Week 13 College Football Predictions: Big Ten Winners

After starting the season 6-0, Illinois has lost five straight games and face a Minnesota team that has only one conference win.

But the Gophers have given quite a few teams trouble and will potentially give Illinois the same trouble.

Nathan Scheelhaase has slowed up his production, especially against the good teams in the Big Ten. He is only a true sophomore, which has definitely showed up in his play, but Illinois will most likely finish their regular season 7-5. 

Ron Zook knows his team needs to win this game or he won't be in Champaign anymore. So he will find a way to motivate his team to victory for the first time in six weeks. 

Jerry Kill has moved this Minnesota program in the right direction, but they haven't made any large strides this year. Their quarterback, Marquis Gray, has looked good at times but hasn't been consistent enough. 

Illinois will bounce back for their first victory in the second half of the season. Here are my other winners in the Big Ten this week.

Penn State Nittany Lions vs. Wisconsin Badgers

This game will decide the Leaders division title and who will represent the division in the Big Ten championship game.

Wisconsin were early season BCS championship contenders but had two losses to late Hail Mary passes, which took them out of consideration.

Russell Wilson and Montee Ball come in with an offense that scores almost 45 points per game. The Penn State defense only allows 13 points per game, which is third best in scoring defense in the nation. 

Wilson is in his final collegiate season and will have something to say about Wisconsin moving on with Rose Bowl aspirations.

The Wisconsin run game will establish itself early and be too much for this Penn State defense to contain. After establishing themselves with the run game, Wilson will find Nick Toon for a pair of scores. 

Wisconsin can easily win this game if they score more than 28 points.

Penn State will win if they do what they've done all season—keep opponents to only a few scores while their rushing attack wears you down for a couple scores per game.

Prediction: Wisconsin 28, Penn State 17 

Iowa Hawkeyes vs. Nebraska Cornhuskers

The Hawkeyes have largely been disappointing after having the possibility late in the season to control their destiny in the Legends division.

They were blown out by Michigan State, who has already clinched the division, but now will fight for second or third place depending on the Michigan game. 

If Iowa beats Nebraska and Ohio State beats Michigan, Iowa will own second place with the same divisional record but will have beaten both those teams. 

Nebraska, though, comes in with Rex Burkhead leading their offense with his explosive running ability against an Iowa defense that has had trouble sparking itself.

Keys for Iowa to win the game include the usual with Marcus Coker gaining more than 100 yards on the ground and Marvin McNutt with over 100 yards through the air.

If those two players can get above the century mark in their positional statistics, Iowa has a good chance to win. 

Key for Nebraska to win the game is Taylor Martinez managing the game rather than wining it. If he can minimize his mistakes and play a very safe, conservative game, Nebraska has a good chance to win.

The running game will most likely dominate the day, and Nebraska needs to rush for over 200 yards as a team to beat Iowa. 

Prediction: Iowa 27, Nebraska 24

Michigan State Spartans vs. Northwestern Wildcats

Northwestern and Dan Persa came in to the season with high expectations and thoughts of potentially winning the Legends division.

They struggled early as Persa came back from his Achilles injury but lately have come on strong with the emergence of Jeremy Ebert. 

The Wildcats have won four straight, including a win over then No. 10 Nebraska, that shows they have the potential to win the big game.

Northwestern will have home-field advantage against the Spartans, who have already clinched their berth to the Big Ten Football Championship Game.

This could cause the Spartans to take the game too lightly. 

Persa is a very good quarterback that has only gotten better in these final weeks of the season. 

The Spartans have clinched the Big Ten Legends division and have big wins against Michigan and Wisconsin. They took control of the division against Iowa and never looked back. 

Keys for Michigan State are for the offensive line to give Kirk Cousins time, and he'll do the rest. Michigan State has it figured out, are my prediction to represent the Big Ten in the Rose Bowl and will continue their quest against Northwestern.

