Saturday, September 27, 2008

Todays' Picks

Ok first week of the conference race and let me first again state my complete displeasure of the fact that each team only plays 8 opponents out of a possible ten. I will share this week what an unfair advantage that is for a couple of teams this season. I know that some years some teams will always have the better home schedule etc. But by not playing the same 2 teams for a two year period you can have a big advantage.

One example, for 2009 and 2010, Michigan State is expected to be a competitive team in the conference. They do NOT play Ohio State! This means they skate by having to play a perennial power AND they skip Pryor in probably his peak years as a college QB before moving on to the NFL. But I am getting ahead of myself

This week:

Michigan State plays Indiana and I think we may see in a week or two if Indiana is indeed the weakest team in the conference. Lewis is a strong QB but one has to believe that the Spartans will chew up the Hoosier defense with a lot of running.

I am not sold on either Iowa or NU but I give the nod to the Hawkeyes since it is their home field and they had at least one tough test against an improving Pitt team.

Minnesota is clearly a better team than last year but they are not this years version of the 2007 Illini...they are at least a year away. The Buckeyes with Wells win this one at home!

Michigan Wisconsin. Michigan loses it's first Big Ten home opener in 23 years UNLESS the defense holds the Badgers to under 21. Michigan MIGHT pull off one long drive, one Barnum Bailey TD with McGuffie front and center and MAYBE a short field TD based on a defensive led turnover....THAT'S best case. If UM plays anywhere nearly as sloppy here as they did at ND or as flat as they did against Miami it will be embarrassing. I think Badgers win by 10 or less

Purdue vs Notre Dame. I am not impressed with Notre Dame despite what they did to Michigan. Their running game is weak, but Clausen has gotten better. If this is a high scoring game I give it to Purdue, lower scoring game allows the Domers to sneak a win. I hate Notre Dame and I am a Big Ten fan so this one I call for Purdue!

Yes it is a White Out at State College,PA which along with Wisconsin creates the craziest home advantage in the conference. We will begin to see how good Penn State is tonight if they win by more than a TD. The Illini are good but not great...although if they pull this upset on the road..well I have to rethink that statement. I think the winner of this game challenges OSU for the title..wow this early in the season a big game for sure!

Enjoy its a great day for football!

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