5. Northwestern at Michigan
LINE Michigan -23.5
ATS PICK Michigan
That’s a big, giant spread for a Michigan team that needed to work way too hard to beat a mediocre Nebraska and broke everyone’s point spread heart in a 20-13 win over Rutgers.
But it had two weeks off to rest up.
Consider this more of a I-don’t-believe-in-Northwestern thing than thinking Michigan is a be-all-end-all team.
It’s a tad concerning that Michigan State dominated the opener over Northwestern about as easily as possible and still only won by 17.
It’s a tad concerning that the Rutgers team that pushed Michigan lost to the Wildcats last week by 14.
It’s a tad concerning that Northwestern has an SEC quarterback in Ryan Hilinski who won’t be fazed by The Big House and has been okay over the last two weeks. On the other side …
It’s even more concerning that Michigan has had those two weeks off, Northwestern got obliterated on the road by Nebraska 56-7 a few games ago, and couldn’t stop a horrendous Duke team in Durham.
The Michigan offense will take over right away, and then it’ll be a question of whether or not the defense can hang on as Northwestern keeps trying when down a bazillion.