Iowa vs. Illinois PICK + SCORE PREDICTION | PICK 'EM: Week 6 college football picks

week six of college football featuring some classic matchups including the Red River rivalry between the Longhorns and the Sooners but also some interesting intriguing games this week like Maryland Purdue or how about TCU KU will get to all of those matchups and more and we'll talk about Iowa Illinois my score prediction for the Hawkeyes and the Illini we do start though in the Big 12 with TCU and Kansas Kansas still undefeated the surprise team in the Big 12 Conference coming off that win against Iowa State last week I've got KU winning this game straight up TCU the six and a half Point favorites no respect to the Jayhawks Lance Lee pulled one of the hottest candidates for many of these big jobs out there will he stay will he go he's got the Jayhawks rolling their six and a half Point underdogs but I like KU to win and of course to cover Arkansas Mississippi State the Bulldogs seven and a half Point favorites I like Mississippi State in both categories Arkansas has been a kind of a weird read this year I've missed on them a couple times but I like the Bulldogs to win this game and they win by at least 10 they cover the seven and a half Purdue Maryland one of the more underrated games in the Big Ten Conference this week of course Iowa fans continue to follow the career of Charlie Jones I mean his numbers the numbers he put up so far this year absolutely Sensational uh he's like top three in the country and almost every category that matters as a wide receiver and we're talking national rankings I got Purdue winning this game this should be an entertaining one though I predict higher scoring maybe in the 30s I like Purdue to go on the road and to win in Maryland I like LSU over Tennessee this is an interesting SEC matchup the volunteers actually two and a half Point favorites I could see LLC winning on a field goal this will be a one score game through much of the game and if anybody pulls away it will be LSU I've got the Tigers winning and covering the number Texas and Oklahoma in the Red River rivalry this rivalry has lost some Pizzazz it seems like over the past 10 years but I do like the fact that it sounds like Quinn yours is expected to play this Saturday that should spice things up Oklahoma right now The Underdogs at home how about that did you ever think that would be the case heading into the year seven point underdogs a Longhorns favored by a touchdown and a p-a-t I've got OU winning at home of course covering the number so so far you see a trend in my picks this week a lot of teams that I've got underdogs not only covering but winning straight up Michigan and IU that's the Hoosiers and the Wolverines right now Michigan 22 and a half Point favorites I had a hard time with this one I mean I I look at Indiana and they're far over matched the 22 and a half is a real big number I'll take the Hoosiers to cover but Michigan wins the game Utah and UCLA the Utes favored by three and a half on the road against the Bruins I like Utah to win I like them to cover Texas Tech and Oklahoma State should be another shootout down uh in Stillwater Oklahoma State favored by nine and a half I like Okie State not only to win but to cover that number and I don't know if there's data to support that but it just seems like in games like this we tend to see a lot of points scored it's easier for a game to kind of get away from you if you're a Texas Tech when you have a volatile offense and they're of course they're playing at home that's an advantage I like Oklahoma State to win by a couple touchdowns UNC and Miami Miami struggling this year it's been a weird year for the hurricane so much hype with a new coaching regime I think they bounced back against Mack Brown on the Tar Heels they'll win and they'll cover the number they're favored by three and a half Florida State and North Carolina State the wolf pack another surprise team this year in college football but to many not a surprise they were picked highly mainly because of quarterback play heading into the season they are coming off the loss to Clemson but I Like the Wolf Pack here to win and to cover at home and finally Alabama at home massive favorites against a really good program in Texas A M the Crimson tied 23 and a half Point favorites against the Aggies I like Texas A M to cover the number again it's a really big number I like Texas A M to cover but Bama wins at home I could see this game being close all right let's not forget what Zach calzada and the Aggies did to Alabama last year not saying we'll have a repeat of this game of that game in Tuscaloosa but I like Alabama to win this game maybe a tight one a surprising tight one I don't know that Alabama is as Invincible as I initially thought this year of course Texas pushed him um Arkansas didn't really push him they put up some points against the tide um again it's kind of like an Ohio State game where you're you're reading into trying to find the flaws and certainly Nick Saban will correct whatever defensive issues they had last week against the Razorbacks but again I like Alabama to win that game straight up and finally of course Iowa and Illinois for you Iowa fans who are watching the game you care about I think this is a must win I talked about it in my preview if you missed the preview you can click on the little card up in the corner of the screen here on YouTube I like Illinois I like Illinois I'm not trying to to uh shock people I mean I don't think that's really shocking given the fact that Illinois right now at least the last check um they're favored by three and a half um to me the directions of these two teams couldn't be um in Greater contrast um I'm not saying that uh Iowa can't win this game but uh Brett balham was doing a great job down in Champaign he's made a tremendous effort this week to get Butts in seats and you may make fun of them because they're not able to get sellouts and they were 20 000 tickets available earlier this week this has been a program it's been almost non-existent for the last decade so and actually more than that more like the last 15 years right 2007 I think was the juice Williams year but look Brett Milner just got here and they've already blown out Wisconsin blew out Virginia um they blew out a couple of inferior teams in Chattanooga and Wyoming should have beaten Indiana and you may say well that's not a tough schedule at all well when have we ever seen Illinois dominate other power five teams they've done that multiple times this year so I get Wisconsin's not uh what they typically are we'll see how the Badgers finish off their year with a new head coach um but I I just think Brett is a different cat it's not like when Iowa played Rutgers and Piscataway a couple of weeks ago it's not like when Iowa played Lovie Smith and those Illini teams prior and Iowa struggled at times I mean 2020 they struggled against the Illini in Champaign even last year against Brett's team they struggled um at home Iowa was down 10-0 Charlie Jones pops off a big return kickoff return for a touchdown on that game so Iowa has the tendency to struggle with Illinois and this game on the road at night again I think the efforts to get fans in seats will work and this is I've heard some people on Twitter Illini people talk about how this might be the biggest game in the last decade for Illinois fans recipe for disaster for Iowa's sputtering offense and talk about a recipe for disaster Illinois defense in every category has been Elite this year and again you can criticize the schedule but we've got a big enough sample size against multiple power five teams and Wyoming is a good program another kind of down this year given some transfer portal issues and even some coaching malfunctions during the off season my point though is there's enough sample size now to where even if Illinois is not a top five defense in the country they're likely more than likely almost certainly a top 25 defense in the country they've got an opportunity to hold Iowa down to single digits in this game if you can do that which is not real hard I mean South Dakota state did it to Iowa Iowa State did it to Iowa Michigan basically did it to Iowa and you don't accomplate garbage touchdown I I just I'm nervous about this game and I just think being objective as I try to be here I don't want Illinois to win I just think Illinois gets it done behind a big game from Chase Brown and a Run game for Iowa that's going to be non-existent I'm afraid given the run defense for the Illini they have been really really impressive they've also gotten to the quarterback a lot I saw stat earlier today that basically indicated that Illinois's top five in the country and quarterback pressures wow that's going to be a struggle Iowa struggling at quarterback struggling up front they struggled to stop the run last week I'm not trying to be Debbie Downer I got the Illini to win and to cover the three and a half in Champaign of course regardless of the game result we'll be here with you live taking your calls taking your chats and breaking it all down with Iowa former Iowa football coach assistant coach Don Patterson will be live right here from the Hawkeye of the storm we'll be simulcasting on our sister Channel Iowa football at the voice of college football the game of course 6 30 p.m Central Time on BTN this Saturday Iowa post game live with Coach Don Patterson to follow right here from the Hawkeye of the storm we'll see you then