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Greg McElroy makes pick in Michigan-Illinois ranked showdown
By Mark Kern
Published:
Greg McElroy makes predictions for all the big college football games weekly on his Always College Football podcast, and this week is no different.
One of the biggest games in the B1G this week is No. 24 Michigan traveling to take on No. 22 Illinois in a game that all but eliminates the loser from conference championship contention.
“Teams that have had multiple wide receivers who can potentially take over a game, that gives Michigan fits,” McElroy said. “Well, Illinois has that. Michigan is a slight road favorite but I am taking Illinois.”
Michigan does run the ball very well, which is a weakness for the Illinois defense. However, McElroy thinks they can do just enough to get the win.
“I look at the rushing numbers, and they are super concerning,” McElroy said. “But, If I were Illinois, I would be 150,000,000% selling out against the run. I don’t care what the circumstances are, I am 100% focusing on stopping the run.
“This one feels really uncomfortable because I hate picking against good rushing offense against porous rushing defenses, but I think the passing attack for Illinois can create problems for Michigan.”
Michigan is a 3.5-point favorite heading into the game, despite being on the road. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET and the game will air on CBS and stream via Paramount+.