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Big Ten watch guide week 13: Michigan-Penn State all kinds of fun-bad

By Ethan Lee

Oct 19, 2019; University Park, PA, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin (right) shakes hand with Michigan Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh (left) following the completion of the game at Beaver Stadium. Penn State defeated Michigan 28-21. Mandatory Credit: Matthew O'Haren-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 19, 2019; University Park, PA, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin (right) shakes hand with Michigan Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh (left) following the completion of the game at Beaver Stadium. Penn State defeated Michigan 28-21. Mandatory Credit: Matthew O'Haren-USA TODAY Sports /
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Looking to kick back and safely watch some Big Ten football during a holiday weekend? Here’s which games you should watch, and which games you need to avoid, this week.

The Big Ten is back with another slate of games to keep you busy this weekend as Thanksgiving wraps up and we head on into Black Friday (which will almost certainly be odd in the midst of a pandemic). This week’s schedule is an odd one and is full of games that could get messy and weird really quickly.

So far, there’s only been one cancellation in the Big Ten, Minnesota at No. 16 Wisconsin, who has already missed quite a few games in what could have been a promising season for the Badgers. Neither team is allowed to go out and find a replacement opponent, so Minnesota and Wisconsin get the week off.

As for the rest of the conference, there’s still a couple of games to get your eyes on, and there are definitely some games you’ll want to avoid. Here’s what you need to know about this week’s Big Ten schedule.

Must-watch Big Ten games:

Penn State at Michigan – Technically someone has to win this game. Penn State is winless on the season and Michigan is an absolute mess (and has been all season). But again, someone has to win this game, which also means that someone has to lose it.

Should the Wolverines end up being the loser here, they’ll fall to 2-4 on the year. Those two wins came against Minnesota and then Rutgers in triple overtime (neither of those teams is any good). A loss to an abysmal and dysfunctional Penn State team might just push Michigan far enough to where the Wolverines actually dump Jim Harbaugh (which is an expensive thing to do).

Maryland at No. 12 Indiana – Before taking a couple of weeks off due to COVID-19 canceling a couple of Maryland’s games, the Terps looked really, really good on offense. Last week against the Ohio State Buckeyes, Indiana certainly impressed anyone and everyone who was watching. The Hoosiers took the Buckeyes down to the wire in a draining comeback attempt.

Now, they’ve got to bounce back after a difficult loss. If Maryland’s offense is firing on all cylinders and the Hoosiers are hungover from that close loss to Ohio State, this game has the potential to be one of the most interesting games of the week.

Watch these games if you have nothing better to do

No. 8 Northwestern at Michigan State – 2020 has been a bizarre year with bizarre college football and now a bizarre team like Northwestern is sitting at No. 8 in the country. The Wildcats are 5-0 this year, but they haven’t scored more than 27 points in their past four games.

As for Michigan State, the Spartans are a bad team and have struggled this year, but they’ve had a couple of weeks off because of games canceled by the coronavirus. The Spartans aren’t an inspiring team and there’s really no reason to think that they might find a way to win other than by sheer chaos, so the only reason to really watch this game is to get a glimpse of Northwestern, one of the oddest teams to be ranked in the top 10 this season.

Nebraska at Iowa – This game is probably going to get ugly simply due to the fact that the Nebraska Cornhuskers have no identity and take three steps back anytime that they take a single step forward. Nebraska beats Penn State and finds a quarterback it can win with and then promptly follows that up with a deflating, blowout loss to Illinois. Iowa is much better than Illinois, so why should you watch this game? Well, there’s not much else going on in this time slot on Friday. So, if you want to watch some football, this game will be on.

There are better, more interesting games on elsewhere

No. 4 Ohio State at Illinois – Illinois just got a huge win over Nebraska and Ohio State held on to beat Indiana in an emotional and close game. That’s about all that Illinois has going for it right now. The Buckeyes MIGHT be drained after last week. Other things to consider include: Ohio State is far more talented, the Buckeyes have one of the best offenses in the country, and Illinois hasn’t faced a head coach as good as Ryan Day so far this season. Ohio State should win here and it shouldn’t be close.

Rutgers at Purdue – For health reasons, I feel as if I should be obligated to tell you to consider watching another game. Rutgers has shown some improvement from where it was a season ago, but the Scarlet Knights are still the Scarlet Knights. And on the other sideline will sit Purdue, who is still Purdue. Rutgers has lost four straight games since beating Michigan State. Meanwhile, the Boilermakers have lost two in a row and didn’t look great in their wins over Illinois or Iowa.

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

  • Nebraska at Iowa – Friday, Nov. 27 at 12 p.m. on FOX
  • No. 4 Ohio State at Illinois – Saturday, Nov. 28 at 11 a.m. on FS1
  • Maryland at No. 12 Indiana – Saturday, Nov. 28 at 11 a.m. on ESPN2
  • Penn State at Michigan – Saturday, Nov. 28 at 11 a.m. on ABC
  • No. 8 Northwestern at Michigan State – Saturday, Nov. 28 at 2:30 p.m. on ESPN
  • Rutgers at Purdue – Saturday, Nov. 28 at 3 p.m. on FS1

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