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There is no featured Friday night game this week and only one team is off, but Rutgers doesn’t count, anyway. They get a week to prepare for the 2017 Big Ten Pillowfight of the Year when they head to Chambana next week. Indiana was supposed to be off, but because their game with Florida International was cancelled they now get Charleston Southern. Everyone else is involved in conference action this week.
Penn State (5-0, 2-0) at Northwestern (2-2, 0-1) Noon, ABC
I am still not sure what to think of Northwestern. They hung around against Wisconsin much longer than anyone expected last week. Still, they had too many mistakes and gave up a game clinching safety when they had a chance to drive and tie late. Now they get Penn State, who unfortunately looks like a well-oiled machine just crushing people. The Nittany Lions will get this done without much trouble. Penn State 42, Northwestern 17
Illinois (2-2, 0-1) at Iowa (3-2, 0-2) Noon, BTN
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I think Penn State broke Iowa. The Hawkeyes had that game won two weeks ago. Now they are 0-2 in the league and struggling to do much of anything. The good news is that Illinois often what cures a team. Getting a punchless Illini team with the newly promoted Jeff George Jr. should be the cure for a lot of Hawkeye ills. Iowa 30, Illinois 10
Charleston Southern (2-2) at Indiana (2-2) 3:30pm, BTN
Indiana is going to beat up on an overmatched FCS team that is coming to Bloomington for a paycheck. Indiana 56, Charleston Southern 13
Minnesota (3-1, 0-1) at Purdue (2-2, 0-1) 3:30pm, ESPN2
Both teams look like an injury-riddled house of cards waiting to be tipped over. Minnesota in particular has a very thin secondary with true freshmen for Blough/Sindelar to pick on. I think Purdue jumps out to an early lead kind of like the Missouri game and the Gophers struggle to play catch up. A fresh Ja'Whaun Bentley and Jacob Theineman then come on like a second half soccer sub to finish them off. Purdue 34, Minnesota 21
Maryland (3-1, 1-0) at Ohio State (4-1, 2-0) 4pm, FOX
The Buckeyes get their final JV game against the Big Ten East, but next year this should be a really interesting game in college park. Maryland is improving rapidly. If they could keep a quarterback healthy and if this were at home I would be tempted to pick them. Unfortunately, it is in Columbus. It looks like Ohio State is rounding into form at the right time. Ohio State 45, Maryland 21
Michigan State (3-1, 1-0) at Michigan (4-0, 1-0) 7:30pm, FOX
I am not sure what to think about Michigan State. I was surprised they were never really in it against Notre Dame. Then they turned around and prevented Iowa from doing much of anything last week. Now they face a rest Michigan defense that, in my mind, is the real deal. This will probably low scoring because both teams are coming off of excellent defensive halves. Michigan is better though. Michigan 17, Michigan State 13
Wisconsin (4-0, 1-0) at Nebraska (3-2, 2-0) 8pm, BTN
After playing Illinois and Rutgers the Cornhuskers are taking a big step up in weight class. Wisconsin has far and away looked like the best team in the West and the second best team out West is… Purdue? Well, we’ll find out more on that next week. This week it is a road game against a team that is 2-0 in league play only because it has played the two worst teams. Wisconsin 31, Nebraska 17