Let’s get inside sports picks with super bookmaker online Bodog. It’s Michigan State-Wisconsin, Clemson-Miami picks.
The Michigan State players figure to play inspired football on Saturday because not only do the Spartans welcome fellow 4-0 team Wisconsin to East Lansing in the Big Ten opener for both, but Sparty also welcomes back coach Mark Dantonio just two weeks after he suffered a heart attack. The Badgers are 2-point favorites on Bodog’s NCAA Football Odds.
Dantonio suffered a mild heart attack following his team’s overtime win over Notre Dame. He’s not quite ready to return to full coaching duties and will be in the press box Saturday. He did work with the team at practice all week.
Other than that game with the Irish, Michigan State – which is 4-0 for the first time since 2007 — hasn’t been tested this season, although it hasn’t played any BCS schools other than Notre Dame. Sparty has run for at least 200 yards in every game after having just one 200-yard game last year. MSU ranks No. 17 nationally in rushing at 231.5 yards per game and have 12 rushing TDs. Last year, the Spartans averaged just 136.8 yards on the ground. Edwin Baker leads the way this year in averaging 112.2 yards per game, while Le’Veon Bell (99 ypg) leads the Big Ten in yards per carry at 8.2 and with seven rushing TDs.
Wisconsin enters off a ridiculous 70-3 win over Austin Peay, setting a school record for points and scoring differential. UW scored on each of its first nine drives in that one. The Badgers are No. 10 in the country in rushing at 257.5 yards per game. John Clay, the reigning Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year, leads the way as has eclipsed 100 rushing yards and scored at least one touchdown in 10 consecutive games, the nation’s longest active streak in both. Last year, Clay rushed for 142 yards and a touchdown in a 38-30 win against Michigan State, with 25 of his 32 carries coming after halftime.
The Spartans lead the all-time series 27-21, but Wisconsin has won nine of the past 13 meetings.
The Miami Hurricanes open ACC play on Saturday as the overwhelming Coastal Division favorites, while Clemson begins defense of its 2009 Atlantic Division title. UM opened as a 3.5-point favorite on Bodog’s NCAA Football Odds
The teams enter no doubt in different places mentally as Clemson comes off a heartbreaking 27-24 overtime loss at Auburn on Sept. 18. It appeared that Clemson had forced a second overtime when kicker Chandler Catanzaro made a 27-yard field goal to tie the game at 27, but there was an illegal procedure penalty called because the center double-clutched the ball. Then Catanzaro’s attempt from 32 yards hooked wide left, handing Clemson its first loss of the year despite leading at one point 17-0.
Quarterback Kyle Parker has been solid for the Tigers with six touchdown passes and only one interception. The Tigers are averaging 215.0 yards per game on the ground, led by sophomore running back Andre Ellington, who has rushed for 273 yards. The Tigers lead the ACC in scoring at 39 points per game.
Miami, meanwhile, was utterly dominant in its last outing, a 31-3 win at Pittsburgh on Sept. 23. The UM defense which limited Pitt to just 11 first downs and 232 yards with three turnovers. The Canes added nine more tackles for loss and lead the nation in that category. Miami’s defense has given up just three touchdowns so far, two of them coming on drives of 19 yards or less, and is ranked ninth nationally in allowing 252 yards per game. If there was one concern against Pitt for Miami, however, it was that QB Jacory Harris threw two more interceptions a game after his four picks were a big reason UM lost to Ohio State.
These two teams usually play classic games – in fact, the past three meetings have gone to overtime. Miami is no doubt glad C.J. Spiller is in the NFL now because he was a one-man wrecking crew in Clemson’s 40-37 overtime win in Miami last season. There were 12 lead changes and two ties in the game. It was Clemson’s first road win over a Top 10 foe (UM was No. 10 at the time) in more than eight years. Harris threw three picks in the loss.