Week 5 Big Ten Preview

12:00 PM | Minnesota @ #14 Ohio State (BTN)

Although the Golden Gophers are coming into this game undefeated, that will change on Saturday. Minnesota's non-conference schedule revealed very little about them, and I think that what we'll find out when they play Ohio State is that they still have a long way to go. This is Minnesota's first real test of the season, and with Terrelle Pryor taking over as Ohio State's starting quarterback for good, I do think their offense will play better than it has all season.

Another thing working against Minnesota is that Beanie Wells is supposed to play. He has been out since the first game of the season and his return will make an impact. I imagine he will be somewhat limited compared to what his normal workload is, but that won't stop him from scoring a couple touchdowns en route to an OSU victory.

Prediction: Ohio State wins in a blowout

12:00 PM | Michigan State @ Indiana (ESPN)

MSU running back Javon Ringer became a true Heisman candidate after his performance against Notre Dame last week. He rushed for over 200 yards again and added a couple touchdowns as well. Tomorrow against Indiana, I expect his stats to be even better, which could possibly elevate him to the top tier of Heisman candidates. Indiana's rush defense played well in the first two games of the season, but Ball State was able to run for 224 yards last week against the Hoosiers. Considering that, I expect Ringer to have another huge game, leading Michigan State to victory.

Prediction: Michigan State wins comfortably

12:00 PM | Northwestern @ Iowa (ESPN Classic)

The second of three undefeated teams in the Big Ten, Northwestern, will hope to continue their winning streak at Iowa. The Hawkeyes are coming off a very disappointing loss to Pittsburgh that showed how badly they need a quarterback. They rotated both Jake Christensen and Ricky Stanzi into the game and neither played exceptionally well.

For Northwestern, the biggest thing for them coming into this game is that running back Tyrell Sutton is going to play. He missed the entire second half of the Ohio game last Saturday due to an injury, and the fact that Northwestern was shutout when he didn't play shows how big he is to the Wildcats' offense. His return will be a big factor in the Northwestern-Iowa game, but I still think the Hawkeyes will win. Northwestern will make it very close since Iowa's offense has struggled so much lately, but in the end I believe the Hawkeyes come out on top.

Prediction: Iowa wins in a close one

3:30 PM | Purdue @ Notre Dame (NBC)

The Fighting Irish are finishing up their Big Ten part of the schedule by welcoming Purdue to South Bend. The Boilermakers have had an interesting two weeks as they choked away a game to Oregon and then barely escaped an upset against Central Michigan last Saturday. Notre Dame, on the other hand, had more of a roller coaster ride than anything. They beat Michigan and started to gain confidence, but then they were defeated by Michigan State in a game that the Spartans dominated.

Even though Purdue barely got by CMU, that still makes them a better team than Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish are a fraud simply because they were lucky to beat San Diego State and then beat Michigan thanks to many very timely turnovers, most of which were caused by U-M mistakes. When they went on the road to East Lansing they got exposed in a sense as MSU shut them out for three quarters and ran Javon Ringer down their throats. And consider this, if Steven Threet and Nick Sheridan (on one play) had success throwing the ball down the field against Notre Dame, imagine what Curtis Painter will do for Purdue. Since this game is in South Bend I think it'll be a little closer than it should, but the end result will still be a Purdue victory.

Prediction: Purdue wins comfortably

8:00 PM | #22 Illinois @ #12 Penn State (ABC)

After Oregon State's win over USC last night, how good is Penn State looking right now? The Nittany Lions destroyed Oregon State at home earlier in the season, and although the circumstances were different between playing USC at home and PSU on the road, it still shows you that Penn State is a very good team.

Illinois, on the other hand, is really a question mark. They managed to lose by only 10 points in a shootout against Missouri at the start of the season, but two weeks ago they only beat Louisiana-Lafayette by a field goal. I do think they are a decent team that will stay with Penn State early on, but in the end I think the Nittany Lions will win by 2-3 touchdowns. If their offense plays as well as it did against Oregon State and the three cupcakes on their schedule, then this game shouldn't be too tough for PSU.

Prediction: Penn State wins comfortably

Predictions Update:

Last week: 7-1

Overall: 35-4