NCAAF Picks: After coming within an inch of getting fired last year Nebraska Cornhuskers head coach Bo Pelini has his team looking like a real threat to win the Big Ten title, and perhaps earn a berth in the first ever final four playoff in college football. The defending Big Ten champion Michigan State Spartans are one of the toughest and nastiest teams in the land and have a defense that will give the resurgent Nebraska offense its toughest test to date.
The Spartans will host the Cornhuskers on Saturday night with coverage on ABC starting at 8 PM ET. Michigan State is listed as a seven-point favorite.
Big Red in the Black
Nebraska is 5-0 straight up, 4-1 against the spread, and 3-2 over the total. The Huskers are coming off a 45-14 home payout over Illinois. RB Ameer Abdullah is a top shelf Heisman candidate with 7.3 yards per carry while QB Tommy Armstrong has a 154.2 QB rating with a 10-3 TD-INT ratio. The defense has shown marked improvement to rank 28th in the nation for points allowed.
Sparty flashes Green
Michigan State is 3-1 SU and ATS and 4-0 over the total after last week’s 56-14 home payout over Wyoming. The Spartans defense ranks 11th overall in the nation as expected but the offense has made a huge leap to rank third for scoring as QB Connor Cook has a sensational 192.3 QB rating with a 9-2 TD-INT ratio.
Matchup and Pick
Nebraska has been a strong board value on the road as of late with five payouts in their last six away games as four out of their last six away games have gone under the total. Michigan State has been strong at home however with six payouts in their last eight games at Spartan Stadium as 12 out of their last 18 home games have gone under the total. Nebraska has come away with the cash in five out of their last six games with Michigan State as the last two meetings in this head to head series have gone over the total. The one time Sparty covered against the Big Red, however, was last year in a 41-28 win at Nebraska. Nebraska won their last visit to Michigan State 28-24 in 2012. We’ll take a salty Michigan State (-7) to cover in this Big Ten showdown!
