Much like Michigan football’s performance against Army last week, I was able to escape by saving enough face to move forward through the season with nothing but improvement on my mind.
Week 2’s edition of these picks started out horribly, but we rallied toward the end and came out even on the afternoon. Let’s hope for a better Week 3.
(Editor’s note: Already off to a bad start because this piece was pushed back to Saturday this week)
Last week’s record: 6-6
Season overall: 15-11
I am not a betting man, but if I were, here are the picks for Week 3.
Eastern Michigan at Illinois (-7), O/U: 56
Illinois should be favored by much more than this at home against a MAC opponent, but this line opened at eight points and is down to seven in a lot of places. I like Brandon Peters and the Illini to cover that.
Pick: Illinois (-7)
No. 21 Maryland (-6.5) at Temple, O/U: 66.5
I thought that Maryland would probably be a year or so away from competing with another change at head coach, but they at the very least look like a thorn in the side of the rest of the Big Ten East this year. That said, have a weird feeling about this one. The Terps have put up 142 points in two games this season, but will find themselves in a slugfest on Saturday.
Pick: Under 66.5
Pittsburgh at No. 13 Penn State (-17), O/U: 53
I’m still not sure how good Penn State is or not, but I know that Pittsburgh isn’t great and is probably going to get crushed at Beaver Stadium on Saturday afternoon. This rivalry isn’t much of a rivalry anymore.
Pick: Penn State (-17)
No. 6 Ohio State (-17.5) at Indiana, O/U: 60
One way or another, trips to Indiana usually provide scares for whomever is in town that week. Michigan fans know this all too well. This feels like a game where OSU comes down a bit and this is somewhat in Indiana’s reach through 2.5 quarters, but the Buckeyes eventually figure it out and pull away late.
Pick: Under 60
Georgia Southern at Minnesota (-16.5), O/U: 45
Minnesota is 0-1-1 against the spread this year and has not beaten the brakes off of anyone. Sitting at 2-0 and being able to exhale, look for the Gophs to win big on Saturday.
Pick: Minnesota (-16.5)
UNLV at Northwestern (-18.5), O/U: 52.5
Hunter Johnson is set to get the start for the Wildcats on Saturday coming off of a bye week and loss to Stanford on the road in the season opener. Johnson was terrible last we saw him, but the week off and the opponent should allow him to get his feet wet in the offense.
Pick: Northwestern (-18.5)
No. 19 Iowa (-1) at Iowa State, O/U: 42.5
Who knows with this one? The Hawkeyes have won the last four in the series, but this game went into overtime the last time they played in Ames. No ties will happen, obviously, so to pick here means to pick the winner in the game. This slate of games is not very good this week, so let’s go bold and predict a bit of chaos, shall we?
Pick: Over 42.5
Arizona State at Michigan State (-14.5), O/U: 42
The Sun Devils pulled a fast one in the desert last year and this really is Michigan State’s best test to this point, even if Herm Edwards’ team might not wind up being terrific, either. MSU should win this game by a decently comfortable margin, but Herm will put a bit of a scare into them.
Pick: Arizona State (+14.5)
TCU (-2) at Purdue, O/U: 53
The line on this one seems dependent on if Elijah Sindelar plays or not, but one a weekend full of dull matchups, this has the chance to be a fun watch with some fireworks.
Pick: Over 53
Northern Illinois at Nebraska (-14), O/U: 52.5
This is a Huskies team that went into Utah last week and gave them a decent fight in the first half before the Utes started to pull away. Nebraska has struggled so far this year after being a media darling all offseason. Let’s have some fun with MACtion to close out the picks.
Pick: Northern Illinois (+14)
Let’s hear some of your picks for this week. Sound off in the comments below!