakably bad. Michigan's offense is not. This will be a total asswhipping. I'll say something like 34-3, and HARBAUGH!!!! officially expands "there's a huge gap between the top 3 and everyone else" to "there's a huge gap between the top 4 and everyone else."

Purdue (+13) at Minnesota. This is the bullshit about figuring out CFB games -- Aidan O'Connell is a "game-time" decision. Well, his playing status is a bit of information that might be useful here. There are a couple things I think about this game. First, Purdue, while displaying a total mastery of bedshitting against worse teams is also annoyingly good against better teams. Second, I don't expect the Goofer to dominate two weeks in a row mostly because they're playing a team with a living, breathing defense. I still like Minnesota, but I'll say 30-21. And when O'Connell doesn't play and Purdue loses 38-6, you can all go fuck yourselves.

Illinois (+7) at Wisconsin. Bert goes back to Madison with a team that isn't embarrassingly bad. Wisconsin is working through some injury issues and definitely working through some "Graham Mertz is our QB" issues. I don't expect either team to pass the ball all that well, but this might actually be a ground and pound game Illinois can win. Or at least keep close. I'll say the final is 20-17 -- probably Badgers, but it could go either way.

Michigan State (+7') at Maryland. I'm a complete disbeliever in Sparty and I'm not much of a believer in Maryland. I think Maryland is a little inflated coming off the M game due to the fact that M basically played a season opener last week. Sparty's pass defense is horrific. But, The Turtle's defense can be had, for sure. I'm not sure if Sparty is that much worse than SMU. I think, for some reason, that Sparty wins a shootout on the road...38-31.

Rutgers (+39') at Ohio State. This one I actually went back and forth on a lot. Ohio State is obviously 40+ points better than Rutgers. However, there are a couple things at play, IMO. First, the weather is unclear. Columbus could be catching remnants of Ian which means wind and rain. Second, and more immutable, Ohio State's defense, while waaaaaaaay better, still gives up some big plays and some points. I feel good about Ohio State getting into the high 40s. I feel bad about them holding Rutgers to 10 or less. I'll say Ohio State wins 48-14.

Penn State (-25) vs Northwestern. There's no earthly way I'm backing nFw. They are horrific. Penn State came up just short for me last week against the Chips, but the Chips are better than nFw. I think it's something 45-10.

Indiana (+5) at Nebraska. Welp. Fuck. JFC. Indiana is grossly bad. The Huskerz are the Huskerz. I either have to pick IU to cover on the road or the Huskerz to not only win, but win by more than 5. I'd rather run The Wizards scrotum through a woodchipper. Ummmmm.....I'll take Indiana and the points. I don't know who wins. I don't care. I just want this game in the rearview mirror so that humanity can begin healing.

Wildcard games...

Alabama (-17) at Arkansas. I think this is a really bad matchup for the Hogs. They aren't good against the pass. They aren't particularly good passing. I think Alabama completely obliterates them like 52-13.

Arizona (-17') vs Colorado. Yes, I think Colorado is THAT bad.

Kentucky (+7) at Mississippi. I tell ya, UK plays some defense and they're well-coached. I like Ole Miss a lot this year, but I think this is a battle.

[THE_WIZARD_]

Stop touching my scrotum before buying me dinner and drink...twatwaffle...

[iam416]

Frozen wings and natty light?

[THE_WIZARD_]

...by candlelight...

[lineygoblue]

I'm trying to figure out which is worse from the previous two posts.

Talent's sandbagging, or Wiz talking about his scrotum.

I think I'll just gouge out my eyes.

[THE_WIZARD_]

...hey Talent brought up my scrotum first pal...I was just clarifying...

...now STFU whistleboy...

...yer just jealous...

[iam416]

I can’t believe people actually thought M-Iowa would be close. Lol.

[THE_WIZARD_]

STFU

[klondike]

The whole portal/transfer thing along with better recruiting has paid of for the Illini. Their D' line looks really good and may be the favorite to win their division.

[THE_WIZARD_]

Bert can coach.

[klondike]

Bert can coach.

Can dine with best of them too

[WingsFan]

This msu vs Maryland game - Battle of no defenses

[klondike]

Watching the Spartans play defense is like watching a combine workout. Are there actual defensive players on the field?

[lineygoblue]

I can’t believe people actually thought M-Iowa would be close. Lol.

I don't know if you were watching or not, but the game was close until the mid 4th quarter. Anyone who knows the history of the series between these two knows that since the days of Hayden Fry, this has been a back and forth series.

Now I'm sure that had the mighty buckeyes been in Iowa City today, they would have reamed out the hapless Hawks by something like 60-3, and it would only be that low if CRD decided to pull his starters in the 3rd qtr. But, we all can't be as great as the buckeyes, can we?

Oh well, at least Harbaugh got the 'can't win at Kinnick" monkey off his back. I guess that's something.