B1G Breakdown: Week 1

One thing that is always tough to do, at least for me, is keeping track of who and when all the B1G team are playing each week. Hence this post. (All times eastern, rankings are AP/USA Today, B1G teams in bold)

Thursday, Sept. 1
UNLV @ #11/10 Wisconsin - 8PM - ESPN/ESPN 3D

Friday, Sept. 2
Youngstown State @ #17/17 Michigan State - 7:30PM - BTN

Saturday, Sept. 3
Tennessee Tech @ Iowa - Noon - BTN
Northwestern @ Boston College - Noon - ESPNU
Akron @ #18/16 Ohio State - Noon - ESPN2
Indiana State @ #-/25 Penn State - Noon - BTN
Middle Tennessee @ Purdue - Noon - BTN
Western Michigan @ Michigan - 3:30 - ABC/ESPN2
Arkansas State @ Illinois - 3:30PM - BTN
Tennessee-Chatt. @ #10/11 Nebraska - 3:30 - BTN
Minnesota @ USC - 3:30 - ABC
Ball State @ Indiana - 7PM - ESPN3.com

Biggest "must-watch" games other than Michigan
Opening weekend in college football is like opening that first gift on Christmas morning. There are so many to pick from, and you just want to tear them all open at once. But then your parents tell you that you have to pick just one and then wait your turn to open another. It's extremely frustrating, really.

Hard to argue against the Wisconsin game since it's the first game and it's all by itself on Thursday. Same could be said for Sparty on Friday (all high-school teams play their games on Friday). But you have to go with Nebraska and Tenn-Chatt or OSU and Akron. Both of those games are interesting for wildly different reasons. With Nebraska, you just want to see what they're all about. With OSU, it's like tuning in to see if a train crashes.

But you also should tune in to see Northwestern @ Boston College. Both teams are on the rise (I assume), and this should be a very competitive game...maybe the best game of the week.

Upset watch
I don't know about you, but I'm cheering for Minnesota over USC. That's a no-brainer for pretty much 99% of college football fans everywhere. There's no chance this happens, but how sweet would it be if it did?
Snoozer
Take your pick. Tenn-Chatt. @ Nebraska is mine.

Bold predictions!
I think the B1G goes 10-2 in it's opening weekend. Who are the losses? Minnesota and Indiana.