Good morning! We're hitting the final stretch with only one more week remaining after today. Byes are finally over and we have a full slate of conference games at that. Here is the lineup for the day:
Penn State at Illinois (+6.5) || 12:00pm EST || ESPN2/WatchESPN
Penn State travels to Illinois in what is probably going to be a very low scoring affair, or Hackenberg could find his feet again facing the middling Illinois defense.
Indiana at Ohio State (-34.5) || 12:00pm EST || BTN
This is probably good that this game didn't make it to the ESPN slate. This one should be over early and should give JT Barrett the game he needs to pad those stats further in his dark horse Heisman run.
Minnesota at Nebraska (-10) || 12:00pm EST || ESPN
Minnesota travels to Nebraska to continue the month long quadrangle of hate slate. Nebraska is favored by 10, but it feels like this game is going to be a lot closer. Expect all the rushing yards again as Abdullah and Cobb are two of the great RBs in the conference this year.
Northwestern at Purdue (O/U 51) || 12:00pm EST || ESPNU
ESPN doesn't even list a line for this game, just giving an Over/Under. I'm not sure what to make of that, especially with Northwestern coming off yet another upset this season as they took down Notre Dame last week. Upon further review, oddsshark has the predicted score giving Purdue a 1 point edge, so it's about even.
Rutgers at Michigan State (-22) || 12:00pm EST || BTN
Rutgers tries to relive some 2004 magic as they travel to East Lansing to take on Michigan State. The stout MSU defense should shutdown Rutgers, but Rutgers is going to give it there all as they continue the brutal first year schedule they were given.
Wisconsin at Iowa (+10) || 3:30pm EST || ABC/ESPN2
Depending on where you are, this is on ABC or ESPN2. B5Q has the coverage map, located here. The second quadrangle of hate matchup of the day will come here, as Iowa tries to upset Wisconsin and their bid for the west division title and shot at the CCG.
Maryland at Michigan (-5) || 3:30pm EST || BTN
The Terps travel to Michigan to take on the Wolverines in their first trip to the Big House as a member of the B1G. Michigan is slightly favored in this matchup, and the line has moved from -2.5 to -5 throughout the week with the news that Stefon Diggs will miss the final two games of the year for Maryland. Maryland has struggled the past three weeks on offense and they'll look to recover against a suspect Michigan team who has had a very up and [mostly] down season.
All early games this week folks! The normal rules apply: no illegal game feeds, keep it mostly civil, no porn, etc.