Big Ten Watch Guide: Week 12

We’ve officially made it to the 12th week of the college football season. Here’s what Big Ten games you need to check out this week.

As we enter into the 12th week of the college football season, we’ve got a chance to check out some pretty intriguing games in the Big Ten. Of course, as with any conference and any week, there are also some truly awful matchups happening in the Midwest this week.

While Indiana and Ohio State are fighting for the opportunity to claim that they have the best team, programs like Nebraska and Illinois are simply trying to prove that they can get more than one win this season.

Here are the games you have to check out, and here are the ones you want to avoid this weekend:

Must watch games:

No. 9 Indiana at No. 3 Ohio State — This right here has to be the Big Ten’s game of the week, right? Of course, it’s happening at 11 a.m., because why would anyone want to see a showcase of an upstart underdog seeking to dethrone one of the best teams in all of college football? Folks, make sure you get up on Saturday and get ready to watch this game.

On paper, the Buckeyes should win, and they should win big. Ohio State has more talent, a better offense, and the home-field advantage. But it’s 2020, and absurd things are happening semi-regularly right now. Indiana is undefeated at 4-0, has a defense that is giving up just 320.8 yards per game and has actually played football over the past couple of weeks. Ohio State hasn’t played since Nov. 7. It’s unlikely, but the Buckeyes could get off to a slow start. If Indiana’s defense can slow Justin Fields enough (good luck with that), there’s a chance the Hoosiers can keep this one close.

No. 10 Wisconsin at No. 19 Northwestern — While Indiana vs. Ohio State has a better storyline (unlikely underdog looking to usurp one of the most talented teams in the country), Wisconsin and Northwestern will likely feature a more closely matched contest. In fact, this has the potential to be one of the most evenly matched games all weekend. But, for this game to be close, it’ll all come down to Northwestern’s defense and the fact that Wisconsin has only played a couple of games so far this season.

The Wildcats play disciplined football and don’t make many errors, but they also don’t have a high scoring offense. Wisconsin does happen to have an offense that can score points by the dozen. Both teams boast stout defensive units (Wisconsin has allowed an average of 218.5 yards per game through two games while Northwestern has allowed 301.8 yards per game in four matchups), so don’t expect a lot of points in this one. That could work out in Northwestern’s favor. They’ve got a better chance of winning a low-scoring slugfest than a shootout.

Watch these if you have nothing better to do:

Purdue at Minnesota — This game gets the benefit of being on a Friday night, otherwise, I’d encourage you to avoid it. If you’ve got nothing else going on, this is a fine game to check out. Both of these teams boast bad defenses (the Boilermakers give up 408 yards per game and the Golden Gophers give up 447.3 yards per game), which could make things very fun to watch, assuming Purdue and Minnesota’s offenses show up.

Michigan at Rutgers — Under normal circumstances, I would not endorse watching a Rutgers football game. These aren’t normal circumstances, however. Jim Harbaugh’s hot seat has to be burning a hole through his khakis at this point as the Wolverines have struggled through the first four weeks of the season. Michigan started at No. 18, rose to No. 13 after beating Minnesota, and has lost back-to-back-to-back games.

It feels like there’s a very real chance that Harbaugh gets canned this season, even if it would take a stupid amount of money for Michigan to get him out of Ann Arbor. A loss to Rutgers, perennially one of the worst teams in all of college football, would almost certainly seal Harbaugh’s fate. I want it to be clear, this will almost certainly be a very, very ugly football game, but there’s a slight chance that this game could be historic.

There are better, more interesting games on elsewhere:

Illinois at Nebraska — Nebraska got its first win of the season last week when the Cornhuskers survived the Penn State Nittany Lions. Illinois got its first win of the year when the Fighting Illini outlasted the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. Those four teams don’t really have many wins between them at the moment, so maybe a game with slightly higher stakes (like that one featuring Indiana and Ohio State) would be a better way to spend your time.

Iowa at Penn State — How many people expected the Penn State Nittany Lions to be winless through their first four games of the 2020 season? Of those four losses, two are by a combined eight points, so the Nittany Lions are close to breaking through. Unfortunately for Penn State, they’re catching Iowa at a bad time. The Hawkeyes lost their first two games of the season and then beat Michigan State and Minnesota in back-to-back weeks by a combined score of 84-14. If Iowa continues to play at that level, there’s a chance this one gets out of hand.

How to watch every Big Ten game (all times Central):

• Purdue at Minnesota – Friday, Nov. 20 at 6:30 p.m. on Big Ten Network
• Illinois at Nebraska – Saturday, Nov. 21 at 11 a.m. on FS1
• No. 9 Indiana at No. 3 Ohio State – Saturday, Nov. 21 at 11 a.m. on FOX
• Iowa at Penn State – Saturday, Nov. 21 at 2:30 p.m. on Big Ten Network
• No. 10 Wisconsin at No. 19 Northwestern – Saturday, Nov. 21 at 2:30 p.m. on ABC
• Michigan at Rutgers – Saturday, Nov. 21 at 6:30 p.m. on Big Ten Network

For more NCAA football news, analysis, opinion and unique coverage by FanSided, including Heisman Trophy and College Football Playoff rankings, be sure to bookmark these pages.