I don't think Northwestern has much of a chance against this Michigan State team that is rolling. Northwestern still has a giant flaw in the secondary and will give Michigan State an advantage that will be too big to overcome.

Prediction: Michigan State 38, Northwestern 17

Purdue Boilermakers vs. Indiana Hoosiers

Purdue is looking to become bowl-eligible for the first time in quite awhile against an Indiana team that is 1-10 overall and winless in the Big Ten.

Indiana has played some good league games but hasn't closed them out or had enough to beat some teams. 

Purdue had a shot last week to come back versus Iowa, but a costly official review took away a touchdown and was ruled a fumble, resulting in a touchback which ended that run. 

Still, Purdue has made strides to become better over the past few years and will get their sixth win of the season.

Keys to the game for them include not letting Indiana establish the run early, as it is one of their few strengths. They have explosive backs that can run off large touchdowns easily.

If they eliminate the big play from Indiana, Purdue will easily win the game.

Prediction: Purdue 35, Indiana 13

Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Michigan Wolverines

This was a preseason potential Big Ten championship game but now will only be a battle for an improved bowl.

Michigan has surprised many, though, and have the potential to become a 10-win team by winning this game. 

The keys to the game for both sides are to get their quarterbacks going early.

Ohio State will have to complete more than 10 passes if they want to win this game, while Denard will have to have to have a good game on the ground to add to Michigan's production. 

I think Ohio State will struggle too much in the passing game for them to win, and they will complete fewer than seven passes.

That's too few completions to win a game against a Michigan defense that has surprised this year.

Prediction: Michigan 35, Ohio State 24

Illinois Fighting Illini vs. Minnesota Gophers

After starting the season 6-0, the Illini have lost five straight games and face a Minnesota Gophers team that has only one conference win but has given quite a few teams trouble.

They could potentially give Illinois the same trouble.

Ron Zook is out of his job if they don't win this game, so he will find a way to motivate his players to play to near perfection for the first time in the second half of the season.

Marquis Gray has looked good at points in time but not consistent enough to pull this one out.

Zook will keep his job by barely winning this game and winning their bowl game but will provide no solid improvement for next season. 

Prediction: Illinois 24, Minnesota 19

Offensive Player of the Week: Michigan State QB Kirk Cousins

Kirk Cousins is too good for this bad Northwestern Wildcats secondary. They have struggled all year and will struggle again this week.

Cousins will throw for over 250 yards and two touchdowns with zero interceptions to finish out his senior regular season on a very high note.

He will get Offensive Player of the Week easily as he leads Michigan State to victory and prepares them for the Big Ten championship game.

Defensive Player of the Week: Iowa DL Broderick Binns

Iowa takes on Nebraska in Lincoln in the first ever Big Ten game between the two.

It is officially the Heroes game, but I like the unofficial "Farmageddon" better. Broderick Binns will cause armageddon for the Nebraska passing game and will come up with more than three sacks.

Couple that with three tackles for loss to go along with his usual number of tackles.

Binns is an explosive defensive lineman, who is trying to show his stock to the pro scouts. He is also trying to show people that Iowa is better than its record tells. 

He will have a monster game and win Defensive Player of the Week in the Big Ten.

Special Teams Player of the Week: Michigan State P Mike Sadler

Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio is known for running plenty of trick plays, and this week will be no different.

Mike Sadler will win this award because on a fake punt, Sadler will either pass or run for a touchdown that will change the momentum and open up the Michigan State versus Northwestern game.

Sadler will also add a few good coffin corner punts. He will pin Dan Persa and the Wildcats deep in their own territory and hold back an explosive Northwestern offense.

Big Ten Coach of the Year: Brady Hoke

The award isn't given outright after this week, but it will be decided this week.

The defense will play very well against Ohio State and bring Michigan to 10 wins on the season.

Brady Hoke deserves this award after taking over a team with one of the worst defenses and turning them into a tough defense that has played very well this season.

Michigan players have bought in to Hoke's system, and he will continue to improve as the years go on.