Big Ten Football: Week Four Preview

The week four Big Ten football conference slate features the last week of all non-conference action as the Big Ten teams look to build momentum heading into the conference schedule.

READ ALSO: Big Ten Week Three Power Rankings

The Big Ten went 10-4 last week (Penn State played and beat Rutgers) and saw bright spots with a Northwestern win over Duke and a strong performance from Michigan State against Air Force. The conference will be looking for another big week as they prepare for the conference schedule.

Here’s a breakdown of the Saturday slate for the Big Ten conference, and which game from each time slot is the must-see game:

Wisconsin Badgers

Morning games:

There’s plenty of morning Big Ten on Saturday, as six conference teams play in the morning session. Games kicking off at 11 a.m. central include Kansas at Rutgers (Big Ten Network), Southern Mississippi at Nebraska (ESPN News), Bowling Green at Purdue (Big Ten Network), #22 BYU at Michigan (ABC), and Central Michigan at #2 Michigan State (Big Ten Network).

Note that the final morning game, Indiana at Wake Forest, is actually a 11:30 a.m. central kick on ESPN3.

Game to watch: #22 BYU at Michigan

This is a pretty obvious choice for the best game in the morning hour, as you’d expect it to be a very competitive game. BYU has won dramatic games so far this season, including a Hail Mary win over Nebraska. The only loss on BYU’s resume is a one-point game last week to No. 10 UCLA, so they will be looking to rebound.

Michigan, meanwhile, has won two in a row going away after a season-opening 24-17 loss to Utah. The Wolverines and new head coach John Harbaugh take on Northwestern and Michigan state after their Big Ten opener next week at Maryland, so they’ll be looking to keep the momentum going.

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Afternoon games:

In the afternoon, start things off with a 2 p.m. central kickoff for Maryland at West Virginia. Then four games kick off at 2:30 p.m. central, beginning with San Diego State at Penn State on Big Ten Network. The rest of the games include Ohio at Minnesota (Big Ten Network), North Texas at Iowa (ESPNU, Watch ESPN) and Western Michigan at #1 Ohio State (ABC, ESPN 2, Watch ESPN.

Game to watch: Western Michigan at #1 Ohio State

This game shouldn’t be a game. but last week’s matchup between Ohio State and Northern Illinois shouldn’t have been a game, either, but the Buckeyes needed an interception returned for a touchdown to escape with a win. Keep your eye on the Buckeyes in the afternoon slot to see how the top team in the country responds to a rough week.

Night games:

In the two night games on the Big Ten schedule this week, both Hawaii at #22 Wisconsin and Ball State at #17 Northwestern kick off at 7 p.m. central. Both games will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.

Game to watch: Toss up

You can’t really go wrong here. Both Big Ten teams are ranked and both are playing competition you don’t expect to see a lot out of. The Badgers should be able to run up the score against Hawaii, and Northwestern is looking more and more like the real deal as they have good wins over Stanford and Duke.

Both games are worth checking in on, so keep that remote handy.

Next: Get To Know the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors

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