September 29, 2025

Hello everyone, and thank you for visiting N.B. This is the College Football Week 6 Preview for all seven games featuring teams from the Big Ten Conference. There aren’t any games being played on Friday night this week. Enjoy!

Saturday, October 4^th

12:00 P.M.

(22)Illinois (4-1) at Purdue (2-2)

The Purdue Boilermakers had a week 5 bye, and that’s probably a good thing after back-to-back losses to USC and Notre Dame, but Illinois isn’t about to throw them a welcome-back-party. Nope, for Purdue, the schedule is relentless and this week they host a 4-1 Illinois team that’s ranked #22 nationally and feeling pretty darn good about themselves after a week 5 victory over the USC Trojans. Hey, maybe Illinois just had an off week against Indiana. It happens.

Wisconsin (2-2) at (20)Michigan (3-1)

Wisconsin and Michigan both had week 5 off, so I’m sure they’re also both well rested and mentally prepared for this game, which is a good thing. Michigan improved to 3-1 after beating Nebraska during week 4, and Wisconsin fell to 2-2 after a 17-point loss to Maryland. One team seems on their way up, and the other on their way down, but I see both of these teams as “middle of the pack” type. Michigan’s only loss was to Oklahoma, and Wisconsin lost to Alabama and the undefeated Terrapins. Wisconsin could not run the ball against Maryland (61 yards of total offense), and they couldn’t convert on 3rd downs (3/17). If the Badgers can beat the Wolverines, Michigan will fall from the AP Top 25, and they’ll both be 3-2 overall, but Michigan is always tough to beat at home. Slight edge to Michigan here.

3:30 P.M.

(7)Penn State (3-1) at UCLA (0-4)

Last week, UCLA lost to Northwestern, and with that loss, the Bruins are who we thought they were. I was rooting for UCLA to get their first win of the season, but that didn’t happen, so now they’re going to have to try to steal one from Penn State. Believe you me, the Nittany Lions are out for blood this week after losing in Happy Valley to Oregon. I expect Penn State to win this game by at least two or three touchdowns.

LA Monroe (3-1) at Northwestern (2-2)

Wow, I thought all the tune-up games ended after week 2, but I guess not. The funny thing is that LA-Monroe is actually in first place in the SBC West, so I don’t think the Wildcats are taking this game lightly. I expect Northwestern to build off of their week 5 victory against UCLA and improve to 3-2. The Wildcats are a scrappy bunch this season, and they play a lot harder than their 2-2 record might suggest.

Washington (3-1) at Maryland (4-0)

Okay, so this is my pick for Big Ten Game of the Week. Washington was just beat by Ohio State so they’re looking for some get back. Maryland crushed Wisconsin 27-10 during week 4 and then had week 5 off. Maryland is hard to beat at home, and I would think after having an extra week of rest and preparation, they have to be feeling good about their chances. The Huskies aren’t ready to throw in the towel, but if they haven’t mentally rebounded from their loss to the Buckeyes, they could end up going into week 7 at 3-2. My point is if they think Maryland is going to be an easy win, they’re sadly mistaking.

4:00 P.M.

Michigan State (3-1) at Nebraska (3-1)

Michigan State and Nebraska are both 3-1 overall, and they’re both winless in Big Ten play. This is a very important inter-conference game because the winner not only improves to 4-1, but they’ll also improve to .500 in the Big Ten as well. During week 4, I thought Nebraska was going to beat Michigan, but they ended up losing by three. Damn! So close! The Spartans lost also to USC, so both teams lost their last game before the bye. See, they have a lot in common. I like Dylan Raiola and the Cornhuskers at home this week, but Nebraska is going to have to do better than the 43 yards of total rushing offense Michigan held them to.

7:30 P.M.

