[NU Sports] PIGSKIN PICKS - Week 12

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

Hard to believe it's the end of the Big Ten season
already! Standings will be out soon, but first a look
at the lineup for week 12. It used to be that this was
the big weekend for big rivalries, but with other
leagues playing around with schedules to extend the
season, it's just the Big Ten trophy games that
highlight the slate. We even had to pick up that poor
old NBC JV contest to round off the slate.

PIGSKIN PICKS - WEEK 12
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Name: 

BIG TEN
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Game  1: Purdue @ Indiana
Winner : 

Game  2: Western Michigan @ Iowa
Winner : 

Game  3: Ohio State @ Michigan
Winner : 

Game  4: Penn State @ Michigan State
Winner : 

Game  5: Wisconsin @ Minnesota
Winner : 

NATIONAL
========
Game  6: Kentucky @ Georgia
Winner : 

Game  7: West Virginia @ Cincinnati
Winner : 

Game  8: Boston College @ Clemson
Winner : 

Game  9: Oklahoma @ Texas Tech
Winner : 

Game 10: Duke @ Notre Dame
Winner : 

MY PICKS
========
* PURDUE 42, Indiana 31 - Should be a shootout in
Bloomington, but Tiller usually wins these games and
he needs it to save Purdue's season a bit. The
Hoosiers will make a game of it, but are still stunned
from last week's loss and fall short here.

* IOWA 30, Western Michigan 7 - The Hawkeyes complete
their turnaround with a solid win and bowl plans.

* OHIO STATE 21, Michigan 17 - I was ready to pick
Michigan all year to complete the nice comeback story
with Lloyd's swan song and all. But then both teams
lost last week and while Michigan will try their
hardest here, OSU won't lose two straight.

* PENN STATE 34, Michigan State 27 - This could be the
real dandy of the week. MSU may not be throwing in the
towel this year at the end, and they could head down
the road to Detroit with a win. But JoePa's team will
be ready as well and win this one to close out the
year.

* WISCONSIN 37, Minnesota 28 - This wouldn't be too
close in Madison, but on the Gophers make a game of it
for three quarters. 

* GEORGIA 45, Kentucky 31 - The Dawgs could be
cruising to a BCS berth while the Cats are free
falling out of the big bowl picture.

* WEST VIRGINIA 35, Cincinnati 21 - Too many people
like the upset here ... I'll go with the one proven
Big East winner.

* CLEMSON 28, Boston College 14 - Remember when the
Eagles were #2 in the country? Now they're not even #2
in their own division. Look out below!

* OKLAHOMA 47, Texas Tech 20 - Could the Sooners be
looking ahead? Naaah.

* NOTRE DAME 3, Duke 2 - Hey, somebody's gotta win.
This could be a painful display of offensive
offensiveness.

And off the board ...

* ILLINOIS 48, Northwestern 38 - Again, I hope I'm
wrong. But the Illini just have too much offense and
finally get the better of the Cats late.

Picks in by kickoff Saturday.
GO CATS!!!
-SjT

* * * * * * * * *
STEPHEN J. TRUOG
sjtruog at yahoo.com
GO CATS!!!


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