Northwestern @ Illinois

The Illini enter this contest unbeaten, their first 4-0 start since 1951, and an impressive 17-14 win over Arizona State, who took it to USC this past weekend 43-22. Meanwhile, Northwestern is 2-1, coming off a disappointing 21-14 loss to Army. As expected, the Fighting Illini are a 7 point favorite and look like a sure thing come Saturday. However, in the words of Lee Corso “Not so fast my friend”, the long awaited return of Danny Persa is upon us, Persa has been cleared to play this weekend and with him on the field the Wildcats are, simply put, a much better team. In their last five meeting, Northwestern has won three, they have split the last four, with Illinois winning the “One Way Bowl” @ Wrigley Field last year 48-27. Illinois and Northwesters were the only teams from the same state that the Big Ten put in different divisions, Northwestern in the Legends and the Illini in the Leaders. Purdue and Indiana are together in the Leaders and Michigan and Michigan State are in the Legends. So these long time rivals meet for the first time representing their respective division: Persa needs time and Illinois survives at home.