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It’s rivalry week across college football and while the Iowa Hawkeyes are done playing in the 2021 regular season, Hawkeye fans have much to watch and root for in week 12 of this year.
The Hawkeyes need the Minnesota Gophers to take down the Wisconsin Badgers and take back Paul Bunyan’s axe to win the Big Ten West outright and represent the division in Indianapolis a week from today for the Big Ten Championship. It’s a big ask as the Gophers haven’t defeated Wisconsin in Minneapolis since 2003, but it’s an ask Iowa fans will be making at 3pm CT in a game that will be broadcast on FOX.
As we all wait and hope for a few final hours, there’s loads of other compelling matchups to soak in. Perhaps the most notable is The Game between #2 Ohio State and #5 Michigan. That’s an 11am CT kickoff from Ann Arbor that is also on FOX.
Elsewhere in the Big Ten, Maryland and Rutgers are playing for relegation at 11am CT on BTN. At 2:30 on ABC, #12 Michigan State hosts Penn State in a game with potential bowl pecking order implications for the Hawkeyes. While that one plays out, Northwestern and Illinois face off in a battle for Chicago’s 7th favorite Big Ten school on BTN. Indiana and Purdue face of on FS1 in a battle for the old oaken bucket.
Given that it’s rivalry week, there are loads of other solid games throughout the day. Perhaps the most notable outside the Big Ten is Bedlam, which kicks off at 6:30pm CT on ABC between #10 Oklahoma and #7 Oklahoma State.
Enjoy the Saturday of football without an Iowa game to put you into a panic attack. Same rules as a game thread apply here - play nice, report the spam and for all that is holy let the Gophers find some luck for just one day.