The in-state rivalry between Michigan and Michigan State kicks off this Saturday afternoon from East Lansing, as the No.21 Wolverines visit the No.22 Spartans in one of three ranked matchups in Week 10. This will be a 3:30 pm ET kickoff with coverage set for ABC.
- When:
Sat., Nov. 2nd, 2013 @ 3:30pm ET
- Where:
Spartan Stadium, East Lansing, MI
- Who’s Favored?
MSU by 4.5 ~ 45.5 o/u @ BetOnline
- More Info:
Not much has been thought of the Big Ten outside of the Ohio State Buckeyes this season. The perceived weakness of the conference is the driving force behind Ohio State being No.4 in the rankings and quite a distance behind the top-three teams.
The Buckeyes will probably be rooting for Michigan in this one, because Ohio State plays the Wolverines at the end of the season and need them to be as highly ranked as possible to help the strength of schedule.
Both Michigan and Ohio State have just one loss on the season so far. The Wolverines dropped in overtime to Penn State (who got beat 63-14 by Ohio State) back in the second week in October.
Michigan State is unbeaten in the conference, with their loss coming to Notre Dame in Week 4. The Spartans are currently 1.5 games in front over the Wolverines in the Legends Division, which means that this is a huge game. The winner will have the inside track to the Big Ten Championship game.
The Spartans have one of the top defenses in the country, ranking third in the nation in points surrendering just 12 a game. They’ve limited their last two opponents (Purdue and Illinois) to a total of three points.
Michigan will have the best offense that Michigan State has seen thus far though, ranking 8th in the country in scoring at more than 42 points per game. That puts a high-scoring offense against a defense that doesn’t allow many points, which always makes for an intriguing matchup.