Best NCAAF Picks – Michigan St vs Northwestern

You’ve come to the right place to get the Best NCAAF betting Picks as not only does BetOnline have the most competitive lines in the business, they’ve got all kinds of promotions running that ensure you get the most bang for your betting dollar.

We keep that ball rolling for Week 8 of the NCAAF Picks schedule with a Big Ten showdown between the 8th ranked Michigan State Spartans and the Northwestern Wildcats, with the undefeated Spartans going off as a five point road favourite.

[Off topic: by the way, do you want to get a 55% bonus on your first deposit here at BetOnline? If so JOIN NOW.]

The majority of the betting public, 74% to be exact, are taking the road team to cover that five points, but we’ll get into who we think is the Best NCAAF Picks choice in a bit.

Michigan State Spartans vs. Northwestern Wildcats (Ryan Field – Evanston, IL)

Saturday October 23rd – 12 PM ET

TV: ESPN

The Pirates have gone 3-0 so far in C-USA play and take on a Marshall team that only has one victory on the year. Marshall lost to Central Florida last week by a 35-14 margin and have to go on the road to take on a very explosive Pirates team that has beaten them four of the last five times they’ve played one another.

Another loss would drop the Herd to 0-3 in the conference, pretty much eliminating them from any form of post-season football.

Best NCAAF betting Spread:

Michigan State – PS -5 (-110) ML -220

Northwestern – PS +5 (-110) ML +180

Total – 53

The pressure is building every game for Michigan State, as they bring in a perfect 7-0 record into a hostile Ryan Field and the knowledge that they hold the Big Ten title in their own hands. I say that because Ohio State dropped their last game to Wisconsin, and they don’t have to face the Buckeyes this year.

Still in their way after this contest versus Northwestern is a massive matchup against the 15th ranked Iowa Hawkeye’s next week, then home games versus Minnesota and Purdue before the season finale at Penn State.

Clearly the Spartans have to come up with some magic to run the table as Iowa and Penn State are two of the toughest places to play in the country, but if they are able to win at least one of those, they would likely guarantee themselves a tiebreaker. Northwestern will be looking to spoil the party early as they’ve been planning and scheming for two weeks now after having a bye week.

They suffered their first regular-season loss to Purdue in Week 6, but what stung was that it was at home, a place they’ve been notoriously tough.

Here are the Best NCAAF Picks Trends for this matchup:

• Spartans are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games following a S.U. win.
• Spartans are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games overall.
• Spartans are 1-5 ATS in their last 6 meetings.
• Underdog is 7-1 ATS in their last 8 meetings.
• Road team is 8-1 ATS in their last 9 meetings.

The difference in this game is going to be how well they can run the ball with Edwin Baker and Le’Veon Bell. The two headed monster has produced a 225 rushing yards per game average, leading an offence that has been putting up 473 yards per game.

Northwestern is giving up 140 yards per game, and they have yet to play a team of this calibre. MSU is going to be able to control the game and the ball all day with the ground game, which makes them the Best NCAAF Pick.

Best NCAAF Picks: Michigan State (-5)