BTB Weekly Pick'em: Week 9

Standings as of last week's games:

1 Gopher Nation 86
2 Ground Zero East Lansing 85
3 Eleven Warriors 81
4 Lake the Posts 81
5 Maize'n Brew 80
5 Happy Hour Valley 79
5 Black Shoes Diary 78
5 Paint the Town Orange 78
9 The Buckeye Blog 77
9 Enlightened Spartan 77
9 Michigan SportsCenter 77
12 Varsity Blue 76
12 Zombie Nation 75
12 Off the Tracks ™ 74
15 The Only Game That Matters 74
15 Hoosier Report 73
15 Hawkeye Sports News 72
18 Buckeye Battle Cry 69
18 Boiled Sports 67
18 Sparty MSU 64
21 BHGP (HS) 61
22 Maize & Blue Nation 60
23 The Nittany Line 60
24 Nittany White Out 35

Now, I know what you're saying. It's almost like I'm trying not to win. But honestly, it's been an up and down season for some Big Ten teams. And, after some calculations on my end, I noticed that my score should be 72, not 60. But as it turns out, due to an email snafu, Gopher Nation did not receive my week 5 picks, where I scored 12 points. Hopefully those will be added and I'll be right back in the mix.

Either way, it's a new week and a new chance to screw everything up again.

Northwestern @ Indiana, 12:00 PM, BTN

For as much as I think Indiana can actually win this game, I'm still going to take Northwestern. I've been perfect all year in predicting the Wildcats, and this week I am confident that they will keep my streak alive.

Minnesota @ Purdue, 12:00 PM, ESPN Classic

The Joe Tiller farewell fizzle-out continues when they host the Golden Gophers this week. Minnesota has come a long way this year in terms of respectability since their 1-11 performance last year, and I think they will win again this week. They've burned me in the last two weeks when I predicted them to be upset by Indiana and Illinois, but they beat them both...so I am on board with the Gophers until they let me down...which will probably be this week. 

Illinois @ Wisconsin, 12:00 PM, ESPN

Oh Wisconsin...what happened? You were looking past Michigan to night games at home against tOSU and Penn State...who knew you'd lose all 3, and then back it up with another loss to Iowa to mark 4 losses in a row? Bret Bielema went from Wisconsin savior to the biggest bust since Kirk Ferentz. And with that, I'll take Illinois over the Badgers.

Penn State @ tOSU, 8:00 PM, ABC

Is this game like a big deal or something? Two top 10 teams facing off? One of them is tOSU? The good news for the Buckeyes is, this top 5 team is not USC and not from SEC. The bad news is that it is Penn State, and they are as good as advertised. They have blown past everyone they've played this year with relative ease (Michigan being the only team that has given them a scare). 

However, this game will be truly epic. A night game, pretty much anywhere is fun to watch, but in Columbus, it's a recipe for disaster. That town will be completely drunk by end of breakfast. And they better be, because Penn State will be good. And this blogger thinks they will win. But damn, it will be close.