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Posted at 9:00 AM EST. Odds subject to change.

Michigan +6½ over Texas

Michigan Stadium – Ann Arbor, MI

Streaming: FOX

12:00 PM EST. A game of this magnitude will inevitably receive a lot of action. As miners for value, our goal is to decipher where the value is to be found and more often than not, we find such equity in the most subtle of places buried deep in the menu away from high-profile bouts such as these. However, even in the grandest of stages, value can be found, as we are presented here with the Wolverines.

In the buildup to this game, every thinking head and media member has weighed in with their two cents on this contest and it undoubtedly influences market perception and persuades public opinion. Very simply, Texas is a team that some analysts have predicted to do the following:

1) Win the National Championship

2) Win the SEC

3) Beat Georgia in Austin

4) Play in the SEC Championship

5) Qualify for the College Football Playoff and make a deep run

While our list is a wide array of scenarios and prognostications, the point is the Longhorns have been getting an insane amount of hype thanks to their coaching staff combined with the breadth of talent on the roster scattered at every position. However, with a team like Texas’ pedigree and the media machine eating out of its hands, such rhetoric is the norm for the ‘Horns, as they are supposed to “be back” every year, or if they are back, then it’s title or bust. Such hyperbole conflates the overall perception of Texas ranging from where they are ranked to what is expected of them. All of this is further reflected in the number you see here.

Michigan, though a defending National Champion, it’s getting almost no respect here because “Head Coach Sherron Moore is not Jim Harbaugh and QB Davis Warren is not J.J McCarthy”. Moreover, much of the Wolverines 2023 title-winning team has graduated and/or went onto the NFL, so the prevailing idea here is that Michigan is supposed to take a step back and not be a threat in 2024. You should tell that to RB Donovan Edwards or TE Colston Loveland who return from last year’s magical season. Nevertheless, the team that everyone is salivating over in Michigan’s conference is their arch nemesis in Columbus; a team like Texas who gets hyped up to kingdom-come on an annual basis. As a result of speculation alone, we are presented with an opportunity to grab the Maize and Blue in The Big House with an enhanced helping of points in a game that it can easily win.

Make no mistake, Texas under Steve Sarkisian with all its returning firepower, talent, and swagger has not actually been in a situation where they have to step into one of the most hostile environments in all of college football against a premium program and be expected to win and cover a number while doing so. Sure, Texas beat Alabama last year in Tuscaloosa but no one gave the Longhorns a shot when they were taking back more than a touchdown to the Tide. The ‘Horns would then hang their entire season on that one win but in the final analysis, who did Texas actually beat since then that was so eyebrow-raising? Houston? Kansas State? TCU? All of which were games settled by a touchdown or less.

Meanwhile, under Sherron Moore stepping in as Interim Head Coach, Michigan pulled off an emotional win against Penn State in 2023. Moore, as Offensive Coordinator, was integral in powering the Wolverines past their old nemesis Ohio State in Ann Arbor. Michigan incidentally also beat Alabama in the Rose Bowl too, but that seems to be an afterthought. Michigan has the coaching and continuity to win this game outright and they are getting absolutely no respect here due to too many only sipping the Texas tea. Michigan can win this one outright.

Sherwood

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Arizona     -150

Detroit      +125

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Arizona       -145

Detroit    +134

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