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Minnesota (-6) at Illinois || 11am, ESPNU
Straight-Up: Minnesota, 9-0 || Against the Spread: Minnesota, 9-0
DJ Carver: Minnesota at Illinois: Minnesota, and they cover. If you are only favored by 6 against Illinois, this is why the Gophers shouldn't be in playoff talk.
Graham Filler: Minnesota wins, covers
Aaron Yorke See guys? Vegas doesn't believe in the Gophers either. I still think they beat Illinois by at least a touchdown, though. Goldy 27-17
AK: Gophs win and cover. Did we forget exactly how bad Illinois is at defending the run, and that running is all Minnesota wants to do?
CE Bell: If this line was Minnesota (-20), I'd still take the Gophers. This will be an absolute stomping, a chance to bet the life savings on a sure thing.
Jesse Collins: Minny over Illinois and the cover. Not sure why the spread is so low, except that Minnesota wins close? Let's give the Golden Gophers a 21-10 win.
Babaoreally: Minnesota to win and cover
GoForThree: Minnesewda over Illinois. With Wes Lunt this would've been a real trap game, but I can't see Minnesota's run game being slowed down too much by Illinois. Gophers with the win and cover.
MNWildcat: Illinois can't defend the run. Minnesota can run. Sometimes, simple narratives are simple for a reason. Gophers go to 7-1 and get ranked. Behold, the time of the Goperhing is coming. As Glen is my witness, so it approaches. Minnesota, 31-20.
Maryland at Wisconsin (-11.5) || 11am, BTN
SU: Wisconsin, 9-0 || ATS: Maryland, 7-2
DJ: Wisconsin, but Maryland covers. I'm not sure that Maryland can contain Gordon, and that is all Wisconsin needs.
GF: Wisconsin wins, Maryland covers
AY: The Badgers haven't looked all that great since destroying Bowling Green have they? This game should be a test for them. Bucky 24-21
AK: Wisconsin wins; I'll hesitantly take the points. Maryland misses Halloween in Madison by a week, so unfortunately there's not much silver lining to this trip for the Terps.
CEB: Maryland covers, Wisconsin wins: Maryland is starting to make me a believer, but I don't think they'll get quite as many breaks against the Badgers (coming off a bye) as they did against Iowa. Call it a 7 point Badger win.
JC: Wisconsin over Maryland because it's at Camp Randall and if Nebraska had to get beaten to a bloody pulp during out inaugural foray into the B1G, I think everyone should. Oh, and I think Maryland's rushing defense is still suspect despite what happened against Iowa. Gordon does what Gordon does and the Badgers win going away. 41-24
Babaoreally: Wisconsin to win, Maryland to cover
GoForThree: Wisconsin over Maryland. Maryland had no answer for the OSU running or passing attacks. Wisconsin couldn't throw a party at this point, but Melvin Gordon is an order of magnitude better than any on the young Buckeyes that Maryland couldn't contain. It still ends up being closer than it should. Wisconsin 42-31.
MNW: Welcome to Camp Randall, Maryland. Stay home and save yourself from the assholes. Badgers, 40-20.
Rutgers at #16 Nebraska (-16.5) || 11am, ESPN2
SU: Nebraska, 9-0 || ATS: Nebraska, 8-1
DJ: Nebraska, and they cover. Sorry Rutgers, but unless Gary SuperNova shows up, Abdullah is going to single handedly put this one away.
GF: Nebraska wins, covers
AY: Hard to imagine this one going better for the Knights than the road trip to Columbus. Huskers 37-17
AK: NU (so sayeth the game results) wins and covers. Somewhat like last week, I expect a close game for a while before Abdullah, Armstrong & Co pull away.
CEB: Just have the feeling that 2nd half against Northwestern is the start of some good things for the Huskers, who were playing well on both sides of the ball and are relatively healthy. One thing to watch is Rutgers' special teams against Nebraska's good return game....could help Rutgers at least sneak in a cover if they can make a big special teams play. As it is, Huskers win, cover.
JC: Nebraska over Rutgers because I think Nebraska seems to be a decent enough team that should take advantage of Rutgers quite generous defense. They are allowing 6.28 yards per play, and while Nebraska is still figuring out its passing game, the addition of another weapon - De'Mornay Piersen-El -to spread a defense thin, I think the Huskers win big at home. 48-24
Babaoreally: Nebraska to win, Rutgers to cover
GoForThree: Nebraska over Rutgers. After last week's drubbing at the hands of a good-not-great OSU team, I really feel as though Rutgers is a paper tiger at this point in the season. A win over Michigan counts for nothing this year in terms of quality. I think Nebraska goes hog with with Abdullah and Nova turns in a blah performance, complete with a pick. Nebraska 41-17.
