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Early betting line for Michigan State-Michigan already seeing steady movement
Published:
Bettors are already showing their hand for the marquee matchup between Michigan and Michigan State on Saturday.
The Circa Sportsbook line opened at Michigan -24 but had moved to -25.5 within an hour.
Already up to 25.5 at @CircaSports book. https://t.co/DYZGhkFRJY
— Chris Solari (@chrissolari) October 25, 2020
Michigan is coming off a dominant victory over Minnesota in primetime. Meanwhile, Michigan State turned the ball over seven times in a shocking loss to Rutgers in its season-opener.
In Week 1, Michigan easily covered -3 against Minnesota with its 49-24 win. On the other hand, Michigan State lost outright as 13-point favorites over Rutgers. It’s not hard to see why bettors are willing to back Michigan in this one considering how Week 1 went.
Still, that’s a huge number for Michigan to cover against a conference rival.
Per OddShark’s college football database, Michigan has only been a 20+ point favorite over Michigan State once since 1997. That happened in 2016, and the Wolverines won 32-23 as 24.5-point favorites.
Since 2000, Michigan has been a double-digit favorite in this series seven times. In those games, the Wolverines are 6-1 straight up and 3-4 against the spread.
Michigan has won two straight overall in this series and three of the last four.
Spenser is the news manager at Saturday Road and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.