No one in their right mind can question whether Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh is a good football coach. However, he still has the stigma of not being able to beat the Wolverines’ two biggest rivals: Michigan State and Ohio State.
Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com
The Wolverines lost their season opener but are right back in the College Football Playoff hunt at No. 6 in the nation and visit the No. 24 Spartans in one of the marquee matchups of Week 8. Sparty just upset another Top 10 team last week in Penn State and has owned Michigan under head coach Mark Dantonio. Michigan State, though, is a 7-point home underdog for this one. It has covered an astounding 10 straight games against Michigan.
Also in the Big Ten, No. 2 Ohio State visits Purdue. The Buckeyes looked mortal in Week 7 in beating Minnesota just 30-14 but still rose to second in the AP Top 25. Purdue opened the season 0-3 but has won three in a row all by double digits. The Boilers have covered seven of the past 10 against OSU.
It’s likely the biggest game of the year in the ACC’s regular season as No. 16 NC State, which was way off the radar when the season began, visits No. 3 Clemson. The winner is in the driver’s seat to claim the ACC Atlantic Division. You can be sure that conference officials will be rooting for the Tigers, because if they lose there’s a pretty good chance the ACC misses the playoff for the first time. Clemson is a 16-point favorite but is 2-6 ATS in the past eight against the Wolfpack.
Which LSU team shows up against No. 22 Mississippi State? The No. 5 Tigers are back in the playoff picture after stunningly routing then-No. 2 Georgia this past Saturday 36-16 – a week after LSU lost soundly at Florida. The Bayou Bengals can’t get caught peeking ahead to their next game, against No. 1 Alabama. They are -7 against Mississippi State and have won 16 of the past 18 in the series.
Finally, in the Pac-12 No. 12 Oregon looks for a state of Washington sweep as the Ducks visit No. 25 Washington State. Oregon upset Pac-12 favorite Washington in Week 7, which means the Pac-12 North Division is a jumbled mess with four teams having one conference loss. That includes Wazzu, which is a 1.5-point favorite. The Cougars have covered the past eight against the Ducks.