Minnesota (3-1) at (1)Ohio State (4-0)

Well, the Buckeyes are rolling once again. They handled the Huskies on the road last week after scoring 17 points in the second half to win 24-6. Right now, Ohio State appears to be an unstoppable force, but Minnesota isn’t going to lay down for the Buckeyes. After losing to Cal, Minnesota rebounded with a 31-28 win against Rutgers. Minnesota plays hard, but do they really have enough to compete with Ohio State? We shall see.

Week 6 Picks Straight Up

Ohio State, Washington, Michigan, Illinois, Northwestern, Nebraska, Penn State

Week 6 Picks Against the Point Spread

Again, if you like to bet on college football and you’re interested in my expert picks, then you’re going to have to email me at, noonooz@noozbuffet.com, and type Big Ten Week 6 Pick Sheet in the subject line. This week, the Pick Sheet is $3.50, and you’ll receive my picks for all seven games featured in this preview against the Vegas odds.

September 22, 2025

Welcome, and thank you for visiting N.B. This weekend, there are six college football games featuring teams from the Big Ten Conference. Oregon and Penn State is the big one this weekend, but we also have the undefeated Buckeyes against the undefeated Huskies, and #21 USC against #23 Illinois. It’s going to be another great week of college football.

Saturday, September 27^th

12:00 Noon

Rutgers (3-1) @ Minnesota (2-1)

Most recently, Minnesota had a Week 4 bye, and a Week 3 loss to Cal 27-14. The Golden Gophers are 2-1 overall, and this is a game they think they can win at home. We saw Rutgers lose a heart breaker to Iowa at home last week 38-28. It was their first loss of the season and definitely something the Scarlett Knights don’t want to make a habit of doing. Rutgers is explosive on offense, and Kaliakmanis to Ian Strong is one of the most dangerous QB/WR duos in the country, but Rutgers has a lot to overcome this week. Rutgers is banged up on both sides of the ball, they’re on the road, and Minnesota’s defense is pretty good.

(21) USC (4-0) @ (23) Illinois (3-1)

The Trojans are 4-0 overall, and 2-0 in Big Ten play. Last week, they beat Michigan State 45-31, and Purdue the previous week 33-17. USC is rolling, and they moved up four spots to #21 in the AP Top 25. Wide receiver, Makai Lemon is fun to watch. Lemon racked up 127 receiving yards against the Spartans.

Illinois is now 3-1 after getting abused and embarrassed by the Indiana Hoosiers. If you go back to last week’s preview, I called the game between Indiana and Illinois a “rubber-meets-the-road” game because both teams were unbeaten/unproven. Illinois was ranked #9 in the country last week before that game, and now they’ve fallen to #23 after losing 63-10. If they don’t watch out, USC is going to knock them right out of the national scene. Last week, Illinois was held to just 2 rushing yards! As a matter of fact, they could barely put a drive together (1/10 on 3rd downs). Defensively, it’s gut check time for the Fighting Illini.

3:30 P.M.

(11) Indiana (4-0) @ Iowa (3-1)

Indiana is now 4-0, and they’re riding high off of a huge win against Big Ten foe, Illinois. With that win, the Hoosiers moved up to #11 from #19! Quarterback, Fernando Mendoza, is hot. He completed 21 of 23 passes last week without an interception, and he threw 5 touchdown passes. Running back, Khobie Martin, carried the rock 12 times for 107 yards and 2 touchdowns. Offensively, the Hoosiers amassed 579 total yards, but the real story is their defense. They held Illinois to 2 yards rushing and 161 yards of total offense!

Luckily for the Iowa Hawkeyes, they were able to rediscover their defense last week against Rutgers before it was too late. They won on the road in New Jersey 38-28 and improved to 3-1 overall. This week against Indiana, they’re going to need their defense to continue right where it left off against Rutgers, and I can’t wait to see defensive ends, Hurkett and Llewellyn.

Running back, Kamari Moulton is real treat to watch. He’s an explosive-downhill type of guy. A feel lot better about Mark Gronowski as well. That guy doesn’t look like anything special, but he’s a winner. With Wetjen and Dayton Howard, that Hawkeye offense has life, but their defense will have to show up to stop an Indiana offense that put up over 500 total yards and 63 points last week.

