Week 5 Big Ten Football Gamethread

Well, there goes the first team projected by OTE to be in the playoffs. Washington absolutely destroyed Stanford last night, taking a 23-0 halftime lead and turning it into a 44-6 win. They showed the textbook on how to contain Christian McCaffery, and as a result Stanford had no offense to counter Washington’s ease of rolling down the field on Stanford’s backup corners. Let’s take a look at what the Big Ten has today:

Northwestern at Iowa (-13.5) || 12:00pm ET || ESPNU

Iowa looks to come out and improve on its last offensive outing where they only managed a meager 14 points in their 14-7 win over Rutgers. Northwestern is much better on defense than Rutgers and this has a chance to be a really offensive game to watch to non-Iowa and non-Northwestern fans. Scratch that, they’ll be offended too.

Rutgers at #2 Ohio State (-38.5) || 12:00pm ET || BTN

How is Rutgers rewarded for playing well against Iowa? A trip to Columbus to run through the buzzsaw that is Ohio State. Good luck, it’s going to be a long day for Rutger’s fans. Somehow though, they’re always optimistic about their team.

Purdue at Maryland (-10) || 3:30pm ET || BTN

Purdue is going to cover this game if this weather holds. It’s been raining since Tuesday in Maryland and on and off showers are expected all day. I’ll console myself by drinking amply at the tailgate and hoping the weather gives me windows to grill some food before the game.

#8 Wisconsin at #4 Michigan (-11) || 3:30pm ET || ABC

Easily the game of the week in the Big Ten, this game has playoff implications for both teams as a win for either will leapfrog them into legitimate playoff discussion with Ohio State to be included until the winner takes on the Buckeyes. Two conference teams be damned, don’t forget ESPN put on analysts that legitimately selected three to four SEC teams in their projections a year or two ago.

Illinois at #15 Nebraska (-20) || 3:30pm ET || ESPN2

Nebraska looks to continue their surprise season this year as they take on Illinois. This should be a fairly easy game for Nebraska but if they haven’t learned to not look passed opponents yet then Wes Lunt is throwing a bomb to win the game.

Minnesota at Penn State (-2.5) || 3:30pm ET || BTN

This game is essentially a push with the 2.5 - 3 points allotted to home teams. Minnesota looks to prove that they aren’t a fluke this year as they take on a conference foe and Penn State looks to cope with devastating injuries on defense and get by the Golden Gophers.

#17 Michigan State at Indiana (+6.5) || 8:00pm ET || BTN

So, no one is going to watch this game outside of Sparty and Hoosier fans. Why? #3 Louisville at #5 Clemson is on at the same time. Indiana will look to continue beating up on an unexpectedly 2-1 MSU whose ND win was sorely devalued and who was recently curbstomped by Wisconsin.

Normal rules apply! No illegal streams, no illicit photos/gifs/etc, don’t be an asshat. Enjoy!