Hosts JR and Zach kick off The Big Ten Huddle with excitement for the 2025 college football season, vowing not to overreact to Week 1 results. They preview Thursday/Friday Big Ten games: Rutgers favored by 14.5 over Ohio (predicting a close first half but Rutgers pull-away, 37-17 or 34-20); Minnesota by 18.5 vs Buffalo (expecting a tight game early due to new QB Drake Lindsey, final 28-13); Wisconsin by 17.5 vs Miami (OH); Michigan State by 19.5 vs Western Michigan; and Illinois by 45.5 vs Western Illinois (debating the high over/under of 63.5). They highlight Rutgers' veteran secondary challenges and strong edge rush, while noting Ohio's QB Parker Navarro facing former teammates. For Minnesota, they discuss Buffalo's strengths like RB LJ Henderson and edge Kobe Stewart testing new Gopher tackles, with optimism for RB Darius Taylor. The episode features a deep dive into Nebraska vs Cincinnati and Ohio State vs Texas, emphasizing key players and strategies. They introduce the weekly "SEC Stunners" segment, picking potential upsets like Syracuse over Tennessee (JR's choice, citing Fran Brown's coaching and Tennessee's overrated status) and Florida State over Alabama (Zach's bold pick, highlighting FSU's senior O-line and Alabama's hype under Kalen DeBoer). Banter includes corn puns for Nebraska fans, FanDuel odds, and chat interactions. The show wraps with thanks to viewers, nearing 2100 across platforms, and plugs for a Big Ten fantasy league.

More from JR:
Personal Twitter: https://x.com/jrs_rankings
Big Ten Twitter: https://x.com/TheBigTenHuddle
Read JR's Ohio State coverage: https://scarletandgame.com/author/jrhoades1
Read JR's Illinois coverage: https://writingillini.com/author/jrhoades1

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Catch The Big Ten Huddle Football Episodes 3 times a week. Here is when to catch our live or premiere episodes that are about an hour long (eastern time):

• Sunday at 9 PM w/ Zack


• Tuesday at 9 PM w/ Zack


• Thursday at 9 PM w/ Jeff

You can also expect videos by JR throughout the week covering news and interesting topics.

*All times are Eastern time

AUDIO ONLY PLATFORMS

The Big Ten Huddle is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon.

LISTEN: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/TheBigTenHuddle

LEAVE a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-college-huddle-podcast/id1703305789

STREAM on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4tMaraKvafFzjUrXGq2c4w

The Big Ten Huddle is a podcast dedicated to providing honest, humorous, and insightful analysis of Big Ten football and basketball. With a focus on challenging the national bias, especially against the SEC, hosts JR and Zack offer unfiltered discussions that engage fans of all Big Ten teams. Though critical at times, they always aim to defend the conference and give credit where it’s due, bringing humor and deep analysis together for a unique listening experience.

Rooted in values of integrity, passion, and community, The Big Ten Huddle strives to become the go-to voice for Big Ten sports fans.

There is no show out there like The Big Ten Huddle!

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