Week 7 Big Ten Picks

Simply judging by the way everyone in the division has looked so far, Saturday is the de facto Big Ten West championship game between Iowa and Wisconsin. They are the only two teams left without at least two losses, and a Wisconsin victory puts them two full games clear of everyone with the tiebreaker over Iowa.

That is the best game in a week with a lot of double digit favorites.

Indiana (2-3, 0-2) at #2 Michigan (6-0, 3-0) Noon, FOX

The Hoosiers are a 33 point road underdog. They have a struggling offense where they have already fired their offensive coordinator, and now they have to go out and face a Michigan defense that has not given up more than 10 points in a game. I am not sure why this was the Big Noon Saturday pick for this week. Michigan 45, Indiana 7

#4 Ohio State (5-0, 2-0) at Purdue (2-4, 1-2) Noon, Peacock

This might be the ultimate test for the weird Ross-Ade magic Purdue has against the Buckeyes. It is on par with the 2009 game where Purdue entered at 1-0, but stunned the Buckeyes 26-18 behind a huge game from Ryan Kerrigan. With Purdue's injury concerns I don't think the Boilers have enough. Ohio State 45, Purdue 21

Michigan State (2-3, 0-2) at Rutgers (4-2, 1-2) Noon, BTN

Rutgers is not that bad. They hung around a bit last week with Wisconsin and as long as they handle business this week and against Indiana they will reach a bowl game. The Spartans have mostly been a mess since the Mel Tucker firing, and I think they continue sinking this week. Rutgers 27, Michigan State 14

Massachusetts (1-6) at # 6 Penn State (5-0) 3:30pm, BTN

UMass won a week 0 game at New Mexico State and they have done pretty much nothing since. As an FBS independent you have to wonder why they keep doing this. The NIttany Lions should have ample time for their backups this week. Penn State 56, UMass 7

llinois (2-4, 0-3) at Maryland (5-1, 2-1) 3:30pm, NBC

Maryland is probably the 4th best team in the East, which honestly might be enough for them to be the best team in the West. They hung around with Ohio State last week and I wouldn't totally count them out in their other big games against Michigan and Penn State. Illinois somehow looks worse offensively each week. Maryland 38, Illinois 14

Iowa (5-1, 2-1) at Wisconsin (4-1, 2-0) 4pm, FOX

Iowa can't keep getting away with this, can they? The offense is almost completely incapable of passing, but they still gritted out a 20-14 win over Purdue last week by hitting on a couple big plays, getting a defensive assist on a field goal, and by having a dominant defensive effort. Can they win 10 games without averaging 20 points per game? Hopefully not, because that would be an affront to football. Wisconsin 21, Iowa 12

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