Gene Ross
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A look at Big Ten betting lines in Week 8
Gene Ross via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images
With the Buckeyes on bye, we take a look at the rest of the Big Ten slate this upcoming weekend.
Ohio State has an extra week off to reflect on its 32-31 loss to Oregon and attempt to make corrections moving forward at the halfway point of the regular season. With the Buckeyes not in action this week, our focus turns to the rest of the Big Ten slate for this week’s opening odds.
All lines are courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook. All games on Saturday unless otherwise noted.
No. 2 Oregon (-28.5) vs. Purdue - (8:00 p.m. ET Friday)
Oregon has a quick turnaround after defeating Ohio State on Saturday, traveling to West Lafayette on Friday night to take on Purdue. Luckily for the Ducks, the Boilermakers are one of the worst teams in the Big Ten, sitting at 0-3 in conference play and 1-5 overall.
Purdue was without starting quarterback Hudson Card in its 50-49 overtime loss to Illinois this past weekend, but Ryan Browne performed exceptionally in his place with 297 yards passing and three touchdowns and another 118 yards rushing. On the other side, Dillon Gabriel is coming off a masterful performance against the Buckeyes, throwing for 342 yards and two scores while rushing for another.
The only way Oregon comes away from this matchup with anything other than a blowout win is if that Spoilermaker devil magic comes into play.
Nebraska vs. No. 16 Indiana (-5.5) - (12:00 p.m. ET)
Indiana is one of the best stories of the 2024 college football season thus far. Curt Cignetti has taken over a Hoosiers team that finished 3-9 a year ago and gotten them off to a 6-0 start and up to No. 16 in the AP Poll. That being said, Nebraska will be Indiana’s toughest test yet, with Matt Rhule’s group entering this game at 5-1.
Ohio transfer Kurtis Rourke has been a revelation for the Hoosiers at quarterback, throwing for over 1,750 yards with 14 touchdowns and just two picks on the year. The Indiana defense has been just as impressive as its offense, with the units ranking 11th and 2nd nationally, respectively. Nebraska will hope to get a bounce back performance from freshman QB Dylan Raiola, who threw for just 134 yards with no touchdowns and an INT against Rutgers last time out.
Especially with this game being at home, I’m surprised the line isn’t a tad bigger in favor of Indiana.
Wisconsin (-6.5) vs. Northwestern - (12:00 p.m. ET)
Neither of these two teams are having much fun this season. Wisconsin started the year 2-0 before suffering back-to-back losses to Alabama and USC in addition to losing starting quarterback Tyler Van Dyke for the year with a torn ACL. Northwestern, who finished 8-5 last year under David Braun in a season some expected them to finish winless, has started just 3-3 this year with losses in two of their last three games.
There likely won’t be a ton of offense in this one. The Wildcats rank 109th nationally with 21.7 points per game, and Wisconsin ranks 61st nationally with 30 points per game — a number that is slightly inflated after a 52-point performance against the lowly Boilermakers. In the 11 other contests these teams have played, only once has one of them managed to reach the 40-point mark, that being the Badgers in a 42-7 over Rutgers this past weekend.
Luke Fickell’s group likely gets it done on the road, but I have little interest in this one.
UCLA vs. Rutgers (-6.5) - (12:00 p.m. ET)
Speaking of teams having a bad time, UCLA is currently dead last in the Big Ten at 0-4 in conference and 1-5 overall. The Bruins have scored only 87 total points across their six games, good for dead last in the B1G and 32 points below the next-worst team (Michigan State). Rutgers, meanwhile, was riding high after a 4-0 start, but has dropped each of its last two games to Nebraska and Wisconsin.
In a battle between the two furthest teams in the Big Ten geographically, the Scarlet Knights should relatively easily handle business here.
No. 24 Michigan (-1.5) vs. No. 22 Illinois - (3:30 p.m. ET)
A sneaky fun game in this weekend’s slate, No. 24 Michigan has to travel to No. 22 Illinois with the smallest spread the Big Ten has to offer in Week 8. Despite some less-than-stellar quarterback play to put it mildly, the Wolverines are still 4-2, with one of the losses to now-No. 1 Texas. On the flip side, Illinois sits at 5-1 on the year, with the Illini’s lone stumble a 21-7 defeat at the hands of Penn State.
