Big Ten Football Preview and Predictions: Week Nine

As we know, the Big Ten has a national perception problem.

Iowa is a top five team, but put them on the field with a top SEC or Pac-10 team, and many believe they would get blown out.

We all know about Ohio State's issues, and Penn State sort of came back from the dead last week to blow out a Michigan team that was everyone's darling after starting 4-0.

So now what? A set of big games that will have the country on the edge of their seats?

Nope.

A very down week for matchups. There really isn't even a Big Ten Game of the Week.

A great week for the Big Ten Channel.

Now, on to the show.

New Mexico State at OSU

Holy lines, Batman! Ohio State is favored by 43.5 points on Saturday. This should be a close one!

Pryor's Backup 61, NMS 7

Indiana at Iowa

Remember when we thought IU was pretty good after their performance at Michigan? Well, it turns out that Michigan wasn't as good as we thought.

Same goes for the Hoosiers, who are fighting for a bowl game but won't get out of Iowa City with a win on Saturday.

Classic letdown game for Iowa, but I still think they will win. Iowa is a 17.5 favorite.

Iowa 24, IU 14

Purdue at Wisconsin

I think the Boilermakers would have a decent shot of winning this game if it was played at home—but they have to travel to Madison for this one.

After losing five in a row, Purdue beat the seventh-ranked Buckeyes and then Illinois last weekend. Wisconsin is favored by a touchdown and will have to keep a close eye on the Boilermakers, who are playing with nothing to lose.

Wisconsin 20, Purdue 17

Michigan State at Minnesota

If this was Week Three or Week Four, I would have picked the Golden Gophers in this one, easy.

Michigan State's defense is getting better by the week (BTW: I thought it was a terrible call to run a blitz with one second left on the clock against Iowa—fill up the end zone with people and make it difficult for Iowa to find a throwing lane) and was one second away from beating a top-five Iowa team last week.

It will be cold in the Gophers' new outdoor stadium, and they would have a considerable home field advantage after dropping two straight games on the road to ranked Big Ten teams, but they have lost their top WR Eric Decker to an injury. The Spartans -3.5.

MSU 27, Minnesota 21

Penn State at Northwestern

Penn State comes off maybe its best performance in the Big House ever last week, and Northwestern beat Indiana by one point.

Penn State is clearly the better team but might find itself in a letdown situation against the Wildcats. If JoePa and the boys come ready to play like they did last week, this game will be over at halftime. PSU is favored by 14.5.

Penn State 38, NW 10

The Michigan-Illinois game will be previewed tomorrow.