No. 14 Ohio State at No. 8 Michigan State (-3.5) 8 pm ABC
Daniel: Oh hey, the Big 10 does have a couple decent teams. They meet on Saturday and will likely decide the Big 10 East in the process. J.T. Barrett has done a great job filling in for Braxton Miller this year at QB for the Buckeyes, and while I wouldn’t go as far as MSU LB Taiwan Jones in saying he’s a “way better quarterback” than the Buckeyes’ injured former starter, he certainly has grown into the position and will give OSU a shot in this one. But I think defense and home-field advantage will prevail in this one. MSU gets enough plays from QB Connor Cook, slows down the Buckeyes and pulls out a tight one to take hold of their division and stay in consideration in the playoff hunt. Winner: Sparty 24-20
Houston: Ohio State has gotten better each week since their early loss to Virginia Tech in the Horseshoe, but Michigan State is a different animal. The Buckeyes will be looking for revenge from last season’s Big 10 Championship game, but Michigan State is playing at home and looking to keep their College Football Playoff hopes alive. Heisman Trophy candidate Braxton Miller’s injury in the preseason for the Buckeyes gave way to J.T. Barrett, and the freshman quarterback has really impressed since taking over, but Michigan State’s defense is going to be too much for him this weekend. I think they’ll confuse the first year player and expose Ohio State as somewhat of a pretender. Winner: Sparty 31-20
Reed: The Spartans are known for their defense, but their offense has been fantastic this year. They’re scoring 45.5 points per game, second in the Big 10 behind only Ohio State’s 45.6. These teams have the top-two offenses in the B1G and the 3rd and 4th ranked defenses. While the numbers are close and Ohio State is playing well, Michigan State has played a tougher schedule and they’re playing at home. Plus, when picking games I shy away from teams with a loss to Virginia Tech. Winner: Spartans 31-24
Ryan: It’s a shame that the Big Ten is a rotting, stinking corpse in a shallow grave because I think Michigan State is really good. The only loss I respect more than their early season trip to Eugene (the score simply wasn’t indicative of the true outcome of that game) was Kansas State’s loss at home on a Thursday night to Auburn. On the other hand, Ohio State is a part of the rotting, stinking mess. Sure, they’re talented and incredibly capable of winning a game like this if only to whine incessantly about being ranked ninth the rest of the year, but they’re also incredibly capable of getting dumptrucked and embarrassed by a better football team, too.
I mean, they lost to Virginia Tech for goodness sake. I’m almost positive Scot Loeffler’s playbook is drawn in MS Paint and the Hokies still managed to score four offensive touchdowns against Ohio State. On principle alone, I can’t pick Ohio State after that. I’ve got to stand for something. Winner: Michigan State 35-27
