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There’s going to be a void. Rivalry Week in the B1G isn’t going to be the same.
The cancellation of “The Game,” no matter how lopsided the spread or outcome, takes something away from the college football season. For the first time in over 100 years, Ohio State and Michigan won’t meet on the football field.
It leaves us all with a bit of an empty feeling.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, Purdue and Indiana mutually agreed to call off the Old Oaken Bucket game this weekend due to COVID-19 concerns, as well. That means that the three oldest rivalry games (Wisconsin-Minnesota; Purdue-Indiana; Michigan-Ohio State), will not be played in 2020, barring anything crazy.
We’re also in the final week of the regular season picks at Saturday Tradition. Sure, we’ll also include Champions Week into our weekly selections, but it’s fun to see how we closed out the first 8 weeks of the year. Here’s a look at last week’s results, along with the overall records:
- Dustin Schutte, Managing Editor: 3-2 (28-13)
- Paul Harvey, News Editor/Writer: 5-0 (24-17)
- Ryan O’Gara, B1G Columnist: 1-4 (17-24)
- Connor O’Gara, National Columnist: 1-4 (14-27)
Two B1G rivalries are canceled, but there are still a handful of intriguing matchups left on the schedule. Here are our picks for Week 8 games across the league:
Illinois vs. #14 Northwestern (-14.5)
Dustin: Northwestern (-14.5)
Paul: Illinois (+14.5)
Ryan: Illinois (+14.5)
Connor: Illinois (+14.5)
Minnesota vs. Nebraska (-10.5)
Dustin: Nebraska (-10.5)
Paul: Minnesota (+10.5)
Ryan: Minnesota (+10.5)
Connor: Nebraska (-10.5)
Rutgers vs. Maryland (-8)
Dustin: Rutgers (+8)
Paul: Rutgers (+8)
Ryan: Maryland (-8)
Connor: Rutgers (+8)
Wisconsin vs. #16 Iowa (-1)
Dustin: Iowa (-1)
Paul: Iowa (-1)
Ryan: Iowa (-1)
Connor: Iowa (-1)
Michigan State vs. Penn State (-15)
Dustin: Penn State (-15)
Paul: Penn State (-15)
Ryan: Penn State (-15)
Connor: Michigan State (+15)
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