Michigan escaped a huge scare last Saturday, and now the books have responded.
Should the Wolverines be that big of an underdog and at home?
And when it comes to NFL Week 1, should the Browns — who’ve been in shambles since forever — be expected to put up a fight against a solid Jaguars squad?
Here’s why I’m backing these underdogs this week.
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Behold, a battle of two 1-0 teams.
OK, that does not nearly tell the story of what happened last week in Ann Arbor, as Michigan escaped 13-12 over Western Michigan in a controversial ending that will be remembered forever.
As four-touchdown favorites, Michigan looked inept on offense and questions about who will play quarterback going forward have been asked all week. As bad as Michigan looked, however, it’s important to keep in mind the look-ahead line for this week’s game was Michigan -2.5.
Michigan certainly deserves to be downgraded after a poor showing in the opener, but the line for this week’s game now has Oklahoma laying 6.
An 8.5-point adjustment based on one game is perhaps an over-adjustment. The Wolverines still appear to have a very solid defense and will hear all week how they didn’t deserve to win, about how poorly they played. They should be able to adopt an “Us vs. The World” mentality — especially as a home ‘dog.
I expect Michigan to bounce back and have a much better showing in Week 2.
Hill’s Pick: Michigan +6
Last year, the Raiders went into Foxborough and beat the New England Patriots on the road in Week 1.
The Patriots went 14-3 and won the AFC title; the Raiders went 3-14 and won the right to pick first overall in the NFL Draft.
Weird things happen in the opening week, and with starters playing so sparingly in the preseason these days, upsets are bound to happen. While the Browns have been in the news a lot this summer for their quarterback controversy between Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders, the rest of the roster shows some promise.
Rookie wide receivers KJ Concepción and Denzel Boston have drawn rave reviews in training camp, and the aforementioned Watson is 7-1 in his career against the Jaguars.
With an Over/Under set at 40.5, oddsmakers are expecting a low-scoring game, and in a game where points are perhaps hard to come by, an upset becomes more possible.
