CornNation Loses Your Money: Chicago Takeover Edition

Mike: There hasn’t been this much red in Chicago since July when the Cardinals played the White Sox over at New Comiskey.

Jill: For those keeping score at home, I am 17-10. I purposefully refused to pick one game a couple weeks ago and apparently forgot one in the dung heap that was last week’s selections. GOING TO VEGAS BABY! Hahaha! No. I’ve never been there and will only go if it is the cheapest flight to get me to the Grand Canyon. My dad nearly dropped me into the Grand Canyon when I was a toddler. That is my mom’s version of events. Dad won’t give his version unless she dies first. I may have figured out the secret to reaching a 50th anniversary. I feel like I’m rambling. Am I rambling? Yes!!!! Only because Mike made us pick YET ANOTHER Iowegia game and I am delaying the inevitable. There is only so much one person can take.

Nate M: I am currently 15-14. Just gotta keep reminding myself that I started 0-4. (repeating mantra) (repeating mantra) (repeating mantra). One thing I’ve hung my hat on this past week is that I correctly picked the margin of loss by the huskers the past two weeks...on the dot.

Uglydog56: I'm 18-10. Which only proves the maxim the sun even shines on a dog's ass sometimes.

Patrick G.: Pretty sure all my predictions were correct last week so......I’m not going to check but I’m pretty sure....pretty sure.

Andy: I’m 6-8 and of course I am blaming the circumstances of too goddamned many games involving Notre Dame, Ohio St & Penn St involved. I wish nothing but ill will on these programs and those wishes too often outweigh rationality. I see none of them here this week...so I’ll start working on new excuses.

Iowa (-5) at Indiana

Jill: Iowa again? Really? Sigh. Hawkeyes by 10.

Uglydog56: I haven't had coffee yet, or rum. It's too early in the morning to have to pick Iowa. I'm going chalk on this one, though Indiana is a more balanced team than they used to be. Can you put rum in coffee?

Nate M: Iowa is pretty good...I think. That is until they lay an egg. But I don’t think it’ll be against Indiana. Hawkeyes baby.

Patrick G.: I’m going to just go with a loss here for the road team because we need more anarchy in the west. Also, it’s the battle of the I’s. That should be a trophy that Iowa, Indiana, and Illinois plays for. It’s just a big block I that whoever wins get’s to put on their helmets for the next season. The losing teams can’t use the block I for an entire year across all sports. Would anyone care about this trophy? Probably not but let’s have them do it anyway. A pork rind eating contest will break any ties. University of Indiana 13 University of Iowa 12

Mike: I think the general consensus is that Iowa isn’t nearly as good as they’ve looked thus far. Is it this week or next week against a pretty good Maryland team where they slip up? I’m thinking next personally. Squawks 27, Hoosierdaddy 24

Andy: Oh and Iowa. I hate them too. So, let’s try to move past that. Iowa 33 Indiana 20

Wisconsin (+8.5) at Michigan

Jill: Immovable object pitted against crazy khaki-clad coached force. I might actually watch this one. The Wolverines are going to examine the Frost game plan vs Wiscy, realize they have the personnel to pull it off, and somehow screw up just enough to make it interesting until the very end. Blue and Gold by 3.

Uglydog56: You can put rum in coffee! Google says it’s called carajillo in Spain, Pharisees coffee in Germany. You put whipped cream on top to hide the liquor smell. Wisconsin will be ready for the Wolverine defensive line. Hawbaw is not that great a coach. If this game was in Camp Randall, I'd pick Wiscy straight up. I have to defer to the oddsmakers in Vegas, but I believe Wiscy will at least cover.

Nate M: I was not as impressed with Wisconsin last week. I think they are going to have a hard time scoring in this game and Michigan should be able to move the ball. Michigan wins.

Patrick G.: This is the big game of the weekend and I imagine it might also be one of the more boring ones. At this point of the night I’ll be focusing on #Pac12AfterDark and the depths of late night wonder it will lead me to. University of Michigan 27 University of Wisconsin 17

Mike: Other than the first half in South Bend and maybe the first half against Northwestern, Michigan looks like a playoff team to me. They’re going to be too much for Wisconsin, except for one fact. Nobody blows the doors off of the Badgers, except if you are a national title contender.

When we started this thread, the line was 8.5. It’s now pushing 10, and that’s where I’m drawing the line. Weasels 33, Badgers 24.

Andy: I think many within Nebraska’s borders will have their thinking skewed by the 56-10 score against the Woverines, which I believe was a bit of an anomaly. No, I’m not saying their blowout was a fluke, just the 46-point spread. The rest of their scores aren’t so extreme. They win but not running away. Michigan 26 Wiscy 20

Colorado (+7) at Southern Cal

Jill: I HATE ALL OF THIS AND WHY DO I EVEN PARTICIPATE? Calm down. Breathe. The Buffaloes would make us look good with a win. Which is why they won’t. USC by a touchdown.

