#Bret Bielema

LINCOLN - One more offseason. One more preseason. One more football season. And one more postseason. All with a new commissioner, and an eye toward a larger future in the league. One more trip around the sun with this iteration of Big Ten football. And one more year with divisional schedules. One more year, for certain, of a Big Ten title game. The…

If you want to bowl games this season, there are plenty of opportunities among the 42 games. But not every game is worthy of risking your money. With transfers, injuries and opt-outs, many of the rosters will look vastly different than in the regular season. Here are some of the matchups we would be wary of betting on. Saturday, Dec. 17, 11 a.m.…

Georgia will chase a third consecutive national championship in 2023 as the favorite in the USA TODAY Sports way-too-early Top 25 for next season, ahead of the familiar run of teams that have come to dominate the Bowl Subdivision. The Bulldogs are followed by No. 2 Michigan, No. 3 Alabama, No. 4 Florida State and No. 5 Penn State. After an…

During the college football season, the Stadium staff will provide weekly betting picks and advice in this roundtable. Here are our thoughts on the Week 6 slate. podcast. Spotify and Apple for episodes and follow Stadium Bets on Twitter for more sports betting content. Alex Symonds, Stadium Senior Producer: Wisconsin -10 over Northwestern. After…

Sometimes it takes absolute dumb luck to flip the script. So thank you, Rutgers, for jumpstarting the positivity with a backdoor cover on 4th & long two weeks ago into a 7-2 (!!!) week last week. Northwestern at Purdue OVER 44.5, -1.1u Illinois+17.5 at Michigan, +1u Illinois at Michigan UNDER 41.5, +1u Wisconsin at Nebraska UNDER 41, +1u Michigan…

The Book of Bielema has been an intriguing mix of the classics in 2022. The no-nonsense style of play employed by the Illinois defense-first philosophy hits you in the throat like a Beat Generation masterpiece. The defense itself, led in part by Devon Witherspoon, Quan Martin, Gabe Jacas, Calvin Avery, Taz Nicholson, Johnny Newton, Tarique Barnes,…

For the first time in quite some time, the Illinois Fighting Illini are soaking up the Florida sun in the college football postseason. But, Bret Bielema's squad isn't in the Sunshine State for sandy beaches and surfing, however, a long awaited business trip. The Illini are now just days away from facing SEC opponent Mississippi State in the…

For the first time in a month, all 14 Big Ten teams are playing each other this weekend. As the final month of the season arrives, the conference division title races are heating up and the spotlight continues to brighten on some of the conference's top teams competing for a national title. Let's take a look at what the odds are in the Big Ten this…

Las Vegas handicapper Bruce Marshall is editor of The Gold Sheet (Goldsheet.com). He provides the Review-Journal with college football tech notes and trends. Follow @thegoldsheet on Twitter. Thursday Minnesota (-10, 42½) vs. Syracuse: The Golden Gophers won and covered their last three bowls. Minnesota is 6-1-1 against the spread in its past eight…

Every Tuesday, Matt Hayes tackles the 10 hottest topics in the Big Ten … With Ohio sports betting apps launching this week, you can pre-register today and get hundreds of dollars in free bets to use on the Buckeyes, NFL games and other sports: Nothing about it feels right. This is the most unpredictable moment of Ohio State football in decades. And…

Looking out the window at the gray skies Thursday served as a timely reminder. Now that the calendar has flipped to November, it's important for bettors to also be meteorologists and check the weather reports. For example, the forecast this weekend across Big Ten country calls for nasty weather, the kind that makes you want to cancel all your…

When he started out at St. Rita, Pat Farrell was a three-sport athlete who played football, basketball and baseball. But as a junior last season, when he began his first varsity football game on the bench, Farrell came to a realization. It was time to go all in on football. "I had to miss a lot of summer football practices because of travel…

In the wake of Mike Leach's death on Dec. 13, the Mississippi State football team decided to play in the ReliaQuest Bowl against Illinois on Jan. 2. "The players are 100% behind playing this bowl game and doing what Coach Leach would expect them to do," Mississippi State interim athletic Director Bracky Brett told ESPN. "We all know that's what…

