Mike: What would the spread be for the game we were supposed to have this week: Tennessee at Nebraska?
Jon: I would really rather be playing Tennessee. I mean, there’s not really much buzz early in this season. Certainly not nationally. I don’t think it’s a good look for the program.
Jarek: I’d like to point out that Tennessee originally cancelled years ago, but then we decided to cancel it again…oh well.
Andy: Here’s the thing about dropping P4 non-cons (we weren’t the only ones dropping them). At
the time, the SEC wasn’t budging on moving to a 9-game conference schedule. In addition, they were scheduling one of their weak non-cons in November or at least October basically providing themselves a bye week late in the year. ‘Bama, Auburn, Miss St, Ole Miss and the aTm still do this. Several Big 10 schools took it upon themselves to start dropping those P4 non-cons to even the scales a bit. The SEC has since moved to a 9-game conference schedule, so we’ll likely see those tougher games added back down the road, especially with more CFP expansion coming.
Mississippi State (-1.5) at Minnesota
Mike: Wow… the Goofers with a non-con game of relevance. (Ducks as he remembers Nebraska’s schedule.) Hail 34, Goofs 24
Jon: I think you’ve got Drake Lindsey and Darius Taylor. Which are a good one-two punch for the Gopher offense. Kamario Taylor is the Mississippi State quarterback. 354 yards and four touchdowns last week in a win over UL Monroe. And he’s a scrambler, so Minnesota will have to stay honest on defense. Minnesota 24, Miss State 21
Jarek: I think this one should be an interesting case as to which is better, the Minnesota run game or the Mississippi State pass game. It’s still relatively warm out, so I think the edge has to go to the Minnesota run game, as that could wear some people down. Plus, to hell with the SEC and their shenanigans. Minnesota 27, Mississippi State 21
Andy: I’m going with Goof Bastards merely since they can be a completely different team at home. I might regret this since the money has swung a -2.5 opening line for Minnesota to making them a +1.5 underdog. Let’s hope the money is wrong. Goofies 27 Missy St 23
Oklahoma (-5.5) at Michigan
Mike: Why do I have this suspicion that Michigan would like to return a thousand or two of those seconds this week. Sooners 38, Weasels 17
Jon: I don’t bet normally, but I would take Oklahoma to cover because Michigan was just terrible last week. Bryce Underwood was mediocre at best. I would expect Oklahoma to win this by 14 to 17 points. Oklahoma 31, Michigan 17
Jarek: Speaking of shenanigans, can Michigan actually do anything good without being more corrupt than FIFA? Their last national title in football was tainted, and now they can’t even beat Western Michigan without asking for more time. Proof that Michigan is the dredge of America. I’m writing a petition to have it banned from the U.S and given to Canada. As much as I will hate hearing the Oklahoma band playing the same 5 notes, I won’t be able to get enough of it. Oklahoma 34 Michigan 10
Andy: The Michigan imaginary law degree squad has been working overtime to point out that it’s not in writing anywhere that the replay booth has to use the game/stadium clock if their secret clock is out of sync – but are happy to ignore a little phrase called “standard practices”, which that very much has been since official reviews became a thing. The fact that Big 10 replay officials chose to “forget” this is highly suspicious given that their history of shady decisions has basically moved from “consistently sketchy” to…well…standard practices.
The game? I don’t think it will be a monstrous blowout given Michigan’s defense, but this team has struggled to score points since Connor Stalions stopped telling the boys what defense was awaiting them.If they couldn’t hit double figures against the MAC…let’s just say they’re going down, while we check out their crowning shame after the 12-7 loss below. Sooners 23 Weasels 9
Duke (+5.5) at Illinois
Mike: Not sure why the Illini are favored in this one, to be honest. Dookys 42, Illini 28
Jarek: I think Duke didn’t look that great against a vastly revamped Tulane last week. Illinois could still be a wild card amongst the Big Ten’s mediocre teams, but it should be good enough to beat last year’s ACC Champs. Illinois 34 Duke 27
Andy: This might be a different line had Darian Mensah not transferred to Miami, but transfer he did and the Dookies managed just 17 on Tulane without him. Illinois had their own struggles with UAB, winning comfortably, but looking far from dominant. Let’s take the Illini in a close one. Illinois 27 Duke 25
Ohio State (-1.5) at Texas
Mike: Vegas has been sending this line back and forth like a Novak Djokovic/Daniil Medvedev tennis match. Not sure why, because this one should be all Buckeyes. An Ohio State University 45, Cows 27
Jon: Texas has Arch Manning. Ohio State has Jeremiah Smith and their quarterback Julian Sayin. Texas may have a lot of athletes, but I don’t think that Steve Sarkisian is a very good coach, at least a coach who is going to win a national title. If Arch is going to win a Heisman, he has to win this game. Ohio State 34, Texas 28
Jarek: The less I can hear “Texas Fight”, I mean “I’ve been working on the railroad”, the better. Bevo, it’s what’s for dinner. Texas is the SEC’s nearly team, a la Penn State under James Franklin. Ohio State had no problems with that type of team and they won’t here either. Ohio State 30 Texas 27
Andy: Arch Manning folding against a quality opponent while gaggles of sportswriters who again consider him one of the best in the country and a Heisman candidate wail about how it’s everyone’s fault but his own? Hell, yes, I’m in. Buckeyes 30 Texas 17
Bowling Green (-30.5) at Nebraska
Mike: After the Falcons lost to FCS Tarleton State last week, I’m sad that we get this matchup instead of Rocky Top Tennessee. Eddie George, please leave your Heisman at will call. This one should be a name-your-score Saturday. Huskers 63, Falcons 7
Jon: Nebraska 52, Bowling Green 10
Jarek: It was the best of the MAC, it was the worst of the MAC. This line has steadily went up throughout the week, so that should tell you a fair amount of what people think. Having said that, I could use the not struggling for 30 minutes against this team. Ohio is far better than Bowling Green. BG keeps it close for 15-20 minutes. Nebraska cruises from there. Nebraska 49 Bowling Green 3
Andy: As I’ve written a couple of times this week, FCS Tarleton State had a 250 yard rusher against the Falcons. He’s a 5’9” 180lb 5th year senior who has never rushed for over 634 yards in a season. No offense to the Texans, but he’d be 4th string or lower were he a Husker and our offensive line is likely a level up from theirs as well. Add in the fact we have a passing game to defend and it looks like a long evening for the Falcons. HUSKERS 56 Bowling Green 13
