The Penn State Nittany Lions are hosting the Michigan Wolverines in Big Ten College Football action on Saturday. The game is scheduled for a 12:00 p.m. start time and it will be televised nationally on ABC. Currently the betting odds for the game have the Wolverines favored to pick up the victory in this one on the road.
Michigan is the second highest two-loss team in the newest college football rankings behind Stanford. The Wolverines can still potentially find their way into the playoff discussion, but there needs to be quite a bit of carnage in front of them in addition to Michigan winning its next three games.
It's certainly a long shot, but that shot begins with a road game at Penn State. Jim Harbaugh's team is rallying around the fact they still have a shot at playing for a conference championship, if they win here against the Nittany Lions and Ohio State beats Michigan State, it sets up a rivalry contest next week for the right to play in the Big Ten title game.
Jake Rudock has put together some crazy games the last two weeks, throwing for 777 yards in wins over Rutgers and Indiana. The six touchdowns he threw last week (four to Jehu Chesson) is a new Michigan record and Harbaugh's team is now a more-balanced one than it was in the season-opening loss at Utah.
Penn State is coming off a bye last week, their last game was a 23-21 defeat at Northwestern. Had they been hosting Michigan in a night game, Happy Valley would be rocking and the Nittany Lions would have a much better shot at knocking off the Wolverines. Penn State is still going to put up a pretty good fight in this one, but the inconsistent offense certainly hurts them against Michigan's defense.
The Wolverines have been one of the best defenses in the country all season, but Indiana did make them look pedestrian last week. Christian Hackenberg and the Nittany Lions aren't a great running team, but tailback Saquon Barkley has put up some good numbers. Penn State is going to have to try and find a way to run the football like Indiana did last week to come up with a victory here.
Penn State hasn't lost all season in Happy Valley, but Michigan will be the best team they've seen there all season. The Wolverines have a lot to play for and that can bring added pressure, but Harbaugh will have his team ready to go in this one.
Free Pick: Michigan
$25 of picks FREE! No Obligation - No Credit Card Required - Becoming a member is Fast and Free!
Stay on top of the latest odds and line moves for the CFB and NFL seasons with our real-time odds from Las Vegas and offshore!