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2019 Big Ten Picks – Week Four

Week three was an okay week that could have gone worse. I was way off on Purdue as they were bludgeoned by TCU and fell to 1-2 on the young season. That brings me to 5-6 on the season and week four is a light slate in the Big Ten so the pickings are a bit slim. The offerings are as follows: Michigan at Wisconsin (Noon), Miami (OH) at Ohio State (-35.5), UConn at Indiana (-26.5), Nebraska (-7.5) at Illinois, Michigan State (-8.5) at Northwestern, Boston College (-7) at Rutgers

Michigan at Wisconsin (-3) – Noon on FOX

While I am very interested to see what both teams have done with their off weeks, mainly to see if Michigan has found any answers on offense, I have to evaluate this game based on what I have seen. Stripped of preseason hype, the evidence on the field suggests the Badgers are the superior side. Camp Randall Stadium will be rocking and I think Wisconsin is going to control the tempo of this contest and grind the Wolverines down. Michigan beat Middle Tennessee in their opener but was sluggish and unconvincing in doing so. The Blue Raiders gave up 26 points to Tennessee State and then lost 41-18 to Duke. Middle Tennessee is a bad team that Michigan should not struggle with. Army had the Wolverines beat on a couple of occasions before Michigan pulled out a win in overtime. The over/under is 51.5 and I would lean on the under as I will believe Michigan’s offense is “fixed” when I see it. Give me the Badgers in a statement victory that stamps them as the favorite in the Big Ten West.

Miami (OH) at Ohio State (-35.5) – 3:30 on BTN

I saw the Ohio State Buckeyes up close and personal as they dismantled the Indiana Hoosiers (albeit an IU squad with a backup quarterback) in Bloomington on Saturday. I came away incredibly impressed with everything about the Scarlet and Gray. Justin Fields is better than I thought he was, the receivers are incredibly precise and catch everything and the running game is dialed in as J.K. Dobbins and Master Teague are getting a shot to prove how good they are. The offense is much more balanced in its playcalling than things were under Urban Meyer and I think it makes Ohio State more dangerous than ever. Chase Young leads a defense with a secondary full of future pros and the linebackers look more confident than they did a season ago. Miami (OH) lost by 22 to Cincinnati, a team the Buckeyes absolutely demolished. Look, I don’t think IU is great but Saturday’s performance said more about the potential of Ohio State than it did about the quality of Indiana and it showed me that the Buckeyes are a very real threat to make the College Football Playoff. I’m going to ride the Buckeyes until it proves to be unwise.

Nebraska (-7.5) at Illinois – 8:00 on BTN

That is the Nebraska team many were expecting to see this season. The Nebraska Cornhuskers dismantled Northern Illinois 30-5 in the first half and cruised home to a 44-8 victory that spoke to the potential this squad has. The points are not surprising as Nebraska racked up 525 yards of offense which could have been much more if they had needed to. The encouraging part is the play from the defense as they held NIU to 5-20 on third down and only surrendered 2.3 yards per rush. Meanwhile, Illinois received a harsh dose of reality after their 2-0 start as they flailed on defense and fell 34-31 to Eastern Michigan. The Eagles gained 480 yards, outgaining the Illini on the afternoon. This is an EMU team that only beat Coastal Carolina 30-23 and was drilled by Kentucky 38-17. The loss will likely damper the atmosphere at Illinois for this night game and I think the Nebraska offense should be able to have a very productive evening. The difference in this one though is going to be the Nebraska defense as I see them holding Illinois down enough to pull away for a comfortable win.

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