This week's B1G games by our
current Power Rankings:
- #1 Ohio State vs #3 Wisconsin
- #2 Penn State at #7 Michigan State
- #4 Michigan is playing some OOC no-name this week
- #5 Minnesota vs #13 Maryland
- #6 Iowa at #12 Northwestern
- #8 Indiana at #9 Nebraska
- #10 Purdue vs #11 Illinois
- #14 Rutgers is playing some OOC no-name this week
The game in Columbus is the obvious headliner but all of these are interesting to me:
Penn State's trip to East Lansing is their last game before travelling to Minneapolis to take on undefeated and #17 Minnesota. Michigan State can be tricky but they have been abysmal against quality opposition so far this year. This is the third game in a row against an AP top-8 conference opponent for the Spartans. Will they be worn down or will the third time be a charm?
Minnesota is 7-0 and yet you get the feeling that most of us still don't trust them. That isn't just because they are Minnesota. They won their first four games by a combined total of just 24 points against a lackluster slate of SDSU, @Fresno, GaSo, and Purdue. They have more appropriately looked the part in their last three with rather gaudy 23, 27, and 35 point wins but the opposition hasn't been much better, IL, UNL, and RU. They are off next weekend so if they beat Maryland this weekend they will be undefeated when Penn State comes to town on November 9. Maryland is hard to get a read on. They have bounced around our power rankings more than any other team. They looked great pulverizing Howard and a ranked Syracuse team early then lost to Temple before getting run off the field by Penn State. Then they had a gaudy win over Rutgers but, it was Rutgers and since then they've lose to the two Indiana schools. Right now they look pretty listless if you ask me but who knows.
Northwestern has looked terrible and Iowa is a ranked team but who knows, maybe the Cats will show improvement, we'll see.
The Indiana/Nebraska game features two teams adjacent in the Power Rankings and that always interests me. Additionally, this game could be big for both teams' bowl hopes.
The Purdue/Illinois game also features two teams adjacent in the Power Rankings and it is probably a bowl elimination game. The loser will have a REALLY big hill to climb to get to 6-6.