Michigan State vs. Northwestern Wildcats Betting Preview

Opening point spread odds - total lines at 5Dimes : Michigan State -7 / Northwestern +7 Over/Under: 52.5

Time: 12 PM EST Saturday October 23, 2010 on ESPN/ESPN3

In an important Big 10 match up this Saturday the Northwestern Wildcats (5-1) host the 7th ranked Michigan State Spartans (7-0). Northwestern lost their first game of the season a couple weeks back to Big 10 rival Purdue and they had last week off to get ready for this big game. Michigan State has yet to lose this season and they are in first place in the Big 10 (3-0) and they can't overlook Northwestern to next week's HUGE game facing 15th ranked Iowa, who have also yet to lose in the conference (2-0).

This season Northwestern is only 2-4 ATS, but they are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games against Michigan State and in the last 8 games between these 2 teams the underdog is 7-1 ATS.

Michigan State is 5-2 ATS on the season and they have covered the spread in their last 4 games.

In their last games Michigan State beat Illinois 26-6 and Northwestern lost to Purdue 20-17.

MSU can move the chains in the air and on the ground, as they have the nation's 26th ranked rushing offense and 47th ranked passing offense. QB Kirk Cousins had a solid game against Illinois passing for 201 yards and 1 TD.

The Spartans have a good RB duo in Le'Veon Bell (562 yards 8 TD) and Edwin Baker (706 yards 6 TD), but both of these guys struggled in the Illinois game. They may get back on track this Saturday facing a Northwestern rushing D that only ranks 71st in the nation and in the loss to Purdue gave up 232 rushing yards. If the Wildcats cannot keep the Spartans from picking up big yardage on the ground they will be in a for a long game.

Northwestern will likely have to air it out to win this game, as not only do they have a better passing offense than rushing offense, but the Spartans are much better defending the run than the pass. QB Dan Persa leads the Wildcats and their 20th ranked passing offense and while he did pass for 305 yards in the loss to Purdue he did not have any TD's. Persa is also the leading rushing for Northwestern, but he is only averaging 3.4 yards per carry so for the Wildcats to have any chance for an upset he will have to have a good game passing the ball.

In some other betting trends for this game:

Michigan State is 1-3-1 ATS in their last 5 road games, 4-9 ATS in their last 13 games against teams with a winning record, and has an Under record of 5-2 in their last 7 games following an ATS win.

Northwestern is 2-7 ATS in their last 9 home games and has an Over record of 5-1 in their last 6 home games.

Our Selection : Take the Spartans -5 at 5Dimes.


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