The two teams from the Hoosier state have the bye as Indiana and Purdue get an extra week to prepare for each other.
The four West Coast teams will not have to leave the Pacific Time zone again in the regular season as the Trojans head to Oregon and Washington visits Pasadena this weekend ahead of the rivalry games next week.
Each week, we look at the conference matchups featuring those four regional schools plus a few other intriguing conference tussles.
This week, the two games we skip are Michigan State at Iowa and Rutgers at Ohio State.
The Hawkeyes will wave goodbye to the Spartans and send MSU back to East Lansing with their ninth straight conference loss.
Ohio State will not have any letdown ahead of Michigan next week and will make short work of the Scarlet Knights.
And with that, here is a look at the six Big Ten games we are highlighting.
Minnesota Golden Gophers at Northwestern Wildcats
Saturday, November 22
9:00 AM PT, Big Ten Network
Line: Northwestern -3.5
Over/Under: 40.5
The home finale for the Wildcats will be at the Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field.
Northwestern needs a win in this one, or the regular-season ender at Illinois next week, to go bowling. The Gophers have reached the six-win mark and will venture into the postseason, but can improve their destination with a strong finish to the season.
The Cats have played tough over the last few weeks and gave Michigan a scare last week, mostly by creating takeaways. NU was +5 in the turnover department and still lost the game.
This week, the Wildcats must force miscues again, and they need to capitalize on them.
The advantage for the Gophers lies with the play of redshirt freshman Drake Lindsey.
The QB has done a good job of directing the offense and not making mistakes. He has only thrown three interceptions this season and that will be the difference on Saturday.
The score stays very low with the Gophers getting the win.
Against the spread: Minnesota
Points Total: Under
Outright winner: Minnesota
No. 15 USC Trojans at No. 7 Oregon Ducks
Saturday, November 22
12:30 PM PT, CBS
Line: Oregon -9.5
Over/Under: 59.5
This one could well be an elimination game with the winner in good shape and the loser on the outside looking in.
For the Trojans to find success in Eugene, they will need to get pressure on Dante Moore. Trojan D-line can cause problems, particularly if Eric Gentry creates havoc, and it will slow the Oregon attack.
The Trojans will need to keep the Ducks off schedule and create long third downs. The Ducks rank 14th in the nation on third downs, converting 49.2%, but that figure falls to 26.7% on third and 7+ yards to gain.
For the Ducks to find success, they will need to limit the explosive plays from the Trojan offense, which ranks sixth in the nation in chunk plays with 177 covering at least 10 yards.
The Oregon defense excels at limiting such plays, as the Ducks are third nationally, allowing just 70 scrimmage plays gaining 10+ yards.
The Duck defense is coming off of a couple of physical games in which they limited a pair of good running teams to just 81 yards per game on the ground. That physicality could be the difference.
SC keeps it tight, but the Ducks defend their home turf.
Against the spread: USC
Points Total: Under
Outright winner: Oregon
No. 18 Michigan Wolverines at Maryland Terrapins
Saturday, November 22
1:00 PM PT, FS1
Line: Michigan -13.5
Over/Under: 45.5
After a 4-0 start, Maryland faces the task of needing to win their final two games to make a bowl amid a six-game slide. Making that task even more daunting is the fact that Michigan will be visiting this weekend.
The Wolverines are coming on strong and have a chance to work their way into the Big Ten Championship game by winning out, provided they get some help from Oregon this weekend.
U-M is the 12th best team in the nation at running the football, going for 223.0 yards per game and averaging 5.7 yards per carry.
Maryland has not been good against the run all season long. The Terps are allowing 171.8 yards per game. And over the last five, they have allowed opponents to run for 246.8 yards per game.
Michigan’s ground attack should have a field day.
Malik Washington is going to have a ton of pressure on him all game. The freshman QB will be pressured in the pocket and pressed to answer the Wolverine offense if his defense can’t slow down the Michigan attack.
Michigan is averaging over 2.5 sacks per game and owns the nation’s 27th most sacks. Derrick Moore is second in the Big Ten and 10th in the nation with 8.5 sacks this season. He might be able to pin his ears back and play the pass on every down.
Michigan wins by a couple of scores.
