Pickin' and Grinnin' - Some Strange Pt. Spreads this Weekend

Submitted by XM - Mt 1822 on October 20th, 2021 at 9:44 PM

Mates,

Looking up the weekend's CFB games with Michigan back in action.  I note some interesting games, except the evening offerings don't look too tremendous.  That said, there are some head-scratching point spreads for some of the games, for instance a number of ranked teams who are underdogs to unranked teams.   As per usual, the Favorite is listed first, then the point spread, then the dog.  Of course the '@' sign designates 'at' and the home team.   I tried to limit this to the tighter point spreads:

FAV                  Pts                 Dog

@Michigan       23 1/2            NW     -  Not a surprise

@Army              3                   Wake Forest - ranked #16 and undefeated.  Go figure.

Wisconsin          3                  @ Purdue - Boilermakers at home and ranked #25, but dogs? 

@Iowa St           7                  Oklahoma - as in, #8 ranked Oklahoma

@UCLA             2                   Oregon - still ranked #10 and owners of a win vs. ohio

@Air Force         3 1/2           SDSU - Hoke has the Aztecs ranked #22. 

@ND                  6 1/2            USC - this used to be the season-ender for both teams.  

Pick 'em with the points.  Glad we are back in action.  As it relates to some of our vanquished foes, Washington and WMU are favored in their respective games, while NIU is a 5 pt dog, playing at CMU.  Rutgers and Nebraska have the weekend 'bye'.  

XM 

MGoBoard
Football

Ajcoss

October 20th, 2021 at 9:58 PM ^

It’s Oklahoma State. Not Oklahoma. 7 at ISU seems high, would’ve guessed 3-4.

ND/USC when at ND is always in Oct. USC doesn’t want to come to the cold in November. Thus, Oct for at ND. Last game of year when at USC. I think they switch with Standard. They do same opposite years.

Joined: 01/04/2017

MGoPoints: 8208

mooseman

October 20th, 2021 at 9:58 PM ^

Wisconsin going to get some record for being unranked and favored over ranked teams this year.

I agree that Hoke's boys may be in trouble this weekend.

The only one I really don't like is Iowa St.

Joined: 07/10/2008

MGoPoints: 35498

Don

October 21st, 2021 at 9:22 AM ^

This is an important season for Narduzzi—through 2020, he's 36-29, and it's surely the case that so far his tenure has been a disappointment to those who thought he'd bring over some of Dantonio's sour magic for overperforming recruiting rankings. Even though Clemson is a shadow of its recent self right now, beating the Tigers would still be a big boost for Narduzzi.

I'd pick Clemson in this one anyhow—Pitt has had trouble drawing more than 40,000 fans to Heinz Field, which means there's little or no home-field advantage.

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 148358

Don

October 21st, 2021 at 9:59 AM ^

You'd think that would be the case. We'll see.

In Narduzzi's six seasons, there have been capacity crowds at Heinz Field just three times: two for PSU, one for ND.

In 2017, undefeated and #2 ranked Miami played at Pitt at the end of the season and the attendance was only 36,000. Ironically, huge underdog Pitt upset Miami, ruining the Hurricane's national championship hopes.

The fact that Heinz Field isn't on Pitt's campus has to be an impediment for attendance, but I wonder if the problem is the Pitt fan base. During their national championship season of 1976, Pitt played their games at old Pitt Stadium, which was on-campus with a capacity of just 56,500. Even with Heisman winner Tony Dorsett, there was only one capacity crowd all season, the game with Pitt's most serious rival West Virginia for the Backyard Brawl.

The only 10-win season in the last forty years was 2009 under Dave Wannstedt, and the sole capacity crowd was for Notre Dame. Going back to the last previous double-digit win season in 1981, when Pitt went 11-1 and finished #2 in the Coach's poll, the only capacity crowd at on-campus Pitt Stadium was for PSU.

It reminds me of what attendance was like for Michigan games prior to 1975—the only times there were capacity crowds at Michigan Stadium was for MSU and OSU games.

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 148358

GET OFF YOUR H…

October 21st, 2021 at 10:55 AM ^

Coming from someone with a lot of experience in the city of Pittsburgh, there isn't much of a Pitt fanbase.  You could go walk around downtown Pittsburgh on a Saturday of the biggest Pitt game of the year, and 1980's Steelers jackets will outnumber any Pitt gear 10/1.  They have no defined football identity, bus across the city to get to games, and generally don't do much.  The only game that I have seen get rowdy is the WVU/Pitt game when they were in the same conference.  And that was less about supporting Pitt, more about getting hammered and rooting against WVU for the Pittsburgh residents.

