It’s rivalry week at MLive with Michigan hosting Michigan State in the annual gridiron battle for the Paul Bunyan Trophy. Here’s where our writers, based in (or near) Ann Arbor and East Lansing stand entering the showdown (weekly best bet in parentheses): Matt Wenzel: 47-38 (4-4) Aaron McMann: 45-40 (4-4) Ryan Zuke: 45-40 (4-4) Kyle Austin: 39-46 (2-6) Andrew Kahn: 38-47 (5-3) The standings shifted quite a bit after last week. Will they again? The picks against the spread from MLive’s college football writers are below.
All games are on Saturday unless otherwise noted, kickoff times are eastern, and odds are courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook . Both teams have lost three in a row. USC is 1-4 in the Big Ten despite leading in the fourth quarter of every game, including a 14-point edge over Maryland last week.
Rutgers found some offense last week but still managed to hand UCLA its first league win. MLive staff picks: The Buckeyes had an extra week to think about their last-minute loss at Oregon (and extra time to recover from the travel). They are still firmly in the playoff hunt but need to take care of business against lesser teams.
MLive staff picks: Indiana stayed undefeated with its impressive performance of the year, a 56-7 win over Nebraska. Kurtis Rourke had thumb surgery on Monday and is unlikely to play this weekend. MLive staff picks: Oregon is the No.
1 team in the country for the first time since 2012 and will face an Illinois team coming off a field-storming win.
