My picks are a little bit different from Brendan Smith's picks.

11 AM: Indiana @ No. 23 Michigan

Hey, they're both undefeated! Except one beat ranked Notre Dame, and is Michigan, and the other did not and is not.

Pick: Michigan

Pick in a mascot fight to the death: Conventional wisdom goes with the wolverine over the Hoosier, and I can't disagree. But I have a feeling that this is a closer matchup than you'd expect it to be - a wolverine is pretty much a dog, but a really angry, strong dog. If the Hoosier is armed, it's a no contest, but I've been assuming the Hoosier isn't armed thus far. Game, Indiana. (Mascot death fight records: Wolverines, 2-2, Indiana, 1-3)

11 AM: Michigan State @ Wisconsin

As 3-0 teams go, Wisconsin may be the least impressive in the conference. I've said it all year, I really just don't know what Wisconsin is supposed to do well. I'll take a team that loses by three to Notre Dame over a team that beats Fresno State by three. Somewhere, Javon Ringer and PJ Hill are playing a much, much, much more interesting game than this one.

Pick: Michigan State

Pick in a mascot fight to the death: A spartan would crush a badger, probably with his bare hands, but he'd use a spear if he needed it. Game, MSU. (Mascot death fight records: Spartans, 4-0, Badgers, 1-3.)

2:30: Illinois @ No. 13 Ohio State.

Talking about teams that don't seem good at anything, your Illinois Fighting Illini!

Pick: Ohio State

Pick in a mascot fight to the death: If there's one thing I've made clear on this site, it's that a buckeye is a nut. Commenter The Thief pointed out that a buckeye is a poisonous nut, and that if you ate it, you would die, but, that's a pretty easy one to avoid, also, if you eat the Buckeye, you've won already, it just so happens that you'll die a brutal death by poisonous nut a few hours later. Long story short, the Buckeyes are on their way to an 0-12 (probably 0-13) mascot death fight season. Game, Illinois. (mascot death fight records: Buckeyes, 0-4, Illini, 2-1)

7: Iowa @ No. 5 Penn State.

I heard these teams played last year, but I'm not fully sure on that. Lightning only strikes once, people. Iowa's good and all, but not that good.

Pick: Penn State

Pick in a mascot fight to the death: I've been running with the assumption that the Hawkeye is either somebody from Iowa or the disembodied eye of a hawk. Either way, I think a freakin lion kills it. Game, Penn State. (Mascot death fight records: Penn State, 4-0, Iowa, 0-4)

7: Notre Dame @ Purdue

Purdue: no longer my sleeper team in the Big Ten. Sometimes I shouldn't decide various teams are sleeper teams just because I feel like it. Either way, Purdue should hide their big drum, or else Golden Tate will do horrible things to it. 

Pick: Notre Dame. 

Pick in a mascot fight to the death: The Irish are 0-2 against Big Ten opponents with tough matchups against the Wolverines and Spartans. Wolverines and spartans are both noted for their intensity. Meanwhile, the Boilermaker is an engineer who spends all day making boilers, while the Fighting Irish are a bunch of Irish guys who fight a lot and are presumably very skilled at their old-timey fisticuffs boxing. Game, Notre Dame.(Boilermakers mascot death fight record: 3-1)

Anyway, that's that. I'll have an NU preview post up later, so, keeps an eye out.