I realized, after I had hit ‘Save’ on last week’s Old Big Ten picks, that I had completely failed to pick Purdue-Notre Dame. I’d apologize, but honestly, there is no way I would have predicted what happened. Notre Dame was obviously salty after the Northern Illinois loss, and who can blame it? It’s one thing to lose to one of your safety schools, but it’s something else to lose to one of your safety schools’ safety schools.

The upshot of my forgetfulness is that I had no chance of picking the game wrong. I should make a note to apply this strategy in the future. “Ohio State-Michigan? That was this week?”

Anyway, let’s look back and see how I did.

Central Michigan at Illinois: I said Illinois 48, CMU 10; actual score, Illinois 30, CMU 9

But the Kansas win is measurably less impressive now that the Jayhawks have lost to UNLV.

Arkansas State at Michigan: I said Michigan 63, Arkansas State 3; actual score, Michigan 28, Arkansas State 18

Yikes on bikes. The answer to the Michigan fans’ question is “yes, it’s time to panic.”

Alabama at Wisconsin: I said Alabama 44, Wisconsin 17; actual score, Alabama 42, Wisconsin 10

Kalen DeBoer can breathe a little easier, though nobody thought Wisconsin was going to win this game anyway.

Prairie View A&M at Michigan State: I said Michigan State 56, Prairie View 6; actual score, Michigan State 40, Prairie View 0

It was closer than I thought. That plus $1(ish) will get you a doughnut at Casey’s.

Nevada at Minnesota: I said Minnesota 38, Nevada 13; actual score, Minnesota 27, Nevada 0

Of all Minnesota’s wins, this is certainly one of the most recent.

Eastern Illinois at Northwestern: I said Northwestern 33, EIU 12; actual score, Northwestern 31, EIU 7

Northwestern did its part to put directional Illinois universities back in their place.

Troy at Iowa: I said Iowa 23, Troy 13; actual score, Iowa 38, Troy 21

This was a surprise. Time will tell if it was a pleasant one.

That’s a perfect 7-0 in the legacy Big Ten, and 11-1 overall in the conference, pushing my yearly record to 39-6 (.867). Let’s push that nice record back down a bit, shall we?

(*: All times in this column are in Central Time, because so am I, and all these games are on Saturday.)

Thus far Indiana is my surprise team of the season. I know (okay, I know now) that a lot of their success is because Curt Cignetti brought a lot of his players to Bloomington with him, and it turns out a lot of those players were Power 5-level talents. You will never convince me that the old way where all those players would have had to sit out a season was actually better.

There’s still a lot of football to go, and Indiana is going to lose some games, but the early returns are promising. I just hope Cignetti breaks the weird curse that seems to afflict IU football coaches where they either get better every season but wind up with the same record, or … well, let’s not go there.

Right. The game. I think Good Charlotte would put up about as much of a fight.

Indiana 66, Charlotte 13

Don't miss out on any of our exclusive football, basketball, and recruiting coverage. Sign up with Hawkeye Beacon here.

I’m pretty sure the No. 3 team in the nation can beat one guy, unless it’s a rap battle. The moment, you own it, you better never let it go, because Texas might actually be back this time so you’re gonna have to get through them or Georgia and maybe both, Ohio State.

Ohio State 50, Marshall 7

This is the sort of game we were hoping for when the West Coast schools were added. Two programs, one ascendant, the other the defending national champion but clearly not as good as it was last season, squaring off in one of the largest and most historic venues in American sport.

While it initially looked like a mistake for USC to poach Lincoln Riley from Oklahoma, it’s starting to look like one the better moves the Trojans have made in recent years. There could still be some smoke and mirrors involved but USC has a solid win over LSU and made short work of the often-pesky Utah State Aggies. Plus they’ve had an extra week to prepare for this game.

Michigan has only lost to Texas, the current No. 1 team in the nation, but its hungover performance against Arkansas State last week is serious cause for concern. It’s likely the Wolverines were looking ahead to this game and figuring they could beat the Red Wolves on talent alone, which they did, but they embarrassed themselves in the process.

I don’t think this will be a USC blowout, but I do expect the Trojans to walk away winners.

USC 31, Michigan 24

This promises to be a really good game, given that these teams are pretty much on the same level, but even the non-Iowa fans reading this would probably rather watch the battle for Floyd.

Michigan State didn’t look great in Week One but has improved rapidly since then, which has to inspire confidence among the Sparty faithful.

Boston College, meanwhile, enjoyed a cup of coffee in the Top 25, largely on the strength of beating Florida State at Doak Campbell Stadium in Week One. That ended after losing to Missouri 27-21 last week, though I bet at the end of the season losing to Mizzou by only six will be considered a more impressive feat than beating Florida State on the road by 15.

For that reason, I’m taking BC in this game. They’ve been more tested.

Boston College 24, Michigan State 17

And that leaves only one game ...

It is completely awesome that both Kirk Ferentz and Tim Lester have figured out that their path to offensive success rests more on Kaleb Johnson’s shoulders than Cade McNamara’s. It is equally awesome that they have apparently installed Brendan Sullivan as the red zone/goal line quarterback, which appears to be the right decision. It is most awesome of all that they have reached these conclusions before this game.

I make no secret of my distaste for P.J. Fleck. It’s not personal, I’m sure he recycles and keeps his lawn mowed and all that. He’s just one of several coaches who have managed to (barely) disguise their contempt for Kirk Ferentz as respect. Most of those coaches have lost their jobs. He still has his.

And please, it wasn’t a fair catch. Jim Bain and Don Denkinger thought that was a blown call, and they’re both dead.

(Again with the ancient references. I’ve earned the right to tell you to Google them.)

Both these teams have won two decisive victories and lost the only close game they played. I have seen enough of both coaches to be sure that Iowa learns from its mistakes, even if it can’t always help but repeat them. And I’ve seen Minnesota get overconfident more times than I can count.

Before we are too quick to say that Iowa will Ferentz its way through this game and blow a double-digit lead in the second half by pulling the plug on the offense, then asking the defense and special teams to do too much, the signs are clear that Kirk’s opinion of P.J. is no higher than P.J.’s opinion of Kirk. Ferentz too knows that last year’s loss, while it can’t be blamed solely on a blown call, was bogus. So I am expecting the Hawks to play to the whistle in this one -- and I expect them to win.

Iowa 27, Minnesota 23