Week two of the Big Ten schedule has a couple interesting games taking place. Big and Little brothers take on each other in the state of Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota could show which team, if either, is a fraud, and of course Penn State looks to recover from a major let-down a week ago in their first road game of the season. Also, can Indiana pull off a big upset at home?

Charlie has already officially recorded my picks for this weekend, but allow me to dive a little deeper into the Big Ten contests for this week…

Michigan State (1-3, 0-1 Big Ten) vs. #22 Michigan (4-0, 1-0)
12:00pm, Big Ten Network

The Spartans appear to be in a state of disarray. Who is the quarterback? Is this really a team that was supposed to be a dark horse in the Big Ten race? After four games there is no reason to believe Michigan State is going to be a contender this season in the conference. The hated Wolverines are coming to town with a bit of a swagger after starting the year off 4-0. Michigan State may view this game as more of a battle than it really is, and I expect Michigan to go 5-0 on the road.

Prediction: Michigan wins 27-20

Purdue (1-3, first Big Ten game) vs. Northwestern (2-2, 0-1)
12:00 pm, Big Ten Network

I continue to question which Purdue team is going to show up form week to week. I don’t have the same question with Northwestern, even though they are only 2-2. Neither team is impressive in any specific area, but Northwestern appears to at least be more consistent than the Boilermakers. I’ll go with Purdue at home though. They have shown flashes of some good football and I don’t think they’ll lose a third straight home game.

Prediction: Purdue wins 20-17

Minnesota (3-1, 1-0) vs. Wisconsin (4-0, 1-0)
12:00 pm, ESPN/ESPN 360

The Badgers are undefeated but Minnesota has played the tougher schedule. Plus the Gophers appear to be enjoying life in their new home stadium, which looks to be pretty nice on TV. I love watching this series because they battle for Paul Bunyan’s Ax. I’m going with Minnesota at home in this one. Wisconsin will come back down to Earth a bit after this one.

Prediction: Minnesota wins 28-27

#13 Iowa (4-0, 1-0) vs. Arkansas State (1-2, 0-1 Sun Belt)
12:05 pm, ESPN2/ESPN 360

Do we really need to dig deep on this one? I guess Iowa could suffer a let down after the big win in Beaver Stadium last week, but I do not see it happening. Iowa rolls.

Prediction: Iowa wins 31-7

Indiana (3-1, 0-1) vs. #9 Ohio State (3-1, 1-0)
7:00 pm, Big Ten Network

If you are looking for an upset this weekend, well it might not come here. The Hoosiers suffered a heart breaker last week up in Ann Arbor and now have to regroup and welcome Ohio State to town. The Buckeyes have crept back into the top ten rankings and maybe they feel that they are primed for a run at a BCS game. The Hoosiers played tough against Michigan last week, but I tend to think the Buckeyes are still a level or two above the Wolverines, so I would not expect Indiana to hang too tough this weekend.

Ohio State goes 2-0 in the Big Ten.

Prediction: Ohio State wins 34-17

Illinois (1-2, 0-1) vs. #15 Penn State (3-1, 0-1)
3:30 pm, ABC/ESPN

Releated Posts:

1. Kevin’s Week Six Big Ten picks
2. Kevin’s Big Ten Picks – Week Four
3. Week Three Big Ten Picks
4. Week One Big Ten Picks forecasts 11-0 start
5. Big Ten Basketball Schedule Released: Penn State Screwed Over

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