Michigan vs. Northwestern 2011 College Football Predictions Week 6: The 11th ranked Michigan Wolverines (5-0, 1-0 Big Ten) step out of the "Big House" at Ann Arbor for the first time this 2011 college football season and travel to Evanston, Ill., to play the Northwestern Wildcats (2-2, 0-1 Big Ten) in a BIG TEN Legends Division match (3:30 p.m. ET, BTN). The Wildcats will be home underdogs in this game with backers getting +8 points ATS and +250 on the College Football Odds moneyline ($100 bet to win $250). The price of a SU wager for Michigan to win is -300 while the posted total (over/under) is holding at 60.
Michigan is coming off a 58-0 thrashing of Minnesota last week easily covering the spread as a 21-point favorite, while the 58 points pushed for total's bettors on both sides. The Wildcats lost a close one, 35-38 on the road against Illinois. They covered the spread as +9 1/2 point underdogs while the combined 73 points scored was good news for OVER bettors.
The Wolverines are currently riding a five game winning streak while the Wildcats have lost their last two. Michigan is 4-1 ATS while the Cats are 2-2. When going head to head, Michigan is 5-1 SU in its last six games against the Wildcats and is 4-1 SU versus the Cats on the road. Totals betting trends show the total has gone UNDER in four of the last five games against each other. The OVER has been the best bet in five of Northwesterns last seven games and four of the last six at home.
When looking at the overall series between Michigan and Northwestern, the Wolverines hold a commanding 52-15-2 lead, including a 27-4 record in the last 31 meetings. The Wildcats, however, claimed victory in the most recent meeting between the two, a 21-14 spoiler at Michigan Stadium in 2008. Michigan’s last win in the series came in a 28-16 victory in Evanston in 2007.
Not much went wrong last week for a Michigan ballclub that piled up 384 yards of total offense and scored on all six of their drives to build a 31-0 lead by halftime. In the end, the Wolverines totaled 32 first downs, 363 yards rushing and 580 total yards. Michigan was 8-of-9 in red-zone opportunities and is now 21-of-22 in red zone opportunities (17 touchdowns, four field goals). U-M has gone three straight games with more than 300 rushing yards, and a lot of that has to do with QB Denard Robinson, who paces the Big Ten with 120.6 yards on the ground each time out. Junior running back Vincent Smith also made headlines last week, posting touchdowns rushing, passing and receiving in his team's first four drives.
Despite the disappointing loss, last Saturday was good news for the Wildcat faithful as QB Dan Persa returned to the field more than 10 months after tearing his Achilles tendon last November. The All-Big Ten performer sparkled for NU, completing 10-of-14 passes with a career-best four TD tosses and ending his day with eight straight completions. Jeremy Ebert is Northwestern's active leading receiver with 1,570 career receiving yards, while the ground game has been led by committee. Five players average at least 6.75 carries per game. After racking up 169 yards on the ground against the nation’s fifth-toughest run defense at Illinois, Northwestern is averaging nearly 208 rushing yards per game. The Wildcats rate ninth overall in the league with 374.8 total yards per game.
The Wolverines have fielded a much-improved defense from a year ago. After allowing 35.2 points per game in 2010, Michigan’s defense is allowing 10.2 points per game through five games in 2011, ranking tied for first in the Big Ten and tied for second in the nation in scoring defense. U-M has allowed just one touchdown in the last three games, and six on the year, and has forced 15 turnovers in 2011, including multiple turnovers in all five games.
In today's game fans will see two explosive offenses, each capable of putting up lots of points. This game I feel the best wager is the OVER on the 60 point total. I can easily see both Wolverines and Wildcats putting up 30 or more points each.
My College Football Odds Pick – OVER 60.
Reno Gold is the hottest CFB handicapper in the country right now after going 8-0-1 in Week-5 with ATS and Totals Picks. Gold has performed better than the precious metal he is named after, his 2011 College Football Picks after Thursday's games is 37-11-3 on spreads and totals which is a 77.1 winning percentage. Check back daily for Reno Gold's opinion on every major game on the board each week for free. Feel free to sign up to get Free NCAAF Picks now!
