:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/67653039/495165716.jpg.0.jpg)
Welcome back to the Morning Brews! Heck, welcome back to game week. It is good to be back with you all ahead of this weekend’s Michigan Wolverines football opener at Minnesota. Given our beefed-up content schedule, we’re back to recap some of the odds and ends stuff outside of our normal coverage. This series will post on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.
We start this week with some updated action from Vegas oddsmakers ahead of the showdown in the Twin Cities, which was also announced as the site of ESPN’s College GameDay this weekend. After the Gophers opened up as the favorite last week, Circa Sports and DraftKings posted their odds with Michigan now listed as a 2-point and 2.5-point favorite between the two books, respectively. The Vegas Insider consensus currently has Michigan set as a 2.5-point favorite with the over/under set at 55.5 points.
It is impossible to predict this one right now as it pertains to the gambling aspect of this matchup. The Wolverines are 31-33-1 against the spread since Jim Harbaugh’s first year in 2015. They have never won as a betting underdog under Harbaugh, so it appears that distinction might not be somewhere we are headed. They might very well lose, but the money is coming in on them early this week.
We will have more on the Vegas angle later in the week when our “Betting the Big Ten” series returns on Saturday morning.
Purdue’s Brohm tests positive for COVID-19
Purdue head football coach Jeff Brohm tested positive for the coronavirus on Sunday afternoon and is currently in isolation. His status for the team’s opener against Iowa.
“During Purdue’s daily COVID-19 testing on Sunday, Oct. 18, head football coach Jeff Brohm returned a presumed positive result via an antigen test, we are awaiting confirmation via a PCR test,” a statement released by Purdue read. “He informed his staff and the team this afternoon and is currently at home in isolation. Coach Brohm will address the media via a Zoom call Monday during his scheduled weekly press conference at 11 a.m. ET.”
As we saw with Nick Saban at Alabama over the weekend, a positive test does not necessarily mean an automatic quarantine. Brohm will undergo further testing and will need consecutive days of negative results if he is asymptomatic in order to return to the field.
Other Brews
- Former Michigan Wolverine and current Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Devin Bush tore his ACL on Sunday and is now out for the season. We wish him a speedy recovery in his quest to return to the field for one of the NFL’s premier franchises.
- Four Northwestern Wildcats have officially opted out of the 2020 season: Defensive lineman Samdup Miller, quarterback Aidan Smith, safety Travis Whillock and tight end Jason Whittaker. They open the season Saturday at home vs. Maryland.
- After an offseason that included some racial tension in the University of Iowa football program, eight former Hawkeyes are suing athletic director Gary Barta, head coach Kirk Ferentz and assistant coach Brian Ferentz for what they claim was intentional discrimination during their time with the program.