Michigan 45.5 point favorites over UMass

Submitted by Soulfire21 on

While point spreads may be nothing but talking points and things to bet on, I always find it interesting to follow them as one facet to guage how people feel about our team.  Saw that Michigan has opened as 45.5 favorites over the Minutemen.  This is the largest recorded spread in school history according to the full article at AnnArbor.com.  More than a 6 touchdown favorite?  With our offensive line, I'm not too confident about that.  If this game is close, I may hit the panic button.

The 17th-ranked Wolverines opened up this week as 45 1/2-point favorites against the Minutemen, the largest early point spread of any game in the country this week.

On top of that, Michigan's listing as more than a six-touchdown favorite this week is the largest recording point spread in school history, according to R.J. Bell, the Founder and CEO of popular betting site Pregame.com.

Wolverman

September 10th, 2012 at 7:12 PM ^

  I'm sure Umass is not that good but, from what I have seen from Michigan the last 2 weeks we're not that good either. After that Air force game and our line struggles there i'm wondering if we made Alabama look better than they are

turd ferguson

September 10th, 2012 at 4:57 PM ^

That Appy State team was damn good for an FCS team.  I was nervous (and annoyed) about that game the moment that I heard it was scheduled.

UMass is terrible.  I think we pull out a tight one late thanks to our senior leadership, especially at QB, and some clutch defensive plays.  Michigan, 52-3.

Everyone Murders

September 10th, 2012 at 5:03 PM ^

I'm not a gambler, but it seems like this would be an odd game to bet on since there are so many variables that come into play. 

Brady Hoke doesn't seem like a "run up the score" type guy, and we don't know how long he'll play the first stringers.  On the other hand, our third string could be far superior to UMass's starters (especially after they've been brutalized for X minutes by Michigan's starters), but how the heck would Vegas know that?  (I understand lines move up and down based on action, but I'm understanding that this is the initial line - and thus represents the book's best estimation of the point spread, as their primary interest is in getting as much action going on the game as possible, and collecting the resulting vig/juice.)

Anyway, it seems the final score hinges as much on the coaching staff's philosophy (run up the score vs. pull back the reins) as it does on the aptitude of the programs themselves.  Put another way, until I've seen Hoke coach a few more of these tomato can games, I can't see how you'd choose between taking or giving the points.

justingoblue

September 10th, 2012 at 5:04 PM ^

Navy @ Penn State -6

UMass @ Michigan -45

Boston College @ Northwestern (-4)

Eastern Michigan @ Purdue (-23)

Cal @ Ohio (-17)

Western Michigan @ Minnesota (-3)

Utah State @ Wisconson (-14)

Notre Dame @ Michigan State (-4.5)

Ball State @ IU (-3)

Arkansas State @ Nebraska (-24.5)

Charleston Southern @ Illinois (FCS)

Northern Iowa @ Iowa (FCS)

Every Big Ten team is favored this week, mostly over really, really bad competition.

 

michelin

September 10th, 2012 at 5:05 PM ^

 

Truthfully, it is hard to see how they could have gotten worse.

“Though the Minutemen suffered another blowout loss, they improved statistically over their 37-0 defeat to UConn in the season opener, when they had just three first downs, 3 rushing yards, and 59 total yards. By halftime of Saturday’s game, UMass had 164 total yards, before finishing with 14 first downs and 264 total yards.”

Unfortunately……

“…. that could not make up for the Minutemen’s defensive deficiencies — Indiana produced 33 first downs and 606 total yards, 427 yards on 50 first-half plays.” 

UMass also had trouble stopping the passing of the second string QB, after the first stringer left with a broken leg (which probably would not have impaired his performance against the UMass defense).

To be fair, however, it would have been misleading to think that this was UMass’ “home opener.” This year, in a big financial gamble, they are playing all their “home” games in Patriots’ stadium in Foxboro.  That's an hour and half from campus.   So, I doubt they had much fan support (especially after getting shut out by UConn the prior week).

 

http://www.boston.com/sports/colleges/football/2012/09/08/umass-routed-…