It's only Week 6 and this college football season is already going off the rails. You lose a couple games these days as a coach and you are most likely going to get fired. I am starting to worry about my own job here. Spread Awareness went 6-8 last week, which isn’t great. What if I have another bad week? Is the GIA staff going to fire me and bring in a different gambling blogger that believes in things like stats and research? Makes me sick just thinking about it…Although I do wonder what my buyout is… and how awesome buyout life would be…
$10+ million dollars to not do your job anymore. That seems amazing. I would buy a jet ski first and spend A LOT of time on that. After a while though, I would probably tire of the jet ski and try to sell it. Selling a jet ski is no easy task, you get a lot of weirdos wanting it. After posting it on Craigslist, I am sure some random guy would show up at my house and try to haggle the price down. This would frustrate me, because yes, I have millions of dollars, but I just bought this jet ski, it's basically brand new! We would argue, and eventually the man would leave, only to return late that night and steal it. I would then go on a hunt for the jet ski, chasing down every lead I could find. After years of searching, I would finally realize, it wasn’t the jet ski that I wanted to find. It was myself, something I lost when that buyout money hit my bank account.
Anyway, Spread Awareness is completely lost right now. Betting on Big Ten games has never been for the faint of heart, but it has gotten extra hard this year with the mess that is the West division. But we won’t complain, because that is not what we do. We are just going to put our heads down, find ourselves, and, more importantly, find some WINNERS.
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
Nebraska -3 @ Rutgers (6:00 PM CST, FS1)
Nebraska vs Rutgers, the perfect Friday night game! Big Questions this week, like is Nebraska back? Has order been restored? The Huskers tried hard to lose against Indiana last week but just couldn’t do it. They committed 12 penalties for 111 yards, which included having a guy thrown out for punching someone. It appears some of that Scott Frost Stupid is still lingering around the Nebraska locker room.
Nebraska will look to win TWO games in a row against Power 5 teams for the first time since November of 2018 when they travel to Piscataway to take on Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights got destroyed by Ohio State and have the second-worst offense in the Big Ten (I bet you can’t guess who has the worst….)
Nebraska wins this one and the State of Nebraska starts legitimately thinking they can win the Big Ten Title. We will also be taking the over because if we are forced to watch this game on a Friday, we might as well root for points.
PICK: Nebraska -3, OVER 50.5
BIG TEN GAMES OF THE WEEK OF THE CENTURY
Iowa +3.5 @ Illinois (6:30 PM CST, BTN)
I don’t really know what to say about Iowa anymore. Their offense is just so bad. They showed life a couple of times against Michigan, but the game was essentially out of hand when they did. When they had a chance to actually get back into the game, they somehow threw a 1-yard pass on 4th and 2, and even if they would have gotten the first down there was a penalty for offensive pass interference. That play was the perfect summary of the Iowa offense.
This Iowa defense is really special, and it absolutely sucks that it is being wasted by an incompetent offensive coaching staff. I mean seriously, did Arland Bruce fall off the face of the earth? Why are we not trying to get him the ball every series??
Illinois and Bert are riding high after destroying Wisconsin, and now they get a night game at home with a chance to beat an Iowa team that they have not beaten since 2008. The crowd will be loud, the Iowa offense will be bad, and we will probably lose a close game.
PICK: Iowa +3.5, UNDER 36.5
Purdue +3 @ Maryland (11:00 AM CST, BTN)
Did Purdue get the train back on the track or is Minnesota only good if Mo Ibraham is playing? I don’t know and I have no idea who is going to win this game. Maryland has been surprisingly good this season which makes me uncomfortable. Can we trust them again here? Ehh…uhh…well…..nope.
PICK: Purdue +3, OVER 59
#4 Michigan -22.5 @ Indiana (11:00 AM CST, FOX)
Michigan beat up Iowa, again, last week, and will continue to bully bad teams. Their first real test looks to be next week against Penn State. Maybe a letdown here from the Wolverines? It doesn’t matter. They could play their backups and probably cover against this poor Indiana team.
PICK: Michigan -22.5
Wisconsin -10 @ Northwestern (2:30 PM CST, BTN)
Feels weird to have a team that just fired their coach be a 10-point favorite, but that’s what happens when you are matched up against a team that will probably fire their coach next. Pat Fitzgerald currently has the 6th-best odds (12-1) to be the next college coach fired, and honestly, he should be #1. Northwestern is a mess.
Wisconsin got their brains beaten in by their former coach thanks to plays like this:
The wheels are coming off in Wisconsin pic.twitter.com/umVnLbKSki
— Sickos Committee (@SickosCommittee) October 1, 2022
** Side note: This is like the third week in a row the B1G Ten has had a kick return fumble like this. What is going on? CLEAN IT UP, GUYS.
While that disaster was going on Northwestern was playing Penn State in a monsoon. The Wildcats forced five turnovers but gave it back three times. That is some poor football.
Tough to bet on a team that just fired its coach, but it's even tougher to bet on a Northwestern team that plays like it doesn't have any coaches.
PICK: Wisconsin -10, UNDER 44.5
#3 Ohio State -27 @ Michigan State (3:00 PM CST, ABC)
Is there any chance Michigan State figured out how to defend the pass over the last week? No? OK, then this game shouldn’t be close. Mel Tucker got a billion-dollar contract last season, but is there a chance his seat starts to get warm if they don’t start to turn things around? Buckeyes roll into their bye week before they welcome Iowa to the 'Shoe and you know what, I just remembered, I have a family vacation scheduled that weekend and won’t have any cell service. What a shame!
PICK: Ohio State -27
TOP 25 GAMES OF THE WEEK OF THE CENTURY
#17 TCU -6.5 @ #19 Kansas: Two undefeated teams that absolutely no one predicted in the preseason. The Jayhawks have been the best story of the season so far, but that ends here. TCU pulls away late in what will probably be a shootout.
#18 UCLA +3.5 vs #11 Utah: #BACKTHEB1G! Future Big Ten Member UCLA upset #15 Washington at home last weekend and will do it again here. Chip Kelly found himself a QB, and that could be a problem for the rest of the Pac-12.
Auburn +29.5 @ Georgia: Did someone break Georgia? They went from being the greatest team in the history of college football to struggling to beat Kent State, and then they followed that up by almost losing to Missouri. Now, Auburn and Tank Bigsby come to town and this one is going to be closer than many think.
Oklahoma +9 vs Texas: Technically not a TOP 25 GAME OF THE WEEK OF THE CENTURY, but we are going to let it slide. Quinn Ewers is back at QB for Texas, which is bad news for an Oklahoma team that got torched by TCU. QB Dillion Gabriel is in concussion protocol and probably won’t play for OU which is also bad news. BUT, eight out of the last 10 games in this rivalry have been decided by less than nine points (#SPREADAWARENESSSTATOFTHEWEEK), and we are counting on that trend to continue. Sooners cover.
Year-to-Date (YTD) RECORD
- Overall: 41-36-1
- Against the Spread (ATS): 32-27-1
- Over/Under (O/U): 9-9