Can Illinois pull off the “upset” here as the betting underdog despite being the higher-ranked team? At his best, Luke Altmeyer is able to put up points for the Illini, coming off a 379-yard passing performance against Purdue with four total touchdowns. Their defense has also been rather solid, ranking 32nd nationally allowing 20 points per game. For Michigan, they are still looking to find any sort of consistency at QB, having thrown for less than 140 yards as team in five of six games this season.
The Wolverines’ defense has been good enough to keep them afloat this season, and there is a good chance they can do that again this week, but watch out for those Fighting Illini!
USC (-7.5) vs. Maryland - (4:00 p.m. ET)
In a battle of two teams trending in the wrong direction, USC has to travel cross-country to take on Maryland. The Trojans began the year with a big win over then-No. 13 LSU, but have lost three of their last four contests, including blowing a 14-point lead over Penn State last time out. The Terrapins also got off to a solid start at 3-1, but have lost their last two games to Indiana and Northwestern.
Lincoln Riley’s offense hasn’t looked the same without a Heisman Trophy winner at quarterback, ranking 54th nationally with 30.7 points per game. They have been much better defensively in the post-Alex Grinch era, but that group is still a work in progress. Maryland has gotten great quarterback play from Billy Edwards Jr., who has thrown for over 250 yards in every game so far this season, but has not been able to translate that into points, ranking 62nd in the country with 29.5 points per game.
Riley’s Mickey Mouse offense usually only comes up to bite him against ranked opponents, so USC should handle business in College Park on Saturday.
Iowa (-6.5) vs. Michigan State - (7:30 p.m. ET)
One of the sport’s worst offenses faces off against one of the sport’s best defenses in East Lansing this weekend. Michigan State is lucky to be 3-3 to this point, having scored just 19.8 points per game to rank 118th in FBS. On the other side, the Iowa defense has been the typical Iowa defense, allowing more than 21 points in a game only once this season — a 35-7 loss to Ohio State.
Unfortunately for the Hawkeyes, the offense has also been more of the same even without Brian Ferentz. Cade McNamara has not been good at quarterback, completing less than 64% of his passes with only five touchdown passes and three interceptions on the year. For the Spartans, Aidan Chiles has somehow been even worse, completing less than 57% of his passes with five TDs and eight picks.
This game could legitimately end 3-0 and it would surprise nobody.
Continue reading...
Gene Ross via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images
With the Buckeyes on bye, we take a look at the rest of the Big Ten slate this upcoming weekend.
Ohio State has an extra week off to reflect on its 32-31 loss to Oregon and attempt to make corrections moving forward at the halfway point of the regular season. With the Buckeyes not in action this week, our focus turns to the rest of the Big Ten slate for this week’s opening odds.
All lines are courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook. All games on Saturday unless otherwise noted.
No. 2 Oregon (-28.5) vs. Purdue - (8:00 p.m. ET Friday)
Oregon has a quick turnaround after defeating Ohio State on Saturday, traveling to West Lafayette on Friday night to take on Purdue. Luckily for the Ducks, the Boilermakers are one of the worst teams in the Big Ten, sitting at 0-3 in conference play and 1-5 overall.
Purdue was without starting quarterback Hudson Card in its 50-49 overtime loss to Illinois this past weekend, but Ryan Browne performed exceptionally in his place with 297 yards passing and three touchdowns and another 118 yards rushing. On the other side, Dillon Gabriel is coming off a masterful performance against the Buckeyes, throwing for 342 yards and two scores while rushing for another.
The only way Oregon comes away from this matchup with anything other than a blowout win is if that Spoilermaker devil magic comes into play.
Nebraska vs. No. 16 Indiana (-5.5) - (12:00 p.m. ET)
Indiana is one of the best stories of the 2024 college football season thus far. Curt Cignetti has taken over a Hoosiers team that finished 3-9 a year ago and gotten them off to a 6-0 start and up to No. 16 in the AP Poll. That being said, Nebraska will be Indiana’s toughest test yet, with Matt Rhule’s group entering this game at 5-1.
Ohio transfer Kurtis Rourke has been a revelation for the Hoosiers at quarterback, throwing for over 1,750 yards with 14 touchdowns and just two picks on the year. The Indiana defense has been just as impressive as its offense, with the units ranking 11th and 2nd nationally, respectively. Nebraska will hope to get a bounce back performance from freshman QB Dylan Raiola, who threw for just 134 yards with no touchdowns and an INT against Rutgers last time out.
