Minnesota vs Michigan St. NCAA Football Handicapping
The 11th-ranked Michigan State State Spartans have some work to do before making it through to the Big Ten title game with a date against the 8-3 Minnesota Golden Gophers still in front of them.
The 11th-ranked Michigan State State Spartans have some work to do before making it through to the Big Ten title game with a date against the 8-3 Minnesota Golden Gophers still in front of them.
No. 22 Wisconsin would need to move into a top 14 ranking in the BCS standings to gain an at-large berth, up three spots from its current ranking of 19.
The Nebraska Cornhuskers will try to spoil Minnesota’s high, after the Golden Gophers upset the Northwestern Wildcats this past Saturday.
Nebraska arrives in Minneapolis off a bye and will look to pile on another win in an effort to climb back into a top 20 AP ranking, a place they have not been in a while.
Northwestern is falling in the rankings and will look to rebound after a shellacking in last week’s matchup at Camp Randall Stadium, when they host the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Saturday in Evanston.
In the finals of the NIT tournament tonight at Madison Square Garden 2 teams that missed out on the Big Dance have a chance to add to their trophy collection.
The Washington Huskies will make their second trip of the year to the Big Apple on Tuesday, where they will hope to have better results when they take on the No. 6 seeded Minnesota Golden Gophers for a chance to play either Stanford or UMass in Thursday’s NIT championship game.
Minnesota really struggled down the stretch in the regular season, which cost them a shot at the Big Dance, but they looked good in their opening round win in the NIT.
After the first half of games, the Big Ten leads the Big Ten/ACC Challenge 4-2. There’s still plenty of time for the ACC to catch up, but they’ll need teams like Virginia Tech to pull off a minor upset.
Wisconsin had higher hopes for this season, but they still have plenty to play for. The Badgers suffered two last minute losses in a row against Michigan State and Ohio State, but this is still a team capable of finishing in the top ten in the nation.
Wisconsin must now try to right the ship and win the Big Ten Leaders Division.
TCF Bank Stadium
Saturday November 12, 3:30 PM EST
NCAA Football Odds from 5Dimes
Moneyline: Off
College Football Spread: Wisconsin -27 (-110) Minnesota +27 (-110)
Over/Under: 63.5
Minnesota has a solid new coach in Jerry Kill, but this team is a long ways from competing for a league title. The last couple weeks have been very positive steps for the Golden Gophers. These teams will meet Saturday afternoon in Minnesota.
Russell Wilson transferred to Wisconsin just weeks before the beginning of the season, and he has been terrific this year. Wilson is putting up Heisman Trophy type numbers for the Badgers. He has thrown 21 touchdowns and just three interceptions. He is also completing 72% of his passes. Even with Wilson under center, the strength of this team is the running game. The Badgers offensive line is dominating every single year, and this season is no different. Montee Ball is racking up huge numbers at the tailback spot. Ball is averaging 6.6 yards per carry, and he already has 24 touchdowns. This offense may be the most balanced in the nation. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
The Badgers defense has been good statistically this year, though they have allowed a couple of last minute touchdowns that cost the team dearly. This is a unit that wasn’t expected to be all that great this year, but they have done a nice job overall. The secondary has been terrific, while the front seven has struggled at times against the best running teams.
Minnesota looked lost when MarQueis Gray was out of the lineup, but with him back and healthy under center the team has looked much better in their last couple games. Gray isn’t a very efficient passer at this point in his career, but he is definitely a play maker. Despite injury trouble, Gray is easily the Golden Gophers leading rusher. The team has one elite receiver in Da’Jon McKnight, but they are lacking a solid second option. This offense is averaging just 18.7 points per game.
The Golden Gophers defense has been terrible the last few years, and this season is no different. To be fair, this is a defense that has been decimated by injuries this season. Troy Stoudemire is the team’s best cover corner, but he has missed the last five games with a wrist injury. He is listed as questionable for this contest. The rushing defense is allowing opponents to run for 191 yards per game this year. The run defense will be tested in a big way this weekend.
I expect Wisconsin to move the football at will on Saturday afternoon. I don’t like laying this many points, but Wisconsin is so much better than Minnesota at this point that I feel like this is still a solid value.
Free College Football Pick: Wisconsin -27
Score Prediction: Wisconsin 48 Minnesota 17
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The Cornhuskers will travel to Minnesota Saturday afternoon to take on the Golden Gophers for the first time since 1990. Nebraska sits at #11 in the polls right now, while Minnesota is 1-5 on the season.
There isn’t much to cheer about right now for Minnesota fans, but they are hoping new coach Jerry Kill can change that over time. Nebraska hasn’t been impressive so far this year, but they are still a dangerous team.
Nebraska vs. Minnesota
TCF Bank Stadium
Saturday October 22, 3:30 PM EST
NCAA Football Odds from BetOnline
Moneyline: Off
College Football Spread: Nebraska -24.5 (-110) Minnesota +24.5 (-110)
Over/Under: 56.5
Nebraska’s Taylor Martinez is one of the best running quarterbacks in the nation. Martinez has 100 rushing attempts this year, and he has already picked up 584 yards. Martinez struggles when he has to throw it too often. Rex Burkhead isn’t the fastest or strongest player you’ll see, but he works as hard as anyone. Burkhead is averaging 5.9 yards per carry this season. No Cornhuskers wide receiver has more than 13 catches so far in 2011. Nebraska’s running attack is terrific, but against top teams they’ll need to have a little more balance offensively.
The primary reason most people haven’t been impressed with Nebraska’s play this year has been the Cornhuskers defense. Jared Crick was the team’s best player on defense, but he is now out for the season due to a torn pectoral muscle. This front seven was expected to be good against the run, but they are allowing 168 yards per game on the ground. Lavonte David is a very talented linebacker, but this unit as a whole just isn’t performing up to expectations. If Nebraska is going to finish strong this year, the defense must improve.
It’s hard to find anything positive to say about Minnesota right now. The Golden Gophers lost to Michigan 58-0, and then last weekend they were drubbed by a poor Purdue team by a count of 45-17. MarQueis Gray is expected to be back under center this week, which is a bit of good news. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Gray is the team’s best play maker, but he really hasn’t developed as a passer. Da’Jon McKnight is a talented receiver, but the Gophers simply don’t get him the ball very often. Expect Gray to use his legs as often as possible in this one.
The Minnesota defense is allowing 35 points per game so far this season. The defensive line is typically manhandled by opponents, and the secondary gets beat deep far too often. They won’t have to worry about Nebraska airing it out very often this week, but they will have to find a way to stop the Cornhuskers running game. Expect the Golden Gophers to stack the box with eight or nine players.
Nebraska should run all over Minnesota in this game. Michigan carved up this Minnesota defense a couple weeks ago, and I expect Nebraska to do the same this weekend. The Cornhuskers defense isn’t very good, but they’ll probably be able to shutdown a very weak Minnesota offense.
Free College Football Pick: Nebraska -24.5
Score Prediction: Nebraska 44 Minnesota 10
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Both Minnesota and Purdue have had a forgettable season to this point. Purdue is 2-2, but they were thrashed by Notre Dame at home last week, and they lost at Rice earlier this year.
Both Minnesota and Michigan have a new coach this season. Jerry Kill and the Gophers have had a very tough start to the season, while Brady Hoke and the Wolverines are 4-0. The Golden Gophers are widely regarded as the worst team in the Big Ten at this point, but in this conference anything can happen.
The College Football season may be 5-6 weeks away but our man Kyle Hunter has been deep in study and will provide his take and 2010 College Football Predictions on as many NCAA teams as he can before the 2010/11 season kicks off.