Early betting lines released for five big Michigan football tilts

Michigan Wolverines football is looking to repeat as Big Ten champions, and has several big games between it and accomplishing that feat. FanDuel Sportsbook released early game lines for a plethora of 2022 college football games, five of them involving the Maize and Blue.

Here’s a look at the early lines for Michigan’s games.

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Michigan at Iowa October 1

Spread: Michigan -4

This one is a rematch of last season’s Big Ten championship game, in which Michigan drubbed the Hawkeyes, 42-3, solidifying its spot in the College Football Playoff. Both teams have high expectations coming into next season, with Michigan set to compete with Ohio State in the East and Iowa to go at it with Wisconsin and Minnesota in the West.

Michigan has won two consecutive games in the series, but U-M wins at Kinnick Stadium have been extremely hard to come by. The Wolverines have lost four straight at the venue and haven’t come out on top since a narrow 23-20 victory in 2005. The Hawkeyes are 25-8 at home over the last five seasons.

This will be U-M’s first big test of the season, while Iowa will have taken on in-state rival Iowa State three weeks earlier.

Penn State at Michigan October 15

Spread: Michigan -6.5

Penn State is 11-11 over the last two years, and head coach James Franklin is 3-4 against Michigan head man Jim Harbaugh.

The Nittany Lions are expected to bounce back from two down years, though, with ESPN’s SP+ ranking them 16th nationally heading into the season (U-M is fourth). A large piece returned in quarterback Sean Clifford, who’ll be a sixth-year senior. They’ll be out for revenge after the Maize and Blue won a tight one, 21-17, in State College in 2021.

Michigan will be coming off two road games — Iowa and Indiana — before hosting the Nittany Lions, who will be fresh off a home contest versus Northwestern.

Michigan State at Michigan October 29

Spread: Michigan -8.5

If this spread holds, Michigan will have been favored over Michigan State all eight times Harbaugh and Co. face the Spartans. However, the Wolverines are 3-4 against the in-state foe in the head coach’s tenure, lost the last two in the series and have beaten the Spartans at The Big House just once.

The Maize and Blue held a 16-point lead with 19 minutes to go last Oct. 30 in East Lansing, before falling 37-33. The game didn’t come without controversy, with a review taking a Michigan touchdown off the board. The Big Ten later admitted to U-M that ‘mistakes were made’ with that play and others.

MSU won 11 games last season and stood third in the Big Ten East, its best finish since 2017. The Spartans have once again brought in a plethora of players from the transfer portal but are tasked with replacing running back Kenneth Walker III and still have question marks in the defensive backfield.

This game is the third of a challenging three-game stretch for the Spartans, who will host Ohio State and Wisconsin the previous two weeks. Michigan will be fresh off a game against Penn State.

Nebraska at Michigan November 12

Spread: Michigan -11.5

This is the game Michigan is favored most heavily in, and it makes sense considering the Huskers are still waiting to put it all together under head coach Scott Frost and this one will be at The Big House. Michigan escaped Lincoln with a 32-29 victory in a thriller at Memorial Stadium a year ago, marking one of Nebraska’s nine single-digit losses on the season.

Harbaugh is 2-0 against Frost, including last year’s game and a 56-10 win at The Big House in 2018. Pressure is mounting for the Nebraska coach, who took a pay cut this offseason, but SP+ ranks them 34th heading into the 2022 campaign.

U-M will be at Rutgers the week prior, while the Huskers will host Minnesota.

Michigan at Ohio State November 26

Spread: Ohio State -14.5

Michigan beat the Buckeyes last season for the first time since 2011 and appears to have momentum, but the Vegas oddsmakers still view the Buckeyes as a big favorite in Columbus, where they haven’t won since 2000. Both teams are expected to compete for the Big Ten title once again, and the Buckeyes have the third-best odds to capture the national championship at +500.

Ohio State returns 76 percent of its overall production per ESPN — 70 percent on offense and 80 percent on defense — a staggering amount for an 11-win team that won the Rose Bowl. The Buckeyes rank first in the country in the preseason SP+ rankings and are headlined by Heisman Trophy finalist quarterback C.J. Stroud, who threw for 4,435 yards and 44 touchdowns last season, and wide receiver Jaxon Smith Njigba, who led the team with 1,606 yards and nine scores. Stroud is the betting favorite to win the Heisman this coming season.

Michigan gets Illinois at home the week leading up to ‘The Game,’ while Ohio State will be at Maryland.