Especially with this game being at home, I’m surprised the line isn’t a tad bigger in favor of Indiana.
Wisconsin (-6.5) vs. Northwestern - (12:00 p.m. ET)
Neither of these two teams are having much fun this season. Wisconsin started the year 2-0 before suffering back-to-back losses to Alabama and USC in addition to losing starting quarterback Tyler Van Dyke for the year with a torn ACL. Northwestern, who finished 8-5 last year under David Braun in a season some expected them to finish winless, has started just 3-3 this year with losses in two of their last three games.
There likely won’t be a ton of offense in this one. The Wildcats rank 109th nationally with 21.7 points per game, and Wisconsin ranks 61st nationally with 30 points per game — a number that is slightly inflated after a 52-point performance against the lowly Boilermakers. In the 11 other contests these teams have played, only once has one of them managed to reach the 40-point mark, that being the Badgers in a 42-7 over Rutgers this past weekend.
Luke Fickell’s group likely gets it done on the road, but I have little interest in this one.
UCLA vs. Rutgers (-6.5) - (12:00 p.m. ET)
Speaking of teams having a bad time, UCLA is currently dead last in the Big Ten at 0-4 in conference and 1-5 overall. The Bruins have scored only 87 total points across their six games, good for dead last in the B1G and 32 points below the next-worst team (Michigan State). Rutgers, meanwhile, was riding high after a 4-0 start, but has dropped each of its last two games to Nebraska and Wisconsin.
In a battle between the two furthest teams in the Big Ten geographically, the Scarlet Knights should relatively easily handle business here.
No. 24 Michigan (-1.5) vs. No. 22 Illinois - (3:30 p.m. ET)
A sneaky fun game in this weekend’s slate, No. 24 Michigan has to travel to No. 22 Illinois with the smallest spread the Big Ten has to offer in Week 8. Despite some less-than-stellar quarterback play to put it mildly, the Wolverines are still 4-2, with one of the losses to now-No. 1 Texas. On the flip side, Illinois sits at 5-1 on the year, with the Illini’s lone stumble a 21-7 defeat at the hands of Penn State.
Can Illinois pull off the “upset” here as the betting underdog despite being the higher-ranked team? At his best, Luke Altmeyer is able to put up points for the Illini, coming off a 379-yard passing performance against Purdue with four total touchdowns. Their defense has also been rather solid, ranking 32nd nationally allowing 20 points per game. For Michigan, they are still looking to find any sort of consistency at QB, having thrown for less than 140 yards as team in five of six games this season.
The Wolverines’ defense has been good enough to keep them afloat this season, and there is a good chance they can do that again this week, but watch out for those Fighting Illini!
USC (-7.5) vs. Maryland - (4:00 p.m. ET)
In a battle of two teams trending in the wrong direction, USC has to travel cross-country to take on Maryland. The Trojans began the year with a big win over then-No. 13 LSU, but have lost three of their last four contests, including blowing a 14-point lead over Penn State last time out. The Terrapins also got off to a solid start at 3-1, but have lost their last two games to Indiana and Northwestern.
Lincoln Riley’s offense hasn’t looked the same without a Heisman Trophy winner at quarterback, ranking 54th nationally with 30.7 points per game. They have been much better defensively in the post-Alex Grinch era, but that group is still a work in progress. Maryland has gotten great quarterback play from Billy Edwards Jr., who has thrown for over 250 yards in every game so far this season, but has not been able to translate that into points, ranking 62nd in the country with 29.5 points per game.
Riley’s Mickey Mouse offense usually only comes up to bite him against ranked opponents, so USC should handle business in College Park on Saturday.
Iowa (-6.5) vs. Michigan State - (7:30 p.m. ET)
One of the sport’s worst offenses faces off against one of the sport’s best defenses in East Lansing this weekend. Michigan State is lucky to be 3-3 to this point, having scored just 19.8 points per game to rank 118th in FBS. On the other side, the Iowa defense has been the typical Iowa defense, allowing more than 21 points in a game only once this season — a 35-7 loss to Ohio State.
Unfortunately for the Hawkeyes, the offense has also been more of the same even without Brian Ferentz. Cade McNamara has not been good at quarterback, completing less than 64% of his passes with only five touchdown passes and three interceptions on the year. For the Spartans, Aidan Chiles has somehow been even worse, completing less than 57% of his passes with five TDs and eight picks.
This game could legitimately end 3-0 and it would surprise nobody.
Continue reading...