Here it is. Week ten. After the mega showdown between Penn State and Ohio State. The dust is settling and both teams are on a bye week. This comes at the most perfect time for both teams. This week's picks will be tougher than last week's and I did shit ass job of getting things right. From a technical standpoint I should have been close to perfect last week with my only bad pick being PSU/OSU but some teams decided to step up and other teams decided to be a complete letdown. Oh, well no homer picks to clog my vision this week. On to the predictions.
Central Michigan @ Indiana
Indiana slugged it out last week and came up with a surprising win over Northwestern. So this leaves us with the question of what kind of team is Indiana? Are they the team that comes out and is able to go toe to toe with their opponents? Are they the team that folds after getting hit in the mouth? I really don't know what team we are going to get this Saturday.
Notable Quote- "Especially for the young guys, it's easier to lose confidence. This is a big confidence builder for everybody, and you can do so much with confidence. You can play your best games with a lot of confidence, and if we continue to play confident and practice confident and go through every game, I think we'll be alright." -- DE Jammie Kirlew on what IU's win over Northwestern means to the team in terms of building confidence. Actually not a bad quote at all.
Central Michigan is #1 in the MAC and is definitely no slouch. They play some tough teams but they don't play against them well. Look at how they did against Georgia and Purdue. This is another Big Ten team they are facing but not the top of the Big Ten. Although as of right now I would say Indiana is better than Purdue. Tough choice.
Notable Quote- "I think it's a tribute to our great coaching staff pushing us in the off-season and during practices. They don't let up much. We have great mental focus. I think it starts in the off-season because you can't build a championship team in the fall." -- Central Michigan QB Dan LeFevour discussing the team's ability to close out games late. It's tough to make fun of quotes that make sense.
CMU 25 Indiana 27 Actual Score: CMU 37 Indiana 34
Good gracious Indiana. How bad do you guys suck? If you can't beat a MAC team don't expect to win again for the rest of the freaking season. Yep I just checked the rest of you're schedule and you're fucked. Even Purdue as bad as they are will beat you. Yeah, I'm pissed.
Michigan @ Purdue
Michigan got beat up by it's baby brother last week. How will they do against a craptastic Purdue team? Michigan is considered the favorite in this game but I just don't see how. They do have a good defense but their offense is just abysmal. Among this game is the distraction of yet more Michigan recruits decommiting. The latest decommitments include kicker Anthony Fera, defensive lineman William Campbell, wide receiver Bryce McNeal and quarterback Kevin Newsome. Not only have the Wolverines been losing recruits but the Michigan State Spartans have out recruited the Wolverines in Michigan by a large margin. The Spartans have landed 6 of the top ten recruits in Michigan, Ohio State has one and 3 are undecided. This does not bode well for Michigan.
Notable Quote- "This one stings a little deeper than usual. You really want to win this game, especially the way the season has gone." -- LB Obi Ezeh, to the Ann Arbor News. Blah Blah Blah, if this one stings think about the next few weeks of getting beat by Minnesota, Northwestern and Ohio State. That is going to really sting.
Purdue has really turned into a garbage team. The only thing making this a tough choice is how crappy Michigan is this year. If Michigan was even half way decent this would be an easy choice but of course that is not the case. I can't say it enough but Purdue is about to become the perennial doormat of the Big Ten. I can't believe Purdue wouldn't go out and try to pick up a big name coach rather than plug in a coach who doesn't like to recruit. It's tough to pick against Michigan even when they are terrible but in this case Purdue is even terribler (yeah, I made that word up, go ahead and use it if you like it).
Notable Quote- "This isn't what I had in mind." -- Joe Tiller, on how his final season at Purdue is playing out. Yeah, like you really give a fuck about this season. All I keep hearing about is your house in Wyoming.
Michigan 17 Purdue 14 Actual Score: Michigan 42 Purdue 48
Michigan LOL. The joke of the Big Ten. You let Purdue put up 48 freaking points when Penn State, Ohio State and Minnesota held them to 15 points total. What the fuck is wrong with this program. This was the last game I thought you had a chance of winning. From here on out you lose the rest. Welcome to 2-10 lame asses. Purdue I'm not going to say anything good about you guys either because woopdie doo you beat Michigan but they still scored 42 damn points on your ass. This really came down to guessing which team is crappier and Michigan won that fight.
Wisconsin @ Michigan State
Wisconsin finally got back to their old selves sorta with a win over Illinois last week but I just don't see them winning this week. Wisconsin will get themselves into a bowl game at the end of the year but this team has a lot of work to do. This week they just need to save face and keep this game close.
Notable Quote- "This whole week was focused on stopping Juice, and we went out there and we showed that we've been working on it." -- Wisconsin senior CB Allen Langford, who had one of the Badgers' three interceptions of Illini QB Juice Williams. That's nice and this week you have probably been practicing stopping Ringer. Well guess what. If you stop Ringer you still have Hoyer to deal with.
Michigan State looks to have shed their old identity of winning early and then just losing the rest. Yes, they were beat by Ohio State but they came right back and beat their arch rival Michigan. So when does the little brother become the big brother? When little brother makes a bowl game and you don't. When little brother is out recruiting you in a state you owned for 100+ years. That's when little brother makes you their bitch.
