Follow Sean & Jordan throughout the 2024 college football season as they give picks for EVERY Big Ten game & compete in the FanDuel $100 Balance Challenge
by Sean Szymczak & Jordan Beckley
Cover 3
Sean & Jordan‘s 3 Big Ten Locks of the Week
Sean: 2-1 last week (18-18 overall)
Jordan: 1-2 last week (18-18 overall)
Sean’s 1st Pick: Michigan (+20.5) vs Ohio State
On paper, this shouldn’t be much of a contest. Will Howard is playing a well as any QB in college football and the Buckeye offensive line has been able to take injuries along the offensive line in stride. Ohio State’s defense has been utterly dominant ever since that road trip to Oregon and now face a Michigan offense that was been mediocre at best all season long.
But there’s a long, long history of Michigan teams with nothing to lose spoiling promising seasons for the Buckeyes. Not only that, but the Wolverine defense is finally playing like the unit we expected them to be coming into the year. They’ve allowed only 9 points in the past six quarters, including 50-6 drumming of Northwestern in which they averaged 6 yards per carry on the ground.
Ohio State’s depleted offensive line held up great in pass pass protection against Indiana, but Henderson & Judkins combined for under 3 yards per carry until a 40-yard scamper in garbage time. They could have similar struggles on the ground on Saturday, putting more pressure on Will Howard to win them the game.
I don’t think Michigan will be able to do enough offensively to pull off what would be one of the biggest upsets in the history of The Game. But their backfield and offensive line are healthy, so they should be able to control the clock early on. I expect some trickery up their sleeves which could help them play with a lead for at least parts of the game.
Michigan has the psychological advantage in this game and will be a dangerous team to play with a “nothing to lose” mentality. I expect them to play their best game of the season and keep this one close. Sure, this Ohio State team is miles better on paper. But there’s something about this historic rivalry that can generate closer-than-expected games.
Ohio State prevails, but Michigan covers.
Jordan’s 1st Pick: Illinois -7.5 at Northwestern
Northwestern is bad and bad at covering at 4-7 against spreads. The Wildcats have only covered against Maryland, Purdue, Miami (OH) and a massive 28pt spread vs. Ohio State.
Illinois is 7-3-1 against the spread this year. The Illini are a much better team and this really shouldn’t be this close of a number. Don’t overthink it and take an Illini cover.
Sean’s 2nd Pick: Notre Dame (-7.5) vs USC
Notre Dame faces one final hurdle on their way to the CFP when they travel to their longtime rival in LA. Many people have knocked their schedule and dominance against “sub-par teams.” Nonetheless, Notre Dame has won nine straight and covered in each of their last six. The Irish are playing as well as anyone not named Oregon or Ohio State right now.
This is a matchup of two polar opposite offensive identities. Notre Dame is one of the most run-heavy teams in college football while USC is one of the most pass-happy. Even though Jayden Maiava’s athleticism has added another dimension to their offense, USC’s scheme hasn’t changed much with him under center.
USC has struggled in the trenches all season long and I don’t expect that to change on Saturday against an elite Irish offensive line. Defensively, Notre Dame should be able to harass Maiava. An early deficit should cause the Trojans to lean even more into the pass, which could the source of some mistakes with All-American safety Xavier Watts looming in the back-end.
Notre Dame is a great team and USC isn’t. The Irish should win this one by a couple possessions at least.
Jordan’s 2nd Pick: O51.5 Notre Dame USC
USC and Notre Dame are .500 against the spread this season. USC has failed to hit 50 point totals the past three weeks. The Irish haven’t given up more than 14 points since September. Yet, 92% of the total money is on an over?
The formula for the Trojans this year has been that they give up points to good teams and that they usually keep decent pace too. Notre Dame meanwhile has been averaging 43.5 ppg since losing to Northern Illinois.
I think this game will have points. I probably think Notre Dame will cover but for now I think the Over is the play.
Sean’s 3rd Pick: Penn State (-24.5) vs Maryland
Penn State always dominates Maryland. They’ve beaten the Terps in each of the past three seasons (against Maryland teams that were far superior to the 2024 edition) by an average margin of 28ppg. Penn State is 45-3-1 all-time against Maryland and might be getting them without their starting QB Billy Edwards Jr, who left last week’s game with a thumb injury.
Last week was Penn State’s trap game and they were able to emerge victorious. I expect more focus and cleaner play from Drew Allar and company this week. They face a defense that hasn’t been able to stop much of anything this season.
Maryland’s defense doesn’t have anyone that can match up with Tyler Warren. On senior day, I expect a big day from one of the best players in college football. Maryland is certainly capable of generating some big plays with their wealth of talent at the skill positions, but Penn State will simply overwhelm Maryland on the line of scrimmage.
