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We’ve officially reached double-digits.
The college football season has entered Week 10 and teams are making their final pushes for conference positioning, bowl eligibility and, for some, those coveted New Years Six bowl games. It’s always the most entertaining month of the season.
There should be plenty of entertainment in the B1G this Saturday, especially with all three top 10 teams playing on the road. Could there be an upset in store that really shakes up the conference, and national, picture?
Here are the five bold predictions for the B1G in Week 10.
Purdue breaks a really ugly November streak
The Boilermakers haven’t won a game in the month of November since November. Yes, that’s actually a fact. They’ve lost 17 straight games, making the final month of the season even a little colder in West Lafayette.
Fortunately for Purdue, it will have a great opportunity to put an end to that streak on Saturday against Illinois. If Jeff Brohm can’t figure out a way to beat the Illini, that losing streak may stretch to 21 games.
Iowa’s defense gets an interception off J.T. Barrett
All great streaks must come to an end at some point, right? Barrett has thrown 22 straight touchdowns and more passes than I can count without a single interception. But against an Iowa defense that always rises to the occasion, I think the Heisman hopeful has just one slip up in Kinnick Stadium.
The Hawkeyes always come up with a big play or two in front of a home crowd.
Clayton Thorson and Tanner Lee combine for at least 800 passing yards
Both quarterbacks performed exceptionally well last week, surely that will carry over to the head-to-head matchup in Lincoln this Saturday.
While defense and the ability to run the football are incredibly important in the B1G this time of year, I have the feeling this contest will have somewhat of a West Coast feel. Maybe the score won’t reach the 50s, but both quarterbacks are going to throw the ball around. Don’t be surprised to see high passing totals from Thorson and Lee.
A win over Rutgers will be the final victory for Maryland in 2017
Maybe it isn’t specific to this week, but I’ll go ahead and pick the Terrapins to knock off Rutgers so it has some relationship to Week 10. After this weekend, though? Good luck, D.J. Durkin.
Maryland finishes its season with games against Michigan, Michigan State and Penn State. Talk about a gauntlet. With a 4-4 record heading into Saturday, it looks like the Terps will get to five wins, but probably won’t be able to punch out another win this season.
There’s at least one upset in the B1G
All three of the B1G’s top 10 teams are on the road this weekend, playing in trap games. Wisconsin travels to Indiana, Ohio State heads to Iowa and Penn State will battle Michigan State. There has to be a surprise somewhere in that lineup.
I’m not bold enough to predict which team will pull off the upset, but none would be too much of a surprise. Keep an extra close eye on the matchup between the Badgers and Hoosiers, as running back Jonathan Taylor is still listed as questionable. Even if he’s available, his touches could be extremely limited.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB