Iowa Football: Why Texas and Clemson need to win plus all B1G picks
By Matt Opad
Brand-names on Upset Alert
Cincinnati at #5 Ohio State
Point Spread (per ESPN app): OSU -16
Rooting Interest: I guess Ohio State, though we don’t play them this year, so it isn’t like they help our strength of schedule. Ohio State is the one team in the conference – maybe along with Michigan – that could lose a game like this and still make the playoff. Additionally, the game is during Iowa’s game, so I won’t likely be paying much attention to it, aside from the final score.
Point Spread Pick: OSU. I felt like they were toying with FAU last week, and I appreciated it. They gave me one of my four wins from last week. I don’t know that Cincinnati is a rival, but the fact that their head coach also coached at OSU will drive them to a win of more than 16 points.
Army at #7 Michigan
Point Spread (per ESPN app): Michigan -22.5
Rooting Interest: Michigan. Not just because one of my in-laws may read this. We play them in Ann Arbor this year and I want them to be ranked top 3 at that time. There’s totally no reason for this.
Point Spread Pick: Army. Michigan, you failed me last week against Middle Tennessee. I shall not pick you with a large spread against a team I know your fan base is worried about. Don’t worry, Michigan, you’ll still win. If you need help figuring out how to defend the triple option, re-watch the 2010 Orange Bowl.
#25 Nebraska at Colorado
Point Spread (per ESPN app): Nebraska -3.5
Rooting Interest: Colorado. I made the mistake of using Twitter last week, so I am completely unable to publicly root for Nebraska. I completely understand that Nebraska winning is better for the Big Ten and Iowa’s strength of schedule. I just don’t care about that this week.
Point Spread Pick: Colorado. I think this game comes down to a field goal. I wouldn’t be surprised if either team won.