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The Minnesota Golden Gophers welcome the Nebraska Cornhuskers to Huntington Bank Stadium in Minneapolis Thursday. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. ET (FOX). Below, we analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s lines around the Nebraska vs. Minnesota odds, and make our expert college football picks and predictions.
The Golden Gophers will start redshirt sophomore QB Athan Kaliakmanis, who played in 11 games last season and ended with 946 yards and 3 TDs. They will have 5 new starters on both sides of the ball. None will be more important than Western Michigan transfer RB Sean Tyler, who totaled 1,000-plus rushing yards in his last 2 seasons with the Broncos. Minnesota was 5-2 at home last season, losing to Purdue and Iowa.
The Cornhuskers will have 4 new starters on both sides of the ball. They finished last season 4-8 and 3-6 in Big Ten action. Nebraska will be starting transfer QB Jeff Sims, who spent 3 seasons with Georgia Tech, throwing for 1,115 yards in 7 games last season. He is a dual-threat weapon. The team will also have to fill the void left by WR Trey Palmer (1,043 receiving yards).
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Nebraska at Minnesota odds
Provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Wednesday at 7:07 p.m. ET,
- Moneyline (ML): Nebraska +220 (bet $100 to win $220) | Minnesota -275 (bet $275 to win $100)
- Against the spread (ATS): Nebraska +7 (-110) | Minnesota -7 (-110)
- Over/Under (O/U): 43.5 (O: -105 | U: -115)
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Nebraska at Minnesota picks and predictions
Prediction
Minnesota 27, Nebraska 14
Moneyline
PASS.
The Golden Gophers have a more experienced roster and more holdover from what was a solid team last season. At home, they should come out on top, but at (-275), they aren’t worth betting on the moneyline here.
Similarly, Nebraska was 2-2 on the road in Big Ten play and is taking on a side that should be better than it was a year ago. Ultimately, pass here.
Against the spread
BET MINNESOTA -7 (-110).
Minnesota was better last season against the spread (ATS) than Nebraska. It was 7-6 compared to the Cornhuskers 5-7. The Golden Gophers were 5-2 ATS at home as well.
While Kaliakmanis didn’t put up great numbers last season, Sims struggled to make much of an impact with the Yellow Jackets, who were just 5-7 with him leading the way. The addition of Tyler should help Minnesota’s offense find some traction.
Nebraska lost its best offensive weapon, and it will try to cope with that by having the dual-threat Sims and several weapons it had on last season’s team step up. The chemistry may not be there, and it is expected to struggle.
Take the home side. Back MINNESOTA -7 (-110).
Over/Under
LEAN UNDER 43.5 (-115).
Sims ended last season with a 58.5% completion rate. Kaliakmanis had just a 54.1%.
Despite both QBs being solid as rushers, not being able to drive the ball downfield will hurt the total here. Touchdowns will be sparing in this game.
Nebraska was just 4-8 O/U last season while Minnesota was 5-7-1 O/U. Expect sloppy football to start the season and back UNDER 43.5 (-115).
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