Hlastradamus: Hawkeyes, Cyclones will keep you warm

Hlastradamus went AWOL last week. Then he remembered he is a free spirit. You can get a little addle-minded after several centuries.

So the prophet has returned to us this week. He said 'If Gophers and Horned Frogs are part of this college football business, how serious can it really be?

Well, when has free money not been a serious thing? So, with the seer's services, here come five winners to help you upgrade your lifestyle.

Iowa -7 vs. Minnesota

Here are things the prophet can't stop wrapping his crystal ball around: The Gophers lost to Maryland. The Gophers lost to Purdue. The Gophers were tied with Illinois last week with five minutes left.

The Hawkeyes have had run-game problems and Minnesota has not. But the forward pass is a concept with the Gophs and only that.

You know playing under the lights at Kinnick Stadium always seems worth a few points for Iowa, and this will be no different.

Iowa State +6.5 vs. TCU

Hlastradamus fears the Frogs. Not TCU's, mind you, but the ones that keep you up all night with their incessant noise while you're trying to get a decent night's sleep in a rain forest.

Iowa State is 6-1 against the point spread this year. It covered its last three games by an average of 28.5 points to spare per game.

That means if you bet on the Cyclones in those games, you didn't have as much as a bead of sweat of worry on you.

TCU is the real deal, and for some reason Iowa State has saved its best for the road. But when a team is covering the way the Cyclones are covering and it's getting 6.5 at home, that's a horse he'll keep riding.

Penn State +6.5 at Ohio State

It's asking a lot for Penn State to come right back with another dazzling performance the week after it treated Michigan like a Rutgers. To ask it to do so when it has to go to Ohio State is even more.

The Buckeyes have been in full-pummel mode their last four games, never held under 54 points in that stretch. But the foes were UNLV, Rutgers, Maryland and Nebraska. There isn't a defense to be found among that quartet. Penn State has a defense.

The prophet has misgivings about this pick since Urban Meyer still is Urban Meyer, and had two weeks to ready his men for this game in an atmosphere that will be unkind and unforgiving to the Nittany Lions. But one of his golden rules is to always take 6.5 points when the team you're given has won its last dozen games against Big Ten opponents.

Michigan State -2.5 at Northwestern

Hlastradamus has personally witnessed Michigan State and Northwestern in action this month.

He thinks more of the Spartans.

Nebraska +6 at Purdue

Is this where we're at, Nebraska? You're a 6-point underdog at Purdue?

Wow. Just wow.

Let's try to be analytical here. The Boilermakers scored 10, 9 and 12 points in three of their last four games. And they're going to be win this one by 6? After they just lost last week at ... Rutgers?

No. Just no.

But the prophet says nothing since the 15th Century has prepared him for the shock of the Huskers being a 6-point dog at Purdue, and is again contemplating going AWOL despite not having any military ties. It's not easy being several centuries old, folks.