Week 6 Big Ten Preview: Winners, Losers And Score Predictions

After a horrible first five weeks of the season for the Big Ten Conference, the schedules for this prestigious conference finally get in full gear this weekend.

The Big Ten has been crucified for their play in the first five weeks of the 2014 season and rightfully so. They have had horrible out of conference losses and power teams, like Michigan, that look like a shell of themselves this season.

The Wolverines lost their third game this past Saturday to Minnesota. This marked the first time in Michigan’s 135 year history of college football that they have lost three games before the end of September.

To think about that stat is mind blowing, but also shows just how far Michigan has fallen off under Head Coach Brady Hoke. The Wolverines are all but certain to have a new head coach in 2015, but as for now they must put the pieces to together and finish a tough 2014 season.

The surprise of the Big Ten so far this year may be one of the new comers to the conference and that is the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. The Scarlet Knights have been one of the most impressive teams so far in 2014 and could be a contender in a very weak Big Ten.

With all this being said, someone has to win the Big Ten in 2014. The frontrunner at this point has to be the Michigan State Spartans. The Spartans suffered a double digit defeat to a top five Oregon Ducks team in Eugene, Oregon in week two. The score was misleading in that matchup because the Spartans had control of the game until the fourth quarter.

Let’s take a look at the Week Six slate in the Big Ten and predict who wins and the scores to each game.

Ohio State Buckeyes @ Maryland Terrapins- Ohio State Buckeyes win in a shootout 44-38

Nebraska Cornhuskers @ Michigan State Spartans- Michigan State Spartans use their home field advantage to win 31-23

Michigan Wolverines @ Rutgers Scarlet Knights- Rutgers Scarlet Knights continue the misery for Michigan by defeating the Wolverines 34-17

North Texas Mean Green @ Indiana Hoosiers- Indiana Hoosiers use their explosive offense to outscore North Texas 41-20

Wisconsin Badgers @ Northwestern Wildcats- Wisconsin Badgers hand the struggling Wildcats another tough defeat as the Badgers win 38-17

Purdue Boilermakers @ Illinois Fighting Illini- Illinois will find a way to win a typical ugly Big Ten game 24-14

So, this is how I see the Big Ten slate turning out in Week Six. It’s a conference under a lot of fire for a number of reasons. The marquee matchup of Week Six and possibly of the season is Michigan State vs. Nebraska.

I believe Michigan State wins this battle thanks to home field and this will put the Spartans in the driver’s seat to win the Big Ten along with the Wisconsin Badgers. It will be an interesting week in the Big Ten, but the battle of regaining creditability is a long way from being complete.