College Football Picks - Ohio State Buckeyes at Michigan Wolverines

Saturday, November 21, Noon ET
Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, MI

The Michigan Wolverines have not fared well recently against their hated rivals the Ohio State Buckeyes, having not won in the series since 2003. That was the only time current OSU head coach Jim Tressel has lost to the Wolverines in his tenure.

Michigan has lost its last 5 SU to the Buckeyes and last year was an embarrassing blowout in Columbus in the first year of Rich Rodriguez's tenure with Michigan.

While Michigan played the Buckeyes close in the years leading up to that loss for the most part against the spread, that was a completely different era of Michigan football and you really can't compare Lloyd Carr's teams with Rich Rodriguez's for purposes of examining whether or not Michigan will be able to win SU or cover the spread against the Buckeyes this weekend.

Michigan is currently an underdog going in at home by 12 points to the favorite Ohio State, an interesting football point spread considering that Michigan is only 1-6 in the Big Ten this year.

But Ohio State struggled with the team in the Big Ten arguably most similar to Michigan, losing to Purdue earlier in the year, a speed-based spread team like Michigan.

Ohio State Buckeyes -12 @ Michigan Wolverines >>Join Now to Bet

With the over/under at 47 ½ for this college football rivalry game, Las Vegas is expecting the Buckeyes to play conservatively and grind out a win while playing it close to the proverbial “vest” which Jim Tressel is so accustomed to wearing.

One factor in this game to take into account is that it means much, much more to Michigan this time around, at least on paper. UM needs a win to get to a bowl game and to salvage their season. While Ohio State will be playing just as hard, UM might be able to play more loose and aggressive because of their status as the underdog in this one.

Everything revolves around the Michigan defense and whether or not OSU QB Terrelle Pryor can avoid mistakes.

Michigan needs to make stops because the Wolverines' fast tempo on offense has allowed other teams to possess the ball in the second half on Michigan all year, taking control of games late and sometimes leading to blowouts.

Michigan will have a hard time stopping Pryor on runs and the OSU receivers on deep balls, however.

While Michigan will score some points and put a scare into the Buckeyes early, eventually the pressure on freshman QB Tate Forcier will lead to mistakes by UM and its poor defense will crumble, leading to a big SU win by the Buckeyes again by 2-3 touchdowns.

Winning Pick: Ohio State (-12)