MICHIGAN STATE +6:
The Michigan State Spartans already have 2 more wins this season than they had all of last year. Why the dramatic turnaround you ask? There are a number of reasons. One of those being their new head coach this season, John L. Smith. Smith took Louisville to 5 straight bowl games before taking over the job at Michigan State and looks to have this team ?under control? and united which was something Coach Bobby Williams had problems doing last season.
Of course, last season was full of distractions. The biggest one was of the once promising Michigan St quarterback, Jeff Smoker, who?s life and playing career spun out of control last season. There were rumors of late night partying/drug abuse/drug dealing and even point shaving going on last season, amongst other things?some of course exaggerated and untrue, however many of the rumors were true. The Spartans were just 4-8 last season and of their 8 losses, they lost each of them by an average of 21.3 more points than the spread which is almost unbelievable. Of course that?s where the point shaving rumors started and with the drugs, you have possible connections there, but not going to go further than that. Their ATS record last season was just 3-9 and for the most part, the covers either way weren?t even close For those that are interested, here?s the link to an old post I made last season about some of the controversy:
http://www.madjacksports.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=63161&highlight=smoker
With all this being said, Smoker has cleaned himself up and is in the front running for ?Comeback Player of the Year?. He?s ?smoking? once again on the field and with the arrival of Coach John L. Smith, this team is once again united and believing in itself and has been undervalued in my opinion so far this season. The talent was always there, but it?s actually starting to show this season with the 14 or so returning starters from a season ago. Throw in the fact that Minnesota has been on National television a couple times already this season and have looked pretty impressive, maybe the line is just a tad even more inflated to support the public perception of Minnesota and not this Michigan St which is ranked yet underrated by the overall public.
Michigan St will not only be looking for some revenge(not strong revenge considering the situations) from last season, but will be catching a Minnesota Golden Gopher team that was physically and emotionally drained after having the dominating 1st half vs Michigan last week, only to end up losing their 1st game of the season in that one.
Bottom line, this team is like night and day from a season ago. The Spartans are 6-1 thus far with their only loss being a one-point defeat. Look for a rejuvenated and united Michigan State Spartan team to stay right with this Gopher team. The line opened at 6.5, has already dropped to 6 so you might want to grab this one early before it has a chance to drop more. Take the points and the cash with a Spartan cover and possible outright win!
Good luck this upcoming weekend :thumb:
-ndnfan
The Michigan State Spartans already have 2 more wins this season than they had all of last year. Why the dramatic turnaround you ask? There are a number of reasons. One of those being their new head coach this season, John L. Smith. Smith took Louisville to 5 straight bowl games before taking over the job at Michigan State and looks to have this team ?under control? and united which was something Coach Bobby Williams had problems doing last season.
Of course, last season was full of distractions. The biggest one was of the once promising Michigan St quarterback, Jeff Smoker, who?s life and playing career spun out of control last season. There were rumors of late night partying/drug abuse/drug dealing and even point shaving going on last season, amongst other things?some of course exaggerated and untrue, however many of the rumors were true. The Spartans were just 4-8 last season and of their 8 losses, they lost each of them by an average of 21.3 more points than the spread which is almost unbelievable. Of course that?s where the point shaving rumors started and with the drugs, you have possible connections there, but not going to go further than that. Their ATS record last season was just 3-9 and for the most part, the covers either way weren?t even close For those that are interested, here?s the link to an old post I made last season about some of the controversy:
http://www.madjacksports.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=63161&highlight=smoker
With all this being said, Smoker has cleaned himself up and is in the front running for ?Comeback Player of the Year?. He?s ?smoking? once again on the field and with the arrival of Coach John L. Smith, this team is once again united and believing in itself and has been undervalued in my opinion so far this season. The talent was always there, but it?s actually starting to show this season with the 14 or so returning starters from a season ago. Throw in the fact that Minnesota has been on National television a couple times already this season and have looked pretty impressive, maybe the line is just a tad even more inflated to support the public perception of Minnesota and not this Michigan St which is ranked yet underrated by the overall public.
Michigan St will not only be looking for some revenge(not strong revenge considering the situations) from last season, but will be catching a Minnesota Golden Gopher team that was physically and emotionally drained after having the dominating 1st half vs Michigan last week, only to end up losing their 1st game of the season in that one.
Bottom line, this team is like night and day from a season ago. The Spartans are 6-1 thus far with their only loss being a one-point defeat. Look for a rejuvenated and united Michigan State Spartan team to stay right with this Gopher team. The line opened at 6.5, has already dropped to 6 so you might want to grab this one early before it has a chance to drop more. Take the points and the cash with a Spartan cover and possible outright win!
Good luck this upcoming weekend :thumb:
-ndnfan