Joined: 11/27/2018

MGoPoints: 2230

los barcos

October 21st, 2021 at 2:10 PM ^

This, exactly. 

The Steelers are the only game in town, followed by the Pens when they're winning.  Pitt football just doesn't register- and it certainly doesn't help that the stadium is a few miles from campus and you're tailgating under a highway.  NFL venues just don't have a place in the college game. 

I think Pitt could manufacture some sort of fanbase - given they're a football rich area - but getting rid of Pitt Stadium was just the death knell to that idea.  Very short sighted, Pitt Higher Ups got rid of their football stadium to upgrade the basketball facilities.  Given the state of college athletics, specifically the money maker that football has become, I bet there are many people who wish they had that choice back again.  

Joined: 03/27/2009

MGoPoints: 10842

Mr Miggle

October 21st, 2021 at 12:04 PM ^

How often is Pitt favored over a true national power? Clemson may not be much right now, but this would still be a memorable win. And Pitt is one of the ACC favorites right now. If they can't draw well for this game, they never will for anyone but PSU. I guess we'll see what happens, but I'll be surprised if the home field advantage isn't a lot more than the norm at Pitt.

The Miami game would have sold out if the fans knew they were going to win, lol. But facing the #2 team at the end of a disappointing season isn't something that I'd expect to draw the fans of many teams. Their record was 4-7. I'd imagine the attendance was mostly season ticket holders and Miami fans.

 

 

Joined: 10/07/2010

MGoPoints: 47648

GET OFF YOUR H…

October 21st, 2021 at 12:35 PM ^

You are spot on, if they are going to get a full capacity crowd, this is the opportunity.  If they win, you might see somewhat of an energized fanbase.  The problem is we think fanbase and think about the people all over the country that support our school, and the people around town that support our school.  That is big numbers.  So while we might see an ebb and flow of support based off of recent success, they don't there.  That is not the norm in Pittsburgh.  The general population couldn't tell you that Pitt has a chance to win the ACC right now.  There isn't even that much local sports coverage dedicated to it.  It's a pro-sports town all the way.

Joined: 11/27/2018

MGoPoints: 2230

M_Born M_Believer

October 21st, 2021 at 12:19 PM ^

I once dated a young lady from Pittsburgh many many years ago (she actually was a Pitt student).  When I asked her about the lack of support, she was clear the Pittsburgh sports fanbase cares for one team and one team only...... The Steelers.  Everyone else is a very distant second (even the Penguins).

This is the clear contrast between Pittsburgh and Columbus.  One as a NFL team deep with successful history and the other has only a college team. 

 

The city with the pro team = marginal interest in the college team.

 

The city with only the college team = bizzaro cult worshiping....

Joined: 11/11/2009

MGoPoints: 11786

GET OFF YOUR H…

October 21st, 2021 at 12:40 PM ^

While there is definitely some truth in what you are saying, it's a bit exaggerated.  As someone who is currently 21 years married to a girl from Pittsburgh, and a Columbus resident and OSU fan, Pittsburgh is pretty much how you described, although getting a ticket to a Penguins game is not easy.  The city definitely supports the Penguins.  The Pirates, not so much....but pretty much because they are not good.

In Columbus, the pro sports market is doing much better than when it started.  The Columbus Crew is the original member of MLS.  Columbus is rated one of the best pro-soccer towns in the country.  And this year they just broke in an amazing new stadium.  The Blue Jackets have been gaining support more and more throughout their tenure, and things really picked up with some partnerships within the city and some playoff appearances.

The bizzaro cult-worshipping comment, I'll let you have that one so you can be happy.

Joined: 11/27/2018

MGoPoints: 2230

CRISPed in the DIAG

October 21st, 2021 at 5:00 PM ^

Respectfully, I'm not so sure MLS and NHL are nearly as relevant as P5 college football.

Moreover, the cult extends beyond the (underrated) city of Columbus borders and into the (completely overrated) state of Ohio. I've had the misfortune of getting harassed numerous times just for having Michigan license plates. The hate is real. 

Joined: 11/08/2010

MGoPoints: 47451

LSAClassOf2000

October 20th, 2021 at 10:09 PM ^

I would imagine that Purdue is considered the underdog in part because someone has hope that Wisconsin might actually find a book in the dark recesses of a campus library which contains a portion of Brian White's offensive playbook long thought to have been destroyed, possibly by a stray fart from Bielema. That said, I would think Purdue has more than a reasonable shot in this game. 

Joined: 01/07/2011

MGoPoints: 130627