Against the spread: Michigan
Points Total: Under
Outright winner: Michigan
Nebraska Cornhuskers at Penn State Nittany Lions
Saturday, November 22
4:00 PM PT, NBC
Line: Penn State -9.5
Over/Under: 44.5
A couple of wins—this week over Nebraska and next week at Rutgers—and the Lions will find themselves playing in a bowl game.
It is a far cry from the national championship aspirations that they began the season with, but given how the last few months played out, a welcome reward for those still in the program.
This game plays right into the Nittany Lions’ favor. Nebraska owns one of the best passing defenses in the nation, but has been really bad at stopping the run.
The Huskers are 91st against the run, and in the last four games, opponents have run for 179.3 yards per outing against them. In Nebraska’s three losses this season, they have yielded 224.7 yards on the ground.
Penn State runs the football extremely well.
Kaytron Allen is coming off an 181-yard performance against Michigan State. Despite their struggles this season, the backfield duo of Allen and Nicholas Singleton still might be one of the best RB tandems in the country.
Nebraska will need to find a way to slow down the run because PSU will grind it out with long possessions if they can.
Stopping the run will be a total team effort for Nebraska, and that includes the offense. The Husker offense can’t afford many three-and-outs, or the defense will get taxed.
Nebraska is going to need to sustain drives, and the Huskers have an All-American of their own in the backfield in Emmett Johnson. The junior back is third in the nation with a Big Ten-best 113.1 rushing yards per game.
Penn State is allowing 80 fewer rushing yards in its wins this season than in its losses.
Simply put, whichever team runs the ball more effectively will get the win. That is going to be the home team.
Penn State gets the victory in a game that stays under 45 total points, but the Huskers keep it a one score affair.
Against the spread: Nebraska
Points Total: Under
Outright winner: Penn State
No. 21 Illinois Fighting Illini at Wisconsin Badgers
Saturday, November 22
4:30 PM PT, Big Ten Network
Line: Illinois -7.5
Over/Under: 40.5
During his tenure with Wisconsin, Fickell has had his No. 1 QB on the field and healthy about 30% of the time. It is hard to win like that, and the Badgers have struggled.
They are now on to their fourth QB of the season, with Carter Smith stepping in.
The offensive production has certainly been lacking for Wisconsin, but the effort from this team has not. The Badgers continue to play hard, and it has shown the last two weeks with an upset of Washington and a very tight 30 minutes at Indiana.
Illinois is the better team, and the Illini offense may be stymied by the Badgers for a bit, but Luke Altmyer is playing too good at the moment to be completely shut down.
And the Illini defense should be able to keep the Badgers off the board for the most part. Illinois might not need much offense to get the win, and the only thing that will do them in is turnovers.
A veteran group isn’t going to give the ball up in this one. The Illini win by 10.
Against the spread: Illinois
Points Total: Under
Outright winner: Illinois
Washington Huskies at UCLA Bruins
Saturday, November 22
7:30 PM PT, NBC
Line: Washington -10.5
Over/Under: 51.5
We will see how that situation plays out in the courts, but this prime-time matchup with Washington will be the home finale for this year’s Bruins.
The biggest factor might be the status of Nico Iamaleava. The sophomore QB is still in doubt with concussion symptoms, and the Bruins might once again have to turn to Luke Duncan under center.
Making your first start in Ohio Stadium is never easy, but Duncan looked to settle down and get pretty comfortable in the second half last week.
If Duncan is forced to start again this week, as Tim Skipper put it earlier this week, “He’d be a week better, you know what I mean?”
UCLA will need him to be better against a Washington defense that will pounce on mistakes in the passing game.
The Huskies have picked off nine passes this season but need to get more pressure on the QB. The Huskies’ DBs have been good, but they need more production from the defensive front.
If Washington is going to win this game, it will be with their offensive ground attack. UCLA is one of the worst teams in the nation at stopping the run.
Jonah Coleman has a good chance to return in this one and if he is ready to go, he should find plenty of room to run.
With or without the star back I think the Huskies win and probably get the cover. If Coleman plays, I like UW by a couple of TDs.
Against the spread: Washington
Points Total: Under
Outright winner: Washington
