Big Ten football picks - Shull's Selections Week #11

The Big Ten Football season continues this weekend with 5 more conference match-ups and a single non-conference game. This weekend features Minnesota @ Michigan State, Purdue @ Illinois, #16 Wisconsin @ Iowa, #1 Ohio State @ Northwestern, #2 Michigan @ Indiana, and Temple @ Penn State. As always, look to Big Ten Fans for your updated Big Ten football scores andstandings throughout the weekend.

Coming into Week #11 Shull's Selections are 22-5 on the season.

Minnesota @ Michigan State

Minnesota Golden Gophers 4-6 (1-5) @ Michigan State Spartans 4-6 (1-5) - 12 pm

Last week I picked Michigan State to come out and surprise Purdue and win the game. I knew that I liked Purdue and it bit me in the butt to pick MSU as the Boilermakers prevailed. This week the Spartans host MInnesota who is coming off an out-of-nowhere 63-point offensive performance. Minnesota had scored that same amount of points, 63, in the 6 weeks prior to the IU game and their offense appeared to be dead. Well now they are even harder to predict. The deciding factor for me will be this. Michigan State's coach is out either way and the team's play cannot and will not save his job. While Glenn Mason is taking heat in Minnesota, a strong performance to finish the year could salvage his job.

Shull's Selection: Minnesota 34 - Michigan State 23

Purdue @ Illinois

Purdue Boilermakers 6-4 (3-3) @ Illinois Fighting Illini 2-8 (1-5) - 12 pm

One of two things will happen in this game. Either Illinois will come out and play inspired football like they did against Ohio State last week, or they will roll over and hope for next year. I am picking the upset here as I believe the Illini showed us all something last week and that is that they are tired of losing.

Shull's Selection: Illinois 27 - Purdue 24

#16 Wisconsin @ Iowa

Wisconsin Badgers 9-1 (6-1) @ Iowa Hawkeyes 6-4 (2-4) - 12 pm

After a 4-0 start Iowa seems to have been deflated in their home loss to Ohio State as the Hawkeyes have gone 2-4 since then. Meanwhile Wisconsin has won 9 of 10 games and is now ranked #16 in the nation. During the season-opening 4-game win streak Drew Tate had 7 TDs and 2 INT in 3 games. Since then he has had 4 TDs and 6 INT. Wisconsin's tough defense and running game will be the difference in this game which I see being very close.

Shull's Selection: Wisconsin 23 - Iowa 21

#1 Ohio State @ Northwestern

Ohio State Buckeyes 10-0 (6-0) @ Northwestern Wildcats 3-7 (1-5) - 3:30 pm

Northwestern could not have picked a worse time to face the Buckeyes. Looking at the schedule all season I did not think this way as I thought that maybe the Buckeyes would overlook the Wildcats, even a little, with Michigan just a week away. After last week's 17-10 close call my opinion has changed. Jim Tressel will have the Buckeyes ready for this one for sure and we will see the Buckeye offense and defense dominate in every aspect of the game.

Shull's Selection: Ohio State 47 - Northwestern 0

#2 Michigan @ Indiana

Michigan Wolverines 10-0 (6-0) @ Indiana Hoosiers 5-5 (3-3) - 3:30 pm

Much like my thoughts that Ohio State would overlook Northwestern, I thought Michigan could overlook Indiana. With the Hoosiers having played decent this season I even thought this could be a major upset. But after last week's 8-point win over a middle-tier MAC school in Ball State you can be sure that Lloyd Carr will have the Wolverines ready. Another top-ranked team, another blowout.

Shull's Selection: Michigan 45 - Indiana 14

Temple @ Penn State

Temple Owls 1-9 (Independent) @ Penn State Nittany Lions 6-4 (4-3) - 3:30 pm

Penn State's offense has been struggling and looking for a cure for weeks. Enter Division I-A's worst team, the Temple Owls. Temple comes in ranked #118 (of 119 teams) in total offense, #118 rushing and #111 in points scored and their win two weeks ago snapped a 20-game losing streak. Penn State will look to get the ground game going with Tony Hunt again this week after the Wisconsin run defense held him to just 35 rushing yards last week. Hunt is just 69 yards shy of 1,000 for the season, so expect to see him reach the 1,000 yard mark (and then some) this weekend.

Shull's Selection: Penn State 23 - Temple 9

Shull's Selections Bonus Pick:

Western Michigan @ Central Michigan

Western Michigan Broncos 7-2 (5-1 MAC) @ Central Michigan Chippewas 6-3 (5-0 MAC)

The bonus pick this week was not a very difficult decision. While Cincinnati vs. #10 West Virginia was tempting, when it comes to big games in the midwest there are few as important as Western Michigan @ Central Michigan this weekend. I know some Big Ten fans may not understand this or think I am joking, but this is a HUGE game. WMU and CMU have long been in-state rivals in the MAC, and this year's contest should determine who represents the MAC West in the MAC Championship game on November 30th.

Western Michigan has been solid all season with their 2 losses coming @ Indiana and @ Ohio. They also have a win over ACC member Virginia. Their ground game is strong behind Mark Bonds (933 yds rushing) and their passing game is solid with senior QB Ryan Cubit.

Central Michigan came in with higher expectations than WMU this season, and they have not disappointed going 5-0 in MAC play. Freshman QB Dan LeFevour has led the Chippewas with 17 TD passes and just 6 INTs as the CMU offense ranks #26 nationally in total yards and #31 in points scored.

The key to this game is Western Michigan's defense against Ontario Sneed (CMU RB) and CMU's rushing attack. We all know they can pass, but if CMU is smart enough to continually feed Sneed the ball on the ground and he can find some holes in the defense then I see the Chippewas in the MAC Championship game later this month.

Shull's Selection: Central Michigan 27 - Western Michigan 23