Penn State finishes the regular season strong and sets themselves up for a home game in the first round of the CFP.
Jordan’s 3rd Pick: Iowa -5.5 vs. Nebraska
My ride or die team this year has been Iowa. It’s been a little rocky recently (they missed an over by a half point last week, but really that was Billy Richmond’s fault for leaving with an injury? What dude? C’mon score a touchdown first)… But yeah Iowa has been good to me.
The Hawkeyes are a good team offensively and defensively. Nebraska is only good defensively. The over is probably a safe bet again, but I think Iowa delivers another home victory and does it with relative ease. I am not going to give projections or historical numbers to validate this pick. I have walked this path long enough with Iowa. These are “my guys” until next year when I pick a new team. Iowa by a touchdown or more.
Sean & Jordan’s Picks for Every Big Ten Game
Sean: 4-4 last week (64-49 overall)
Jordan: 3-5 last week (65-48 overall)
| Game | Sean’s Picks | Jordan’s Picks |
| MINN at WISC (-1.5) O/U: 41.5 | Fickell’s seat is going to be real warm going into 2025 MINN +1.5 | Minnesota is better MINN +1.5 |
| NEBR at IOWA (-3.5) O/U: 39.5 | Trophy Game. At Kinnick. At Night. Tough place to win. IOWA -3.5 | My 2024 Ride or Die team IOWA -3.5 |
| MICH at OSU (-19.5) O/U: 43.5 | The Game won’t disappoint MICH +19.5 | Ryan Day might combust OSU -19.5 |
| ILL (-7.5) at NWST O/U: 43.5 | Illinois gunning for a 10-win season ILL -7.5 | Is Illinois in the playoff picture with a win & 5 more SEC losses? ILL -7.5 |
| MD at PSU (-24.5) O/U: 50.5 | Penn State by 50 PSU -24.5 | PSU cover is probably good too O50.5 |
| ND (-7.5) at USC O/U: 51.5 | Notre Dame still underrated by the public ND -7.5 | This is too low O51.5 |
| RUTG at MSU (-1.5) O/U: 47.5 | One team should be more focused than the other RUTG +1.5 | Zero faith in the Spartans RUTG +1.5 |
| FRESNO vs UCLA (-8.5) O/U: 46.5 | Don’t know much about Fresno, but UCLA’s defense is still strong U46.5 | When in doubt, take the over O46.5 |
| PURD at IND (-29.5) O/U: 56.5 | Expecting Indiana’s best performance of the year IND -29.5 | The limit does not exist IND -29.5 |
| WASH at OREG (-18.5) O/U: 50.5 | Not sure where Huskies have an answer for Ducks OREG -18.5 | Sorry, Huskies OREG -18.5 |
$100 FanDuel Balance Challenge
| Last Week | Current Balance | |
| Sean | $27.27 | $69.34 |
| Jordan | $4.25 | $49.85 |
Starting Balance of $100
Sean’s Picks
South Carolina (+3) vs Clemson (+100)
Clemson wins game with a punishing ground attack and a defense that forces a lot of turnovers. But in the only three games they’ve had against teams with winning records, the Tigers have forced two combined turnovers and and mustered two yards per carry in two of those games.
South Carolina, meanwhile, has won five straight games. That includes four straight SEC games by an average margin of 19 ppg. The Gamecocks have a balanced offense and are capable winning games in different ways.
I could argue that South Carolina should be favored in this game. Taking the points seems like a lock.
Betting $24.34 to win $24.34
Notre Dame (-7.5) vs USC (-104)
See above for my explanation. Notre Dame shouldn’t struggle with this Trojan team.
Betting $25 to win $24.04
Jordan’s Picks
I am in crisis mode to win this. I have to throw sh*t at the wall and see what sticks.
Texas Tech -3.5 over West Virginia
This is one of the best plays of the weekend. I love Tech to cruise here and so does almost all of the money on this game.
Betting $10 to win
Cal ML over SMU, Arizona +8.5 vs ASU, USC +7.5 vs Notre Dame
This is my Chaos Parlay. SMU loses to a competitive Cal team and starts a real ACC rivalry (lol), Arizona keeps it close with a shakier CFP contender in the Sun Devils and Notre Dame squeaks by USC. We know there will be wrenches thrown in plans in Rivalry week, this is my foolish attempt at predicting it (with some safety bumpers in the spreads). If I hit this I likely win the challenge with low capital given up.
Betting $4 to win $60.63
Finally here are my confident Big Ten picks:
- ILL -7.5 ($5 to win $4.63)
- MINN +1.5 ($5 to win $4.24)
- O50.5 in PSU game ($5 to win $4.55)
- O51.5 in ND game ($5 to win $4.55)
- OSU Cover ($5 to win $4.35)
Read more on The Floor Slap: