There's nothing like it in the world.
Every fall the lights come on in college stadiums around the country and fans pile in. It's one of the most beautiful spectacles you'll ever see.
Saturday begins the 2021 season with a Big 10 matchup between Nebraska and Illinois. These two teams are pretty bad, but Illinois is supposed to bad. Nebraska head coach Scott Frost is under a ton of pressure after a 12-20 start to his career. If he starts his fourth season with a loss to a historically bad football program with a new coach his seat is going to be SCORCHING hot.
Bret Bielema is the coach of Illinois. Most people remember him from once coaching Wisconsin and Arkansas where he had some success. He's known for a ground and pound run style offense and physical defense. Having said all of this, let's make a pick
Alright so the spread is set at Nebraska (-7) and the over/under is at 54.
Nebraska has quarterback Adrian Martinez who was good enough to keep his job against a McCaffrey brother. He's a dual threat guy who is coached by a guy who as once a Nebraska legend. He's gotten a lot of hype before and now has a chance to show why with literally all eyes on him.
Illinois doesn't have much talent on either side of the ball, but Bielema did have success in the Big 10 before. I expect Illinois to be holding onto the ball as much as possible and run the clock.
Nebraska is 6-2 against Illinois since both have been in the Big 10 and wins by an average of 18.5 points. The Cornhuskers are in win now mode and I think they will show it. Illinois is getting 67% of the bets at +7 which makes me even more confident going with Nebraska.
I still think that Illinois is going to hold the ball as much as possible though and keep this game low scoring so I don't see many points being put up.
PICKS: Nebraska (-7)
UNDER 54
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