Wolverine Digest

Opening Line: Michigan Football opens as slim favorite at Illinois

Coming off a bye week, the Wolverines are favored by the slimmest of margins in their upcoming road trip to Illinois...

Matt Lounsberry

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Coming off a much-needed bye week and with two weeks to prepare, No. 24 Michigan is favored by the slimmest of margins over a ranked Big Ten Conference opponent heading into a Week 8 road trip to Champaign, Ill.

On Sunday, the Wolverines (4-2, 2-1 Big Ten) opened as a one-point favorite over No. 22 Illinois (5-1, 2-1), per Circa Sports. Prior to its bye, Michigan dropped its second game of the season in a 27-17 defeat at the hands of Washington. The Fighting Illini, meanwhile, escaped a 50-49 overtime thriller against Purdue this past Saturday to improve to 5-1 for the second time in head coach Brett Bielema's four-year tenure.

Michigan has not fared well in the betting world this season, holding just a 1-5 mark against the spread through its first six games. The only game in which the Wolverines covered the spread was as a four-point underdog against USC, when Michigan pulled off a 27-24 upset victory in Ann Arbor. Meanwhile, Illinois had performed excellently against the spread prior to this past weekend's game vs. Purdue. The Fighting Illini were 4-0-1 ATS before falling well short of covering as a 22.5-point favorite against the Boilermakers yesterday.

This will be the 98th all-time meeting between Michigan and Illinois on the gridiron, with the Wolverines holding a 72-23-2 overall edge in the series. Michigan has won each of the past six meetings dating back to 2010, and 12 of the past 14 since 2000.

Discounting the COVID-shortened season in 2020, the Wolverines have lost two of their first six games for the first time since 2014. That season, former head coach Brady Hoke's final year in Ann Arbor, Michigan was 2-4 through the first six weeks on their way to a 5-7 overall record. Meanwhile, Illinois is 5-1 with two wins over AP Top 25 opponents for the first time since 1990.

Michigan and Illinois will kickoff at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, Oct. 19 at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill. CBS will carry the televised broadcast.

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Matt Lounsberry
MATT LOUNSBERRY