In the battle for the Paul Bunyan trophy 4-2 Michigan, which has won its last two games by a combined score of 89-13, hosts 4-3 Michigan State Saturday afternoon (3:30 pm ET, Big Ten Network).
The Wolverines, who have lost their last four meetings with the Spartans, including the last two at the Big House, were early 11-point favorites over MSU, which just got upset at home by Iowa.
View Michigan State vs Michigan Odds and Stats.
Betting Line: The home team opened as 10.5-point favorites in this NCAA football battle at Sportsbook. The total was sitting around 43 at Sportsbook and other top sportsbooks.
Power Rankings / Prediction: It's a betting matchup between the No. 13-rated Wolverines and the No. 11-ranked Spartans, according to the NCAA football Power Rankings here at Odds Shark. Predictive-scoring models run on this game indicate a potential 38-27 result in favor of the Wolverines.
How They Match Up:
The game also pits Michigan's No. 37-ranked offense, averaging 33.8 PPG, against a Spartans defense that ranks No. 14 this week at 15.7 PPG. The Wolverines aerial game is averaging 186 yards per game, more than the Spartans secondary allows through the air, 179.6 YPG per game.
Defensively, the Spartans feature the league's No. 5-rated road run defense, allowing 53.5 yards per game. Michigan, meanwhile, ranks No. 10 in rushing offense at home.
Michigan State was a 19-16 loser in their most recent outing at home against Iowa. They failed to cover the 8-point spread as favorites, while the total score (35) made Sportsbooks of UNDER bettors. Le'Veon Bell ran through the Iowa defense for 140 yards in Michigan State's last game, but the Spartans still lost a 19-16 decision at Spartan Stadium.
In their last action, Michigan was a 45-0 Sportsbook at home against Illinois. They covered the 24-point spread as favorites, while the combined score (45) was profitable news for UNDER bettors. Illinois was unable to contain Denard Robinson in its last action Saturday and the result was a 45-0 Week 7 loss against the Wolverines.
Michigan State Spartans Trends:
When playing in October are 7-3
When playing on turf are 6-4
After outgaining opponent are 6-4
When playing within the conference are 6-4
Michigan Wolverines Trends:
When playing in October are 6-4
When playing on turf are 8-2
After outgaining opponent are 7-3
When playing within the conference are 8-2
A few Spartans at Wolverines trends to consider:
Michigan State is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Michigan State's last 5 games
Michigan State is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing Michigan
Michigan State is 13-5 SU in its last 18 games
Michigan is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home
Michigan is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games
Michigan is 6-2 SU in its last 8 games when playing at home against Michigan State
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Michigan's last 6 games when playing Michigan State
Next up:
Michigan State at Wisconsin, Saturday, October 27
Michigan at Nebraska, Saturday, October 27
