Big Ten Picks Week 12

Despite there being no matchups of ranked teams, "Rivalry Week" still holds plenty of intrigue. A few questions to ponder for each matchup this week...

#10 Ohio State @ Michigan (11am ABC)
Sure Terrelle Pryor is on a better team but is he in a worse offensive situation than he would have been at Michigan?
As he hands the ball off 52 times and is never allowed to run the option, will Pryor be looking longily at Michigan while they run the option over and over again with a less talented quarterback?
Will Michigan outgain Ohio State and still lose?
If Jim Tressell gets a two score lead at half, will he take a knee for the entire second half so as not to risk a turnover?
Will this be RichRod's last game coaching Michigan?
PICK: OHIO STATE

#16 Wisconsin @ Northwestern (2:30pm Big Ten Network)
Ok this isn't a rivalry, but could Wisconsin choke this one away?
Can Scott Tolzien finally play on the road like he has at home?
Can we really count Ryan Field as a "road environment"? Shouldn't this be considered a neutral field?
Is there a more useless statistic than saying Sconnie has lost in their last two trips to Ryan Field considering those losses came in 2003 and 2005 under a different coach? Proabbly not if they lost again.
If the Badgers win out, will coach Brett Bielma finally be off the hot seat? We know he'll never be likable, but maybe acceptable?
If Northwestern loses, shouldn't all 12 of their fans be happy with this season? Isn't it this about as good as it gets for them? Isn't it sad that people are probably saying the same thing about Minnesota?
Is it even scalable how much better a coach Pat Fitzgerald is than Brewster?
PICK: WISCONSIN

Purdue @ Indiana (2:30pm Big Ten Network)
Is there any reason to watch this game if you're not a fan of either school? I didn't think so.
Are there two programs struggling more but with brighter futures for 2010? No really, are there?
Is it crazy to think that Purdue could be a top five team in the conference next year?
It IS crazy to think Indiana's football program could be better than the basketball team this year.
Should Joey Elliot be second team All-Big Ten? Could he win their offensive player of the year award yet not be named all Big-Ten while teammates Ralph Bolden and Keith Smith will be 2nd teamers?
PICK: PURDUE

#14 Penn State @ Michigan State (2:30pm ABC)
Is it bad that I'm rooting against Penn State to win this game because they don't deserve a BCS bowl game but would get it with a win?
Especially considering if that happens, Iowa would get to go to the BCS instead?
How much do you think it haunts MSU that they have three losses (to Central Michigan, Notre Dame, and Iowa) by a combined seven points? How much worse does it make it when they consider they lost to a fourth game to Minnesota while allowing Adam Weber over 400 yards passing?
Did those two questions just make any Michigan State fan drive a pencil into their ear, or try to staple their hand to their desk?
Seriously, how undeserving would Penn State be of going to a BCS bowl with a win? Sorry, did I mention that already?
When picking the All-Big Ten first team, should it matter that Penn State played two good teams all year and lost badly while Daryll Clark crapped the bed in both? It should, right (just checking)?
PICK: MICHIGAN STATE

Minnesota @ #13 Iowa (11am ESPN)
With the way Minnesota and Iowa played last week, wouldn't you think Minnesota lost while Iowa? I guess in a way they both did?
Did you think things couldn't get any more depressing for Gopher fans? If so, I'm betting you didn't see the news today that starting wideout Brandon Green is out with a knee injury.
Will this finally force Tim Brewster to play Hayo Carpenter?
The Strib's Kent Youngblood poses a question a lot of us Gopher fans have been asking: if Tim Brewster's recruiting classes are supposed to be so good, why are so few of those kids actually playing?
Feeling like we can't make fun of Iowa because of how bad our season has been? Well feel free to remind them about the sex-in-the-Metrodome-bathroom story from last year. The Pioneer Press certainly did.
What could Hawkeye fans possibly counter with? Possibly that while their fans were having their way each other in the bathroom, their team was having their way with the Gophers to the tune of 55-0.

(Ok so this isn't Gopher related, but it IS Minnesota football related and I have nowhere else to vent: how stupid is it for the Vikings to give Brad Childress an extension? Last season people wanted Childress fired when they made the playoffs and lost in the first round. Why? Because he never won a playoff game. So why not wait and see if, you know, he can actually win a playoff game before giving him an extension? Were the Wilfs worried about him going somewhere if he didn't get an extension now? Am I the only person who would have personally driven him to the airport to get his overrated bearded a** out of town if he threatened to leave without an extension? I mean, barring disaster, the Vikes will cruise to the NFC North title and probably a first round bye. But what happens if this team loses in their first game again at home? Isn't anything but the NFC Championship game a failure? How can you give Childress a new contract without him first proving he can win in the playoffs? Baffling. Good thing I care more about the Gophers than the Purple, especially with this news coming out today.)

Finally...WHO HATES IOWA?!?!?

PICK: IOWA