Big Ten Football Week 6 Saturday Watch Grid
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — With Nebraska already having defeated Illinois on Friday night, there are only five Big Ten football games remaining for Week 6's college football Saturday.
It's one of the more scarce slates of Big Ten football that anyone will see during the 2023 season. Each of the five games on today have at least one very clear favorite and could be decided by double digits. But then again, who would have thought that Northwestern would already be going for its third win of the season on Saturday? You can never be sure as to what's going to happen in a sport like college football.
Here are the games you 100 percent need to watch this Saturday, the games that you should definitely keep an eye on and the games where you might want to get out of the house or do some chores.
Tier 1 — Absolute Must-Watch Games
- Maryland at Ohio State (HC), Noon ET. TV: FOX
Pretty self-explanatory choice here. Both Ohio State and Maryland are undefeated, and even though it would be shocking if the Buckeyes lost this game, the Terrapins are undoubtedly an above average team.
Since joining the conference in 2014, Maryland is 0-30 against ranked Big Ten opponents, and 0-8 against Ohio State. Coach Mike Locksley has built the best team College Park has seen in a long, long time, and this is the best chance the former ACC school has had to date to nab a win against the Big Ten's historic bully.
Tier 2 — Good Games to Flip to Occasionally
- Rutgers at Wisconsin (HC), Noon ET. TV: Peacock
- Purdue at Iowa (HC), 3:30 p.m. ET. TV: Peacock
- Michigan at Minnesota, 7:30 p.m. ET. TV: NBC
The three ho-hum, standard conference matchups. Wisconsin, Iowa and Michigan should all be expected to cruise to relatively easy wins on Saturday, most especially the Wolverines. Don't be surprised if coach Jim Harbaugh's team wins in the exact same fashion that it has in every game this season — 31-7 over a vastly overmatched team that can't do anything against Michigan's defense.
Rutgers is 4-1 and at least has the defense to keep its game vs Wisconsin close, even if it's not all that exciting. Meanwhile, Purdue has the best chance of any of the three underdogs to pull off any kind of upset. It's going to be the first career start for Iowa quarterback Deacon Hill, and the Hawkeyes' offense is so devoid of life and substance that it can get dragged down into a discouraging loss at any point in time.
Tier 3 — It's Still Big Ten Football, At Least
- Howard at Northwestern (HC), 3 p.m. ET. TV: Big Ten Network
Watching Howard at Northwestern without a vested rooting interest in either team should be punishable by law.
Related Stories on Big Ten:
- IOWA QB LIKELY OUT FOR SEASON: Coach Kirk Ferentz and the Iowa Hawkeyes are likely to be without starting quarterback Cade McNamara for the remainder of the 2023 season following a non-contact injury that he suffered during the Hawkeyes' 26-16 win over Michigan State. CLICK HERE
- NEBRASKA 20, ILLINOIS 7: Coach Matt Rhule and the Nebraska Cornhuskers advanced to 3-0 on Friday night in a 20-7 win over coach Bret Bielema and the Illinois Fighting Illini. CLICK HERE
- IU FOOTBALL OPPONENTS 2024-28: On Thursday, the Big Ten announced its new conference scheduling model for the 2024-28 football seasons, which has been adjusted off of previous plans with the addition of Oregon, Washington, USC and UCLA to the conference. Here are the Indiana football conference opponents for the 2024 through 2028 seasons. CLICK HERE
- TAGOVAILOA NAMED PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Conference players of the week were named from last Saturday's round of performances, and Maryland quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week, while a Minnesota RB was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week. CLICK HERE