The Gophers have covered their past seven Big Ten games and need this game if they want to be a serious factor in the Big Ten race.

I'm not sold on Northwestern even though the Wildcats have upset Penn State and Wisconsin during the past two weeks. The Badgers were done in by poor quarterback play as much as Northwestern. The Wildcats are just 3-12 ATS in their last 15 games. They don't have the depth and front line talent to pull off a third straight Big Ten upset.

While the Wildcats are in a celebration mood after defeating Wisconsin, Minnesota was idle last week. The Gophers' 30-7 road loss to TCU doesn't look so bad now that the Horned Frogs knocked off Oklahoma this past weekend.

Minnesota is better than Northwestern, is at home and in the better spot. Add it all up and the Gophers easily win by more than a field goal.