Don't mind me. I just learned that my family, which contains two vegetarians out of five total people, is doing a Sidesgiving. There will be no turkey. Technically there will be no main dish of any kind. And thus no leftover turkey sandwiches.
I am not okay with this, but a turkey split amongst three people is a disaster. I am at least hoping there will be stuffing, even if it's made with vegetable broth.
Then again, looking at this week's slate of games amongst our five teams, there may be enough turkeys for everyone.
Michigan State at Iowa (2:30 pm, FS1): This is the get-back game Iowa needs after failing to hold on last week against USC in the southern California rain that they say never falls. Michigan State has not looked good at any point this season, and I don't think this is where Sparty will start to figure it out. The Iowa system should swallow up the Spartans. Iowa 31, Michigan State 17.
Minnesota at Northwestern (11 am, BTN): After having spent last season looking moribund, and still stuck in the quaint but inadequate My First Stadium by Fisher-Price, Northwestern has ... actually looked decent over the past month? So I'm going to take the Wildcats here as P.J. Fleck once again cements his status as "not quite bad enough to fire." Especially not this season, but maybe Minnesota will luck out and he'll bumble his way into an ACC job or something. Northwestern 24, Minnesota 21.
Nebraska at Penn State (6:30 pm, NBC/Peacock): Well, here's a dilly of a pickle. Back in August I had this as an almost-certain loss for the Huskers, because I thought Penn State was not going to drop off from where it ended last season. Welp. I'm not sure I can say Nebraska is sure to lose this game any more -- but I am quite convinced it can. I just can't quite pull the trigger on that, though, but my confidence in this pick is extremely low. Nebraska 33, Penn State 27.
No. 21 Illinois at Wisconsin (6:30 pm, BTN): The Wisconsin team that beat Washington back on November 8 can certainly beat Illinois.
The Wisconsin team that played in the other nine games this season probably can't. Illinois 20, Wisconsin 13.
BONUS GAME: Kansas at Iowa State (11 am, FS1): I really thought Lance Leipold was going to get over the hump this year in the Big 12 but it's turned out another thoroughly mid year for the Jayhawks. Iowa State is in its all-too-familiar position of almost, but not quite, being a top team in the conference. I think there's something about the state of Iowa that just condemns its football teams to also-ran status. But that means those teams win the games they ought to win, and Iowa State ought to be beat the Jayhawks. Iowa State 27, Kansas 14.
Photo credit: “pumpkins in the rain” by liz west, CC BY 2.0
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