MNW: Bo Pelini made a great halftime adjustment, and my head is still spinning. Can he go back to calling referees chickenshit? Because those were simpler, four-lossier times. And if Nebraska can put it all together, we'll see a lot more halves from the Huskers like the second half in Evanston.Huskers, 41-17.
Michigan at Michigan State (-17) || 2:30pm, ABC
SU: Michigan State, 9-0 || ATS: MSU, 6-3
DJ: MSU, and they cover. Can Michigan rush for less than -48 this year?
GF: MSU wins, covers
AY: Sparty has been playing opponents a little too close for comfort lately. Michigan has the defense to keep this one relatively close.MSU 27-13
AK: Too close for comfort, Aaron? 40 points is too close for comfort? Whatevs. MSU wins and covers.
CEB: Michigan State over Michigan: Mark Dantonio says that mercy does not exist in Sparty's dojo....at least when Michigan is visiting. Sparty easily covers, and gives Michigan one of its worse losses ever against "little brother."
JC: Michigan State over Michigan because Michigan is still not a good football team. 38-9
Babaoreally: Michigan State to win, Michigan to cover.
GoForThree: Michigan State over Michigan because Michigan. 35-6.
MNW: Michigan State is giving up the second-highest YPC of any team in the top 25 in rushing yards allowed per game. For all our criticisms of them, Michigan isn't running the ball at a terrible clip. Oh, and Michigan's run defense is better on both YPC and YPG than Michigan State. It's strange times we live in. For a couple quarters on Saturday, I wonder if we won't think they're about to get stranger. Michigan State, 27-20.
#13 Ohio State (-13.5) at Penn State || 7pm, ABC
SU: OSU, 9-0 || ATS: OSU, 9-0
DJ: OSU, and they cover. Blowout game of the week.
GF: OSU wins, covers
AY: Going to look a lot like last season's game, unfortunately. OSU 42-17
AK: Bad OL+ Joey Bosa and friends = Hackenberg shards all over the field. OSU wins and covers.
CEB: OSU over Penn State: I pity Christian Hackenberg. He's going to get destroyed by Ohio State's d-line in this game. Buckeyes cover.
JC: OSU over Penn State because OSU is a good football team, JT Barrett doesn't suck, and the OSU defensive line is so much better than the PSU offensive line. I think OSU drops 50 again. 52-21
Babaoreally: Ohio State to win and cover
GoForThree: OSU over Penn State because I cannot stand the thought of that stupid "white out" gimmick resulting in any success, period. Hack is a tall oak, waiting to be felled over and over and over by Joey Bosa and Michael Bennett. Penn State's defense let Michigan score 18 points, which is as damning as anything. OSU still makes me sweat and wins 33-20.
MNW: Get fucked, James Franklin. Buckeyes, 48-17.
Staff Standings Through Week 8:
| Head to Head Standings | Against The Spread Standings | |||||
| Rank | Picker | H2H | Rank | Picker | ATS | |
| 1 | Mike | 80.00% | 1 | Graham | 61.90% | |
| 2 | MNW | 76.60% | 2 | Andrew | 52.08% | |
| 3 | Aaron Y | 75.00% | 3 | Mike | 51.43% | |
| 3 | Andrew | 75.00% | 4 | Jesse | 50.00% | |
| 3 | DJ Carver | 75.00% | 5 | Aaron Y | 47.92% | |
| 3 | Jesse | 75.00% | 5 | DJ Carver | 47.92% | |
| 4 | babaoreally | 72.73% | 6 | GF3 | 46.88% | |
| 4 | C.E. Bell | 72.73% | 7 | babaoreally | 45.45% | |
| 5 | Graham | 71.43% | 8 | MNW | 44.68% | |
| 6 | KC_H | 64.29% | 9 | KC_H | 42.86% | |
| 7 | GF3 | 62.50% | 10 | C.E. Bell | 36.36% | |
| 8 | Ray Ransom | 58.06% | 11 | Ray Ransom | 32.26% | |
Mike has taken the lead after Week 8 with his shutout performance on Head to Head last week (he went 2-3 ATS). Graham is still rolling ATS while his competition took a dive. Actually, everyone did outside of DJ, Graham, GF3, and KC_Hawkeye. Everyone went 4-1 or under .500, there was no middle ground.
-DJ Carver