[NU Sports] PIGSKIN PICKS - Week 5

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

Two more weeks until fall break and the possibility of standings, but who cares? As my old friend Jim would say, I've got that "Big Ten tingly feeling" ... it's CONFERENCE PLAY WEEKEND! Finally, the creampuffs are done and it's time to kick off the new Big Ten, where megamatchups happen weekly and even two or three times per week! Maybe with ESPN in Madison they will finally give the conference some love instead of the overrated Big XII and the woefully underrated Badgers/Huskers winner can crack the top 5???

And closer to home, it's rivaly Saturday already??? The Cats and Illini face off thanks to stupid Jim Delaney's moronic idea to separate the divisions into unspeakable names and keep the Ill-ini and Wildcats from playing the final Saturday of the weekend in what could be a natural rivalry trophy Saturday of east (UM/OSU, MSU/PSU, Ind/Pur) and west (Min/Wis, UNL/Iowa and ILL/NU) traditional showdowns. Seriously? The way it turned out is so dumb it could be a B(C)S idea.

So we get to see the best (adding UNL) and worst (over-tinkered divisions with ludicrous names that make longtime rivals play the first weekend of league play instead of the last) of Jim Delaney's year on display this weekend ... at least Persa should be back for the Cats!

Picks are due by kickoff Saturday - GO CATS!!! BEAT THE ILLINI!!!

NU PIGSKIN PICKS - WEEK 5

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Name: 

BIG TEN
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GAME 1: Penn State @ Indiana
WINNER: 

GAME 2: Minnesota @ MichiganWINNER: 

GAME 3: Michigan State @ Ohio StateWINNER: 

GAME 4: Nebraska @ WisconsinWINNER: 

GAME 5: Notre Dame @ Purdue
WINNER: 
NATIONAL========GAME 6: Alabama @ Florida
WINNER: 

GAME 7: Auburn @ South CarolinaWINNER: 

GAME 8: Clemson @ Virginia Tech
WINNER: 
GAME 9: Arkansas vs. Texas A&M (@ Dallas, TX)
WINNER: 

GAME 10: Texas @ Iowa State
WINNER: 

MY PICKS
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GAME 1: PENN STATE ... Hoosiers' road to 0-8 begins here!
GAME 2: MICHIGAN ... An easy game for that ole' brown jug
GAME 3: OHIO STATE ... Not sold on MSU yet and Bucks are at home, and the unis still intimidate some Big Ten schools
GAME 4: WISCONSIN ... Badgers at home under lights and are just tougher than UNL - The Smug Smirk beats the Hothead to win round 1, rematch in Indy?
GAME 5: NOTRE DAME ... The dominoes are falling, Irish - time to get on board with the Big Ten - at least you'd finish in middle of league ahead of Boilers!
GAME 6: ALABAMA ... If it were LSU in the Swamp, I'd smell upset - but Tide is a veteran group
GAME 7: SOUTH CAROLINA ... No defense in the SEC this year, so look for a 49-45 game or something like that - Gamecocks win at home
GAME 8: VIRGINIA TECH ... If Tigers can win in Blacksburg, I might finally believe they're legit this year
GAME 9: ARKANSAS ... Future SEC matchup and both teams exposed as pretenders last year, but Arkansas bounces back in Jerryworld Bowl
GAME 10: TEXAS ... ESPN says this is on the "ACC Network" ... is that what the laughable "Longhorn Network" has become? Horns survive trap before OU.

And off the board ...

NORTHWESTERN 33, Illinois 28 - Good game of two clashing styles ... Cats D will have trouble stopping the Illini run, but Persa comes back (finally!) and leads the O to the victory by carving up the Illini defense. We owe them one for last year!
Picks due by Saturday kickoff!GO CATS!!!
-SjT
 
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STEPHEN J. TRUOG
sjtruog at yahoo.com
GO CATS!!! GEAUX SAINTS!!!
Super Bowl XLIV Champions!
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