This week:
As we close in on the end of the season we appear to be reverting to the old style of scheduling with weekday games on Tue/Wed/Thur only and weekend games.
At this point all 14 teams have played either 16 or 17 games. MSU and RU have each played 17 and they are off this week so after Thursday's games all 14 teams will have played either 17 or 18 games.
This week's six games:
- Purdue hosts Illinois in a game that the Boilermakers should win.
- Michigan hosts Nebraska in a game that the Wolverines should win.
- Wisconsin visits Indiana in a game that the Badgers should win.
- Maryland visits Penn State in a game that the Terps should win.
- Iowa visits Ohio State in a game that could go either way (we project an Ohio State win).
- Minnesota is at Northwestern in a game that could go either way (we project a Northwestern win)
IMHO, the last two games are, by far, the most interesting this week for two reasons:
- Because they involve the only two bubble teams in the B1G, and
- Because unlike the other four where I am pretty confident in our projection, I see these as games that could go either way:
Iowa at Ohio State:
The Worldwide leader, in their bubble watch, strongly suggested that an Iowa win would move the Hawkeyes up to "Lock" status. I agree. On the other side, Ohio State really needs a win here. The Bubbling Buckeyes are dangerously close to the cut line and a win here would help a LOT.
Minnesota at Northwestern:
The Worldwide leader recently dropped Minnesota from barely in to barely out and the Gophers are desperate for wins. It is getting very difficult to see a path to an at-large bid for the Gophers and with a loss in Evanston it would be nearly impossible.