Uglydog56: Trojans should have to use protection, considering how bad they're going to skullf*ck the Buffaloes.

Nate M: Colorado lost it’s best (a.k.a dirtiest) player for the season this past week. That is a huge weapon for them that they lost unless somebody else on that defense is just as good at twisting knees in the piles. Southern Cal.

Patrick G.: Sometimes you have to watch a game just to see what kind of weirdness could happen in it. This is such game. University of Southern California 38 University of Colorado 21

Mike: I’m on record as underestimating the Buffies, this season. I didn’t see Laviska Shenault breaking out like he did. I don’t think he’ll surprise anyone this week in LA under the bright lights. Trojan Men 34, Cucu Puffs 24.

Andy: Dammit. Colorado. I also enjoy them about as much as dogshit in the treads of my sneakers. However, I also think they are going down in a game that absolutely no one will refer to as a defensive battle or “old school”. Fightin’ Rubbers 44 Buffy 35

Purdue (-10) at Illinois

Jill: WHY, MIKE, WHY?!? This is the epitome of that old Drew Carey show “Who’s Line Is It Anyway?” where the points don’t matter and no one cares anyway. Or something like that. Fine. Boilers win this one by 20+ points.

Uglydog56: Jeff Brohm runs a trick play on the opening play of the opening drive. You know, a blitz is like a trick play for the defense, only they get to run a trick play every play if they want. My uncle used to run a rail repair crew for Burlington Northern, going back and forth from Denver to Grand Island. They'll bring him out of retirement to fix what Purdue does to the Illini, which isn't even an actual thing.

Nate M: I mentioned last week that Illinois is better than we think. That doesn’t mean they’re good. They are just better than we think. With that said I think it is safe to say that Purdue wins this walking away.

Patrick G.: Man, there are some bad games this weekend....Purdue University 21 University of Illinois 17

Mike: It’s really sad when Nebraska is looking up at Purdue and Illinois in the standings. But that’s what good coaching does, and both Lovie Smith and Jeff Brohm are two of the better coaches in the west division. (I hear some chuckling from some people regarding Lovie, and that’s fine.) I said Illinois would be better this season, and they clearly are. Maybe not this week, though. Boilers 35, Illini 24.

Andy: Saying I don’t give two shits about this game is an insult to fecal matter. Purdue 41 Indiana 27

Nebraska (+3.5) at Northwestern

Jill: The Huskers are on the right trajectory. The Wildcats are well-coached and don’t give teams like Nebraska many chances to shoot themselves in the foot. Nebraska likes to shoot themselves in the foot and we don’t have Ron Kellogg and Jordan Westerkamp this time. Will Adrian Martinez and Morgan/Spielman/Washington be enough? I’m dusting the CornNation y-chromosome-carrying miscreants (record-wise) and can afford to take a week off from real thought and just write crap. Yes, ranchbabe trash talk. This will end well. Huskers by 3

Uglydog56: Conflicted. Nebraska matches up well with Northwestern. This could go their way. But the penalties and special teams are insurmountable obstacles. Northwestern retains the U. I try rum in coffee, with whipped cream on top.

Nate M: Like I said above I’ve gotten the past two weeks exactly correct. Which makes me some kind of expert. LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL. Anyways, let’s see if I can keep it going three weeks in a row. I think Northwestern’s inability to run the ball really hurts them and Nebraska’s offense should be able to score enough to....win by 7.

Patrick G.: I believe that Nebraska could easily lose or win every game minus Ohio State for the rest of the year. Let’s start of with a win against a team who doesn’t play well at home. University of Nebraska 32 Northwestern University 21

Mike: Northwestern will run the ball better than they have the last couple of weeks, but I think that Nebraska will have the opportunity to pin their ears back this week against Clayton Thorson. They’ll be more aggressive than they’ve been since the Colorado game, and things fall into place. They have to; Nebraska hasn’t ever lost in Evanston as a Big Ten team. The Real NU 34, The Purple NW 21.

Andy: Our yards given up on defense is concerning, however our terrible, awful offensive line has stood in front of a backfield and WR set that has gained 1100 yards in the last two games. Our penalties are awful, but I’ve got to believe that sooner or later the Big 10 refs, who covered themselves in so much glory (#sarcasm) in last year’s CFP title game, will finally realize that other teams are capable of holding, pass interference and targeting before the 4th quarter. Ugh, not hanging my hat on THAT evening out.

(Sorry but the stripes have been one-sided and godawful the last two weeks. Not Greg Burks crew/Dan Beebe bought-off corrupted, just terrible and incompetent in a very unbalanced way. And it’s been a few years since I’ve still been burning about refs more than 24 hours later. There - had to be said - moving on.)

They say never bet against the streak, but here we go. The dam is ready to burst. We’re due some turnovers. 500+ yards has to start resulting in 30-40+ points or more. Simple law of averages says a couple bounces have got to start going our way.

And the home team in this series is 1-6. Nebraska 41 Northwestern 38