Showdown Saturday in the Big Ten with big games all over

It’s a small sample size, sure, but the Big Ten passed all four of its major non-conference tests with flying colors this month, three huge wins over ranked teams Saturday teaming nicely with that season-opening win for Wisconsin over LSU to form quite the resume that any other conference has to be jealous of at this point in the season.

Ohio State at Oklahoma (+1.5): Two great teams playing in what could still be a College Football Playoff preview, despite neither of these teams being in my projected field at the moment.

“The Big Ten is so strong, so we have to come out full force every game”, Claassen said. The Buckeyes (3-3) head into a weekend of competition following a 2-1 victory in overtime against Miami (3-4) on Sunday, marking Ohio State’s third consecutive win in a five-game homestand.

OR (plus-3) at Nebraska: Although they’ve only been an official member for the Big Ten for five years, the Cornhuskers earned a lifetime conference appointment after protesting that Oregon’s up-tempo offense shouldn’t be permitted to run 10 offensive plays in eight seconds.

Colorado (plus-20½) at Michigan: Cameras captured even more of the “real” Harbaugh on the sidelines. It’s the 50-year anniversary of the “Game of the Century” which featured No. 1 Notre Dame at No. 2 Michigan State, which was the first No. 1 vs No. 2 game ever. However, Iowa and MI fans should not take these teams likely, as Colorado may not be great but they are still a Pac-12 school and are used to playing quality opponents, and North Dakota State has a solid amount of talent returning from their championship team, despite former QB Carson Wentz going to the NFL. 4. WisconsinBarely pulled out a win over Georgia State after benching Bart Houston for Alex Hornibrook. Wisconsin and Michigan State play next weekend in East Lansing in a battle of what will surely be two top-10 teams.

Penn State looks to bounce back against Temple.

Mike Riley gets reacquainted with OR once again. No. 2 Florida State takes on No. 10 Louisville and the Cardinals’ exceptional quarterback, Lamar Jackson, on the road.

Most likely Big Ten team to go down is usually Purdue, but since they don’t play this week it becomes tougher.

For Illinois, this is the Illini’s sixth meeting with Western Michigan.

But with most of the teams in the Big Ten completing their non-conference slates this weekend, the statement has been made. This will be the first time these teams have played in Evanston since 2007, which was also the last time Duke beat Northwestern. 11. IllinoisWestern Michigan clearly was the better team all day. 9. MinnesotaThe 2-0 Golden Gophers had the week off. 8. They also have Minnesota and Michigan State on the road later in the season.