Michigan Wolverines over Michigan State Spartans and This Week's Big Ten Picks

The Big Ten title race is heating up, with Wisconsin dropping a crucial game, and this week's Spartans-Wolverines matchup ready to declare which of Michigan's teams has the right to call themselves contenders.

The game in Ann Arbor is grabbing the national spotlight, and rightfully so, as Denard Robinson looks to build on his early Heisman lead and prove the Wolverines are here to stay.

In other news, the Ohio State Buckeyes are out to prove that last week's close game against Illinois was a fluke, and that they truly are among the favorites to win the BCS Championship.

So here they are, my Big Ten picks for this week...

No. 18 Michigan Vs. No. 17 Michigan State

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SOUTH BEND, IN - SEPTEMBER 11: Members of the Michigan Wolverines get ready during warm-ups to play against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Notre Dame Stadium on September 11, 2010 in South Bend, Indiana. Michigan defeated Notre Dame 28-24. (Photo by Jo

Always a big game for both sides, their proximity in the rankings makes this year’s matchup even more interesting.

Michigan’s offense has been unstoppable so far and should put up points even against a pretty good Spartan defense.

But Michigan State’s balanced attack should do the same to the sieve that is the Wolverines’ defense.

The Wolverines will benefit from a 110,000+ raucous crowd in the updated Big House, which has clearly increased crowd noise by quite a bit.

Look for the crowd to rattle Kirk Cousins in crunch time, as the Wolverines pull out a well-contested, 38-27 win.

Indiana Vs. No. 2 Ohio State

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COLUMBUS, OH - SEPTEMBER 25: Brandon Saine #3 of the Ohio State Buckeyes runs with the ball against the Eastern Michigan Eagles at Ohio Stadium on September 25, 2010 in Columbus, Ohio. Ohio State won 73-20. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)

This is the definition of a trap game for the Buckeyes.

Indiana is coming off a disappointing close loss against Michigan, in which the Hoosiers proved that their prolific passing attack out of the pistol is nothing to scoff at.

Ohio State has been less-than-impressive so far, nearly dropping last week’s contest to the lowly Fighting Illini.

Ben Chappell and the No. 4 passing offense in the nation should continue to rack up the yardage totals against a very good Buckeye defense, but look for Ohio State’s red zone defense to make the difference.

Ohio State should also be able to dominate the time-of-possession attack with their running game against a soft Hoosier defense.

Indiana will definitely scare the Buckeyes, but their porous defense will be their demise.

Ohio State wins, 37-28.

Illinois Vs. Penn State

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TUSCALOOSA, AL - SEPTEMBER 11: Quarterback Robert Bolden #1 of the Penn State Nittany Lions against the Alabama Crimson Tide at Bryant-Denny Stadium on September 11, 2010 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

The Fighting Illini shockingly stayed in the game for almost four full quarters against the Buckeyes last week, but lack of discipline on the final drive caused them to throw the game away.

Their defense was impressive, but they didn’t show much on the offensive side of the ball.

Look for this to be a low-scoring affair between two pretty solid defenses with not-so-solid offenses, but the fact remains that the Nittany Lion’s are better on both sides of the ball, and should pull this one out.

Penn State wins, 20-10.

Minnesota Vs. No. 20 Wisconsin

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LAS VEGAS - SEPTEMBER 04: Quarterback Scott Tolzien #16 of the Wisconsin Badgers looks to pass against the UNLV Rebels during their game at Sam Boyd Stadium September 4, 2010 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Wisconsin won 41-21. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Wisconsin’s loss to Michigan State was a huge blow to their Big Ten Title hopes, and they’ll likely have to win the rest of their games to have a chance to win the conference.

However,  the Golden Gophers have been awful this year despite almost taking out Northwestern, and there’s no way they have enough to beat one of the nation’s most balanced team’s in the Badgers.

Look for Wisconsin to rebound in a big way.

Wisconsin wins, 31-17.

Purdue Vs. Northwestern

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EVANSTON, IL - OCTOBER 31: Dan Persa #7 of the Northwestern Wildcats throws a pass against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Ryan Field on October 31, 2009 in Evanston, Illinois. Penn State defeated Northwestern 34-13. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

The Boilermakers and Wildcats are two teams going in completely opposite directions.

Purdue, picked by many as a sleeper contender in the Big Ten, has disappointed so far.

It certainly hasn’t helped that they’ve lost two of their top players in quarterback Robert Marve and wide receiver Keith Smith, leading them to a 2-2 non-conference record.

Northwestern, on the other hand, is off to a surprise 5-0 start, but they might be the worst undefeated team in the nation.

Their best win was a close one against a bad Vanderbilt team, and they barely beat Minnesota last week.

Look for the Wildcats to be exposed as frauds sooner rather than later, but not against the depleted Boilermakers.

Northwestern wins, 27-24.

Matt Rudnitsky is a student at the University of Michigan and a writing intern at Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Mattrud