Notable Quote- "Little Sis-ter! Little Sis-ter!" -- Michigan State fans, chanting to Michigan players inside Michigan Stadium. It was in direct reference to former U-M tailback Mike Hart saying Michigan State was the "little brother" to the Wolverines last season. Hey, Mike Hart how you doing in the NFL?
Wisconsin 21 Michigan State 24 Actual Score: Wisconsin 24 Michigan State 25
Well this was the only one I got right and I knew it would be a tough close game but damn come on. Wisconsin seems to be getting back to what they were before their meltdown and Michigan State is continuing to show that they are no longer the Sparty of old by not melting down in the second half of the season. A little to close for comfort though jerkoffs.
Northwestern @ Minnesota
Northwestern dropped the soap when they went to Indiana and took one right in the butt. No other way to put it. They were way better than them on paper. Maybe they were overlooking them and looking towards Minnesota? I don't know. I do know they better show up this weekend and not be looking forward to the Ohio State game otherwise they are going to get smoked. Well to be honest I don't think Northwestern will win this one either.
Notable Quote- "It's disappointing. I don't think we came to play. We got exactly what we deserved." -- Northwestern senior WR and co-captain Eric Peterman in the Chicago Tribune. You didn't come to play? Then why the fuck did you show up in the first place? Get out of my face stupid.
Minnesota is looking more like a contender rather than a cinderella story. The only loss they have is to Ohio State but to be honest it wasn't as close as the score shows. That being said Northwestern is not Ohio State but they are decent. I think this one boils down to defense much the same as the PSU/OSU game did. First team to make a mistake will lose. That will not be Minnesota. The cinderella season continues.
Notable Quote- "It is just huge and they are doing it time, after time, after time. I just can't tell you what it means to us. Obviously we are struggling on offense at times, sputtering at times and our defense kept trying to give us opportunities to do good things." -- coach Tim Brewster, on the 24 forced turnovers that lead the nation. Win the turnover battle and you should always win the game.
Northwestern 27 Minnesota 30 Actual Score: Northwestern 24 Minnesota 17
Well WTF Minnesota. You just got beat by a team that got beat by Indiana. So I take it these guys really aren't for real and when bowl time comes we get to watch you guys lose. Northwestern where the fuck was this team against Indiana. The play from your team is so inconsistent it like watching, aww fuck it I don't know what its like watching but I hate it. I want some damn consistency.
Iowa @ Illinois
Iowa is coming off a bye week and that usually means a win for any team coming off a bye. Most teams don't have to face Illinois coming off a bye week though. Although Iowa was probably watching the game between Illinois and Wisconsin and finding out how to beat them. This is good news for Iowa and when they play mistake free they win games. Look for another mistake free game from Iowa as they lay it down on Illinois.
Notable Quote- "It's at a perfect time. We don't have much left right now, and we've been kind of putting that out in front of our guys. Schedule makers make the schedule, but we had an eight-week block, and we'll catch our breath right now. We've got guys nicked up, so it will give us a chance to get rested up here a little bit." -- coach Kirk Ferentz, on the bye week. Knowing how to use your bye week is as important as knowing how to win games.
Illinois your kryptonite has been discovered. You don't have a dominant running back that can keep defenses honest. Everyone will be gunning to stop Juice and nothing else. Without having the great running back that all teams have you have become one dimensional and when that's taken away you lose. It's been proven all season. It seems as though Zook has brought Illinois as high as it can go but needs to do more in recruiting in order to reach the next level. Not going to happen.
Notable Quote- "We're going to go how our quarterback goes. Unfortunately for him, you throw three picks and two of the picks you had the guy wide open ... and we didn't execute the pitch and catch." -- Illinois offensive coordinator Mike Locksley discussing QB Juice Williams in the Daily Herald. Unfortunatly, all defenses from here on out are going to go how your QB goes. He will be the man they key on as you have no other weapons.
Iowa 35 Illinois 31 Actual Score: Iowa 24 Illinois 27
Haha, jokes on me. Thanks Iowa you ass clowns. I started to buy into your bullshit and you do this to me? Damn that's messed up. Illinois you're still not that good. That's all I can really say about these two teams is you just never know what your gonna get.
And so goes another week in the Big Ten. This begs the question. Who will you choose? McCain/Palin or Obama/Biden? No, I don't really give a shit who you choose. Fuck, I don't even care if you vote that's what makes America great. We are free enough to do whatever the fuck we feel like.
Just a few gifs that make me laugh my ass off. Yeah I would have one of Obama up there but it was just in bad taste so I didn't put it up. Oh yeah, 53-15 woot woot!
Well, as you can see I am pretty pissed off. It seems like all the Big Ten teams just don't have any consistency. You call it parity I call it bullshit. You're either good or your not good. Lovely I went 1-4 this weekend. At least this week we get Penn State and OSU back so I will be guaranteed 2 correct picks. Teams that at least know how to be consistent. 54-19 FUCK!!!!
All Star