Perhaps the BEST B1G Forum anywhere, here at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

Put me down in the close game camp. 

It will be a contest of which team has the worst O-Line. 

Exactly, the O-line has me worried.  They have been terrible, Northwestern should not have been able to put that much pressure into the PSU backfield.

We start there on Wednesday and then on Saturday board a ship for a week that will hit Spanish, French and Italian islands. We end up near Rome, take the train to Florence for 5 days and then back to Rome for a few days to fly home.

Trip of a lifetime for us. We have the same ship, same crew and same cabin as last time. All the islands (West Indies) we were on are pretty much gone now...

So as it turns out if I want to see football it will be on the ship, which has the high speed internet on board. They did have the games live when we were on it over the Holidays last year so maybe they will have them again. I can't imagine staying up that late for this game though. Looks like I can catch the Badger game as it's an 11AM game here.

The other thing you'll need is a US-based IP address.  WatchESPN (as well as many other US based video streaming apps and services) doesn't work in Europe.  You'll get a message that says it's not available in your area, but that you can subscribe to a European version (which isn't cheap). Where I got around it last year was by signing into my work's VPN that was out of Chicago, so it tricked the service into thinking I was in the US.
Enjoy Florence.  My wife and I were just there over Labor Day, it's a beautiful, charming city (we only had 2 days there unfortunately).  I am happy to share the abbreviated itinerary with you if you'd like.  Rome as well, I did Rome on a weekend, ended up walking something like 28 miles in two days, but got to see everything. 

Interesting game.  Michigan's defense is good enough to give PSU fits.  However, Michigan has just looked awful throwing the ball, and now they are going on the road against probably the best defense they've seen.  They probably need to play this like Iowa did - just run the ball and play defense and hope to be in position to win in the 4th quarter.

test your VPN with the ESPN app before you leave, then your IT guy can work on it if it needs to be tweeked

Yeah, gonna have to disagree with you. It'll only be exciting if you're a Penn State fan. Or maybe Ohio State fan. Or MSU fan. Or ND fan. I know those 3 teams- they like to get their rocks off watching Michigan get embarrassed.

Penn State is going to slaughter Michigan. I'm thinking 31-7.

LOL quite frankly we all enjoy watching every program but ours take a dive

We're pretty well scheduled out but thanks for the offer.

So, if I log into my VPN, it will think I'm in the US? I don't use the VPN for internet service when I'm on it so will it still work?

You can also use a free proxy server to go to Espn website and login with your cable/sat acct. info if you're on a laptop. 

https://hide.me/en/proxy - that's a good site. Just select USA for proxy location and type in ESPN.com or WatchESPN.com and log-in with your sat/cable provider.

Never been to Florence, but I can tell you some pretty good places to eat in Rome and Barcelona if you'd like. You should definitely buy your tickets to the Vatican and Coliseum ahead of time online- you get to skip all the long ass lines and walk right in if you buy them ahead of time on your phone or on a computer and print them out. Do the same thing if you're going to go to Sagrada Familia in Barcelona- because tickets to Sagrada Familia sell out pretty fast. You should try to go to the church at the top of Mt. Tibidabo in Barelona- highest point in the city and really just breath-taking views.

There's a cable car kinda near the beach and W hotel that takes you up Montjuic and to the Miramar Hotel Gardens- amazing views and there's a cafe up there where you can grab a coffee- really worth the 10 euros it costs. If you're into gambling- there's a casino open 24/7 right at Port Olimpico. 

I'm not into soccer at all- I don't know if you are- but you should definitely go to Camp Nou to check out the Nike store and tour the stadium and facilities or go to a game if they are playing. Took the tour and went to a game- just an amazing 
experience.

If you've got time take the day trip to Montserrat. It's this huge granite mountain with a monestary at the top of the mountain- like an hr + each way by train, so it's pretty much an entire day trip- but it's totally worth it if you've got the time.

Safe travels. Have a blast. And watch out for the picket pocketers in Rome and Barcelona. Those are two of the worst cities for that crap. If people try to sell you stuff on the streets or talk to you and ask you to sign petitions or whatever- don't even stop. Just blow them off and keep walking or tell them no really forcefully and give them nasty looks. La Rambla is the worst street for pick pockets in Barcelona. So just be on the lookout there. Lots of people will come up to you try to sell you shi. Be really careful to watch your bon public transportion- buses/subways if you wind up taking them- had a friend get pick pocketed on subway in Rome. Have to be on your guard for those sneaky little effers.