Big 10 Conference: Michigan vs Nebraska Preview

The 2nd-ranked Michigan Wolverines (4-0/1-0) are on the road for the first time this season when they head to Lincoln to take on the Nebraska Cornhuskers (2-2/0-2). Michigan failed to get their first cover of the season last week as a 24-point home favorite against Rutgers, winning 31-7. The Huskers continued to rotate covers after a 28-14 win against Louisiana Tech as a 20-point favorite.

The Wolverines opened as an 18-point favorite with the total falling to 40 after opening 41. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 pm ET / 12:30 pm PT and can be seen on Fox. We start our Michigan vs Nebraska preview by diving into the Wolverines from a betting perspective.

Michigan Offense To Peak Against The Huskers

Looking through the NCAA scores and odds, we think many would be shocked to know that the Wolverines have played of bunch of teams they should have smoked, but they have yet to cash a ticket for bettors.

Last week, the public was happy to get a push after a 14-7 lead against Rutgers with eight minutes left in the third quarter as a 24-point favorite. Michigan is averaging over 31 points a game but it hasn’t felt easy. Even against UNLV which has a history of not playing well in big-time road spots, looked way too comfortable in the ‘Big House’.

Jim Harbaugh’s team is ranked 53rd in the nation in scoring offense and 60th in overall offense. Against the Huskers, we expected quarterback JJ McCarthy, RB Blake Corum, and WR Roman Wilson to have massive numbers.

The Wolverines are 27-20 ATS since 2019 and 23-17-1 as a favorite in that span. Their numbers on the road are solid with eight wins in 13 road games as a favorite.

Michigan has been a reliable wager in this spot since 2018 with a 16-12 ATS record against teams .500 or better, and 6-5 ATS on the road. Let’s move our Michigan vs Nebraska preview over to Nebraska.

Nebraska A Stranger To The Polls

The Cornhuskers and the NCAA Football rankings haven’t dated each other since 2019 and that was just for a few weeks to start the season. Their last real run was in 2016 when they spent 12 weeks in the polls, peaking at number seven before finishing out of the polls after a 38-24 loss to Tennessee in the Music City Bowl.

The point is, it’s been a second since the Huskers were relevant. That all could change with an upset Saturday, but no matter how much Head Coach Matt Rhule wants to build a program like Michigan, they’re not there yet.

For bettors, it’s safe to say that it’s been since 2009 since we have had any real confidence in a program that is 70-79 ATS. That was the last time Nebraska produced a profit over two straight seasons. We conclude our Michigan vs Nebraska preview with our official selection.

Finally Michigan Covers

It looks like this 18-point spread is going to stay that way until kick-off, with the only movement coming from books in the desert after some books opened the number at -17. As of right now, everyone is uniformed with 51% of the money coming in on Nebraska, but 66% of the overall tickets on Michigan. Classic Pros vs. Joes, but the public is right.

Nebraska features the nation’s top-ranked run defense in the country but those rankings don’t mean much. Consider Rutgers owned the nation’s 11th-ranked defense heading into their meeting last week, and the Wolverines ran for 201 yards. Numbers will always tell you where a team has been, not where it’s going.

The College Football betting odds are giving us a generous number to climb over. Take the Wolverines -18. That does it for our Michigan vs Nebraska preview, we wish you nothing but the best with your wagers this weekend.

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