I don’t know what happened to Indiana’s quarterback, Fernando Mendoza, but he has been playing on another level since his second game. Mendoza completed 18 passes out of 31 attempts for 193 yards in his first game of the season. In his last three games, Mendoza has been as close to perfect as you can get. His completion percentage is 85%, and he has thrown for 782 yards, 14 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions!

(1) Ohio State (3-0) @ Washington (3-0)

Ohio State had a bye last week, and now they’re on the road against Washington. The Buckeyes are the number one team in the country and 3-0 overall. Don’t forget, one of their three wins came against a Texas team who at that time, was ranked #1.

The Washington Huskies are 3-0 after defeating Washington State 59-24 during Week 4. Offensively, the Huskies look good. They’re led by their quarterback, Demond Williams. Williams is fast, he can definitely run the football, and he has good arm. Against the Cougars, Williams completed 16 of 19 passes for 298 yards and 4 touchdowns. He has one-hell-of-a receiver to throw to in Denzel Boston. Boston is 6’4″, and he’s a gamechanger.

Wow, so the Huskies are going to challenge the Buckeyes in ways they haven’t been challenged so far this season. Williams to Boston is a dangerous connection, but if Washington can establish a ground game early with their physical back, Jonah Coleman, who rushed for 107 yards on 6 carries last week, the Ohio State defense will be forced to show up. Not that they have a problem doing that, but this game has upset written all over it.

UCLA (0-3) at Northwestern (1-2)

Northwestern fell to 1-2 overall after losing to Oregon 34-14. The Wildcats were kind of capable of running the football against the Ducks, well, they had more rushing yards than passing yards. They just didn’t do very well on 3rd down and they turned the ball over twice. Those are two things you must do well if you want to win football games, but UCLA offers Northwestern a chance at redemption.

UCLA is the only Big Ten team that hasn’t won a game all season, and I’ve been hearing a lot of talk about sophomore quarterback, Nico Lamaleava, hitting the transfer portal. Lamaleava said, “I’m a leave ya!” LOL, well, no not really, but that’s funny.

Any-who, the Bruins are winless, but in their defense, Utah, UNLV, and New Mexico turned out to be a tougher three-game stretch than anyone would’ve imagined. Utah is 3-1, UNLV is 4-0, and New Mexico is 2-1. So, maybe the Bruins aren’t that bad? Maybe they just seriously underestimated their competition? We’ll see this week. If they lose to Northwestern, then the Bruins are who we thought they were.

7:30 P.M.

(6) Oregon (4-0) @ (3) Penn State (3-0)

Here it is, the Big Ten game of the week. The Oregon Ducks are sixth in the nation, and the Nittany Lions are number three. Oregon returns undefeated at 4-0 this week after crushing Oregon State in Week 4. Duck’s quarterback, Dante Moore, is steadily improving and getting better each week. He looked like a team leader against Oregon State, and that’s important. Also, he threw for 305 yards and 4 touchdowns with zero interceptions, and well, that’s important too.

Penn State had a Week 4 bye, which I’m sure they enjoyed after beating Villanova 52-6. The Nittany Lions haven’t faced anyone yet worth mentioning, but they’re still undefeated and ranked nationally. Personally, I have to be honest. I’m not a believer in Penn State yet. I feel like this is going to be another season where they get all hype and all the accolades before they play, but once the season starts, it’s mediocracy. We know about Drew Allar, and we know running back, Kaytron Allen, is a work horse, but what do we really know?

Week 5 Picks Strait Up

Minnesota, USC, Indiana, Oregon, Ohio State, UCLA

Week 5 Picks Versus the Point Spread

This week, the Big Ten Pick Sheet versus the point spread is $3.00. Please, email me at noonooz@noozbuffet.com, if you’re interested.

Overall Record

Straight Up: 16-4

Versus the Points: 10-7-1