ESPN's Pat McAfee breaks down shocking reality of Michigan vs. Indiana

Chris Breiler | Nov 9, 2024

Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

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Michigan Wolverines

The Michigan Wolverines are in unfamiliar territory ahead of today's road matchup against the No. 8 Indiana Hoosiers. Under normal circumstances, the Wolverines would look at a matchup against the Hoosiers as a guaranteed victory, but the 2024 season is far from "normal" when it comes to these two programs. Michigan finds itself entering November still fighting to become bowl eligible at 5-4, while Indiana is starting to establish itself as a legitimate national championship contender at 9-0 (yes, you read that right).

Discussing the matchup on ESPN College Gameday, Pat McAfee thinks the Hoosiers can get it done against the Wolverines if they can continue to do what they do best: stop the run.

Michigan are FOURTEEN point underdogs at Indiana today..

Indiana hasn’t been favored against Michigan since the beginning of stats #CollegeGameDay pic.twitter.com/sx8Ti1XHb4
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) November 9, 2024

"Speaking of Michigan, they are 14-point underdogs to Indiana today," McAfee said. "Indiana hasn't been favored over Michigan since the beginning of stats. Like since stats started, Indiana has never been favored over Michigan. And that's because of what Curt Cignetti has been able to do on the offensive side obviously with Kurtis Rourke (QB) and all of their weapons, but on the defensive side as well. They held Michigan State to 30 rush yards last week. They're down 10 to nothing, they rattle off 47 straight. If they can stop Michigan's run game, which is what Michigan is, Indiana is about to beat Michigan. And that is a wild thing to think about this late into a Big Ten season."

McAfee is right. The fact that we're in the month of November and the Indiana Hoosiers are a 14-point favorite over the reigning national champion Michigan Wolverines tells you everything you need to know about year 1 of the Sherrone Moore era in Ann Arbor.

But the good news is that the Wolverines have history on their side. Michigan holds a 62-10 advantage all-time over Indiana, and the Wolverines have won all but two games since 1987. If Michigan can continue that string of success against Indiana and pull off the upset in Bloomington on Saturday, it would serve as the first signature win of Sherrone Moore's head coaching career.

When: Saturday November 9 at 3:40 p.m. ET
Where: Bloomington (Ind.) Memorial Stadium
TV: CBS
On the call: Brad Nessler (play-by-play), Gary Danielson (color), and Jenny Dell (sidelines)

Betting line: DraftKings Sportsbook