Big Ten Preview and Picks: Week 1 Offers Plenty of Big Matchups

This week marks the official start of college football season. Penn State plays Purdue on Thursday night. Minnesota plays Jerry Kill and the New Mexico State Aggies on Friday. On Friday there is a conference game between Illinois and Indiana. Notre Dame plays Ohio State in a battle for the top 5 spot in the AP poll.

Penn State is coming off the disappointment of 2021. The public isn't giving the Nittany Lions the amount of love reserved for Michigan and Ohio State. Purdue is a trendy upset pick in this game. Penn State will struggle against a quality Big Ten West opponent.

Minnesota is playing New Mexico State in the Big Ten's first game. Jerry Kill is returning to his former coaching spot. Minnesota is favored by 36 points.

Western Michigan (0-0) plays at No. 15 Michigan State (1-1) in the Big Ten opener.

Michigan State beat Western Michigan 21-10 in the season opener. It's the first football Friday of the year. Michigan State is expected to have a good season. Western was decent last season and is a team that was good last year, too.

Illinois and Indiana are both winless after the first game. Tom Allen made a lot of changes to the team and got a number of transfers to improve the program. Illinois beat Wyoming last week. Indiana went 0-fer in conference play last season.

Michigan Wolverines begin their title defense against Colorado State. The game is on ABC at 12:00 PM Eastern. Michigan is favored by 30.5 points. Colorado St. went 3-9 last season.

South Dakota State (0-0) plays at Iowa (1-1) in the first game of the season. The defense should be exceptional for the defending champions. If the offense doesn't improve, the game will be a debacle for Iowa.

Buffalo (0-0) at Maryland (1-1) is a generic game. Buffalo is favored by 24 points. Maryland fans should be worried.

Rutgers and Boston College are playing in the Big Ten's first game of the season. The game is being broadcast on the ACC Network at 12:00 PM Eastern.

Nebraska is playing North Dakota. The game starts at 3:30 PM Eastern. Nebraska won the Northwestern game.

Illinois State (0-0) plays Wisconsin (1-1) in the first game of the Big Ten season. Wisconsin is built to pummel teams.

No. 5 Notre Dame (0-0) at No. 2 Ohio State (1-1) is a must-see game.

Ohio State and Notre Dame are playing in the national championship game on Saturday night. The game will be a prime-time game. Al Golden and Jim Knowles will try to stop the Buckeyes' potent offense.

Ohio State will beat Notre Dame 35-14 in the Big Ten opener.

The picks for Black Shoe Diaries are announced. The winner gets full points for sitting through Nebraska/Northwestern and Illinois/Wyoming.