Week 11 B1G Picks
Some weeks are just like this.
Bottom half vs. top half. On paper, it looks like it should be a lopsided week in the B1G. For four B1G teams that technically still have a shot at the College Football Playoff, that’s not the worst thing. If each of those teams won by 20, it wouldn’t change our impressions of them one bit. Judgment week, it’s definitely not.
Perhaps that’s what makes it so dangerous.
I’m a believer in sleeper games. I’m not saying players make a conscious effort to put less work in during the week or that guys are taking it easy on game day. But, as we’ve often seen, assuming the focus of 18-22 year-old-student athletes can sometimes be a fickle beast.
Michigan State and Ohio State have their massive showdown a week from Saturday. Michigan ends the season with two huge games, one of which against a potentially unbeaten Ohio State team. And Iowa can smell a B1G West title.
This week is supposed to be the calm before the storm. But it’s usually those times that we’re all caught off guard. We certainly were last week.
Having said that, I was too chicken to put my money where my mouth was and I rolled with all the favorites.
Mock away:
Last week: 5-2
Season total: 73-19
No. 18 Northwestern 42, Purdue 14
No. 3 Ohio State 35, Illinois 14
No. 13 Michigan State 42, Maryland 21
Nebraska 42, Rutgers 35
No. 14 Michigan 38, Indiana 24
No. 5 Iowa 28, Minnesota 21