Big Ten football picks - Shull's Selections Week #9

The Big Ten Football season continues this weekend with 5 more conference match-ups and a single non-conference game. This weekend features Michigan State @ Indiana, Northwestern @ #2 Michigan, Illinois @ #17 Wisconsin, Penn State @ Purdue, and Minnesota @ #1 Ohio State, and Northern Illinois @ Iowa. As always, look to Big Ten Fans for your updated Big Ten football scores andstandings throughout the weekend.

Coming into Week #9 Shull's Selections are 12-1 on the season.

Michigan State @ Indiana

Michigan State Spartans 4-4 (1-3) @ Indiana Hoosiers 4-4 (2-2) - 12 pm

I called last week's game between Michigan State and Northwestern the "disappointment bowl" as both teams are struggling to get to .500 and be bowl eligible in 2006. Michigan State looked like a team that was lost as they found themselves down 38-3 in the 3rd Quarter of the game, but somehow John L. Smith's troops got fired up and pulled off the largest comeback in the history of Division I-A college football. This week's game is just as big for MSU in my opinion as the Spartans need this win over the Hoosiers to inch closer to bowl eligibility. Indiana is in the same boat as MSU as they also have 4 wins and need 2 more to become bowl eligible. This game should be one of the best games of the weekend in the conference, but I think that the problems in Spartanville are too deep to be fixed by one awesome comeback.

Shull's Selection: Indiana 30 - Michigan State 24

Northwestern @ #2 Michigan

Northwestern Wildcats 2-6 (0-4) @ Michigan Wolverines 8-0 (5-0) - 12 pm

The Wildcats led Michigan State 38-3 in the 3rd Quarter last week and somehow lost the game. Unfortunately for the Wildcats, Michigan is a much better team on both sides of the ball compared to MSU. The Wolverines will roll behind Mike Hart, Chad Henne and the fantastic Michigan defense.

Shull's Selection: Michigan 31 - Northwestern 6

Illinois @ #17 Wisconsin

Illinois Fighting Illini 2-6 (1-3) @ Wisconsin Badgers 7-1 (4-1) - 12 pm

Illinois looked alive leading Penn State at the half last week, but Penn State came back for a 26-12 win. Wisconsin dominated Purdue last week and is showing that they deserve their #17 ranking as they are now 7-1 on the season. The Badgers will take this game and run their record to 8-1 and 5-1 in the Big Ten.

Shull's Selection: Wisconsin 34 - Illinois 13

Northern Illinois @ Iowa

Northern Illinois Huskies 5-3 (3-2 MAC) @ Iowa Hawkeyes 5-3 (2-3) - 12 pm

How will Iowa respond? The Hawkeyes have dropped 3 of 4 games including losses to the #1 and #2 teams in the nation, but Iowa's loss to Indiana two weeks ago is the big blow to their record. Now the Hawkeyes have even more bad news as QB Drew Tate will miss the game after having surgery on his non-throwing hand this week. Could the Hawkeyes minus Tate be venerable to a upset at the hands of NIU? Not unless star RB Garrett Wolfe gets back on track. The nation's leader in rushing has had back-to-back weeks with less than 100 yards rushing after easily eclipsing the 1,000 yard mark in their first 5 games. Iowa wins, but in a close one.

Shull's Selection: Iowa 34 - Northern Illinois 27

Penn State @ Purdue

Penn State Nittany Lions 5-3 (3-2) @ Purdue Boilermakers 5-3 (2-2) - 12 pm

Penn State's record against unranked teams? 5-0. Their record against teams ranked in the Top 10? 0-3. Purdue is not ranked and I expect to see the Nittany Lions' defense take care of business in this one.

Shull's Selection: Penn State 23 - Purdue 7

Minnesota @ #1 Ohio State

Minnesota Golden Gophers 3-5 (0-4) @ Ohio State Buckeyes 8-0 (4-0) - 3:30 pm

Last week the Golden Gophers beat North Dakota State 10-9. While a win is a win, a 10-9 win over a I-AA school, even a very good one, is not something a Big Ten school should be happy with. Minnesota's opponent this week is going to be a little better; okay, a lot better. Heading into Columbus, Ohio is even tougher this year as many Buckeye fans and the media have had this team heading to the Fiesta Bowl since beating Texas in the 2nd game of the season. This game will be nothing more "than another warmup for Michigan" according to one Columbus news station.

Shull's Selection: Ohio State 38 - Minnesota 3

Shull's Selections Bonus Pick:

Ohio @ Kent State

Ohio Bobcats 5-3 (3-1 MAC) @ Kent State Golden Flashes 5-2 (4-0 MAC) - 2 pm

There's not a bigger game in the MAC this weekend, and this will likely be the best game in the state of Ohio this weekend as well. For the FSN Ohio MAC Game of the Week this Saturday, we have a team who has not won a MAC title since 1968 (Ohio) vs. a team who has not won a MAC title since 1972 (Kent). The winner of this game controls their own destiny towards the MAC East title as everyone else in the East Division has at least 2 MAC losses. Kent State has been solid with 5 straight wins, but Ohio is playing with great confidence after beating Illinois two weeks ago. While Kent gets the luck of the draw in the MAC scheduling this season by not facing any of the top 3 in the MAC West, I have to give them credit for exceeding expectations this season. However, I see the Kent run ending at home this weekend and the Bobcats taking this game.

Shull's Selection: Ohio 23 - Kent State 21