The College Football season finally gets enB1Ggened tonight as Illinois travels to Wisconsin hoping for a repeat of last season. We get no non-conference MACtion, no FCS tune-ups, nothing this year. We’re just gonna line it up and go, so here we go:
Friday
Illinois (0-0) at No. 14 Wisconsin (0-0) 8pm BTN
One of the more shocking results of last season was Illinois stunning Wisconsin on a last second field goal in Champaign. It may have even saved Lovie Smith’s job as they parlayed that into a four-game win streak and their first bowl game since 2014. They beat Purdue, Rutgers, and Michigan State in the following weeks, then closed with a three-game losing streak that had an ugly 29-10 loss at home against Northwestern. Wisconsin remembers that game for sure, and I think they cruise. Wisconsin 38, Illinois 14
Saturday
Nebraska (0-0) at No. 5 Ohio State (0-0) Noon, FOX
It is appropriate we get Nebraska on the first Big Nude Saturday of the year, as they showed their big red ass all offseason long in screaming for a season. Their reward is an Ohio State team that might be the third best in the country behind Alabama and Clemson. The Buckeyes are clearly looking forward to another playoff appearance, and since they don’t have to play Purdue (unless we win the West) they have a shot at it. Nebraska is one of those programs that has a ton of bluster for not doing much the last few seasons. The Buckeyes will remind them of that. Ohio State 45, Nebraska 21
Rutgers (0-0) at Michigan State (0-0) Noon, BTN
We have the battle of new(ish) coaches as Greg Schiano is back at Rutgers and Mel Tucker is taking over in East Lansing after a 5-7 record at Colorado. That leaves the Spartans with a lot of questions. They were rather milquetoast last season at 7-6 with their best win over 8-5 Indiana. Rutgers was one of the worst Big Ten teams of all-time, however, and might have been even worse than 2013 Purdue. They are going to take a year or two under Schiano to begin competing for bowls. Michigan State 31, Rutgers 10
No. 8 Penn State (0-0) at Indiana (0-0) 3:30pm, Fox Sports 1
Is Indiana actually good now? They took a major step forward last season by beating all the teams they were supposed to beat. That is something that rarely happens in Bloomington, and, let’s admit, coach Brohm still needs to get Purdue there (see 2017 Rutgers, 2018 Eastern Michigan, and 2019 Nevada). Their next step is to get one of the East big boys in Michigan, Ohio State, or Penn State. We know they can compete and they were within a TD of the Nittany Lions last season. I think they get the upset this year and we have to hear about #9windiana for another few weeks. Indiana 34, Penn State 31
Iowa (0-0) at Purdue (0-0) 3:30pm, BTN
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Is Brian Brohm going to be the only coach on Saturday now? Jeff Brohm is playing so coy right now we have no idea what the depth chart is and even didn’t commit to Rondale Moore playing. Does this mean COVID is running rampant through the football facility right now? I don’t like it at all. That said, Brohm’s teams have done really well against the Hawkeyes and they are starting a first time QB on the road (in an empty stadium though). When all is said and done, David Bell and Rondale Moore are probably the best players on the field, so that’s an edge. Purdue 31, Iowa 28
No. 18 Michigan (0-0) at No. 21 Minnesota (0-0) 7:30pm, ABC
This looked like a really good game for the Jug as I think Minnesota is the team to beat in the West, but the Gophers are now going to have several players missing due to COVID. Ann Arbor is on lockdown in its own right, so… neat! It is hard to believe, but the Gophers have not beaten the Wolverines in Minnesota since 1977. That was two stadiums ago for the Gophers! They also only have three wins total in that time. Given we know the Gophers are missing guys my pick is Michigan. Michigan 28, Minnesota 21
Maryland (0-0) at Northwestern (0-0) 7:30pm, BTN
Remember: this year we get a week 9 cross-division matchup of 1 vs. 1, 2 vs. 2, etc. Is this a preview of 6 vs. 6 or 7 vs. 7? Both teams were pretty bad last year. They each won only one conference game and expectations are not high. Peyton Ramsey comes in to stabilize the Wildcats at quarterback (despite having a former No. 1 overall recruit on the roster), so that is the edge. Does anyone even watch this game though? Northwestern 17, Maryland 14