Thirteen Big Ten students earned All-America plaudits from the Sporting News on Tuesday, highlighted by seven first-team selections. The full list can be found below. First-team Offense RB: Blake Corum, Michigan Corum had an amazing season with 1463 yards and 18 TDs - and it would have been even better had he not suffered a knee injury on Nov. 19…

Sporting News' 2022 All-American team features four players from the reigning national champions. Georgia leads all schools with three first-team selections - led by defensive tackle Jalen Carter - and four total selections across our two teams. USC also had four total selections - with Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams leading two first-team…

The 2022 version of college football free agency arrived Monday, which was the first of a 45-day period in which players can submit their names into the NCAA transfer portal. There will still be plenty of movement over the next month and a half, with some decisions likely to be made after bowl season concludes. But through just 2 days, there's…

Once upon a time, Russell Wilson was an All-ACC quarterback at N.C. State. He also happened to be a fine college baseball player, which his football coach, Tom O'Brien, didn't exactly love. Why? Spring football. If your QB1 is on the diamond, he can't be in the huddle for important offseason practices. Eventually, after three often-marvelous…

Seven weeks into the 2022 college football season, let's just say it has not played out as expected. One of the most chaotic seasons of the last 15 years enters the halfway point with Tennessee, USC, Ole Miss and perhaps even Texas in the College Football Playoff conversation while programs like Alabama and reigning national champion Georgia are…

Week 0 of the college football season lacks the overall sizzle that Week 1 will bring over Labor Day Weekend, but there are still four Power Five teams in action. Two of them play each other as Nebraska and Northwestern meet up in Dublin, Ireland at 12:30 p.m. ET on Saturday. Caesars Sportsbook lists the Cornhuskers as 12.5-point favorites in the…

After a very, very long wait, college football is back. What a freaking time to be alive. Obviously, it's only week zero. But football is football in my book... even if it is an absolutely horrendous slate of games. There are only 11 games that feature FBS teams and only 6 Power 5 teams are playing this weekend. While Florida State being one of…

The Wolverines are edging closer to a second consecutive College Football Playoff appearance, but that involves taking care of business in this game against the Illini. So, what do our Illinois vs. Michigan predictions say? One side of the argument calls for a dominant Michigan victory. The Wolverines are outscoring opponents by over 30 points per…

With two games left in the regular season, Michigan will host its final game in the Big House on Saturday. The Wolverines will welcome 7-3 Illinois into Michigan Stadium in hopes of keeping their undefeated season alive. Michigan, 10-0, has been dominant on both sides of the ball for most of the season. The Wolverines have a top-five run offense…

We thought it would be an average day of football, but the underdogs had other plans. The day started with TCU defeating Baylor as time ticked away, while Michigan also needed a last second field goal to remain undefeated. But it was South Carolina that threw a wrench into the College Football Playoff, beating 5th ranked Tennessee and ending the…

With a showdown against rival Ohio State looming, the No. 3 Michigan Wolverines will try to avoid looking ahead when they host the Illinois Fighting Illini in a Big Ten game on Saturday at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Mich. The Wolverines (10-0, 7-0 in Big Ten) enter Saturday tied with the No. 2 Buckeyes for the lead in the Big Ten East. The…

Illinois Fighting Illini are looking to curb a two-game skid and reclaim the Big Ten West lead when they visit the Michigan Wolverines at noon ET Saturday at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor. Illinois (7-3, 4-3) was one play away from being undefeated before suffering recent losses at Michigan State and versus Purdue. However, they still have a chance…

The one knock you hear about No. 3 Michigan and its College Football Playoff hopes is that aside from a 41-17 win over Penn State, there aren't a lot of overly impressive wins on its résumé. From that aspect, Michigan probably wishes the Illinois team it will welcome to The Big House on Saturday wasn't in the midst of a two-game losing streak that…

It's the penultimate week of the 2022 college football season. Can you believe we only have two football Saturdays remaining for most teams? Many will be playing their final home game this week. Where did the season go? While nothing has changed atop the Big Ten East, the West Division opened up with an upset by the Purdue Boilermakers over the…

As if the past 2 weeks weren't demoralizing enough for Illinois and its fans. Now, the Illini may be without their nation-leading running back heading into its toughest challenge of the season. Chase Brown, who leads the nation in rushing with 1442 yards, went down late in Illinois' 31-24 loss to Purdue with a right leg injury. Brown had trouble…

Reaching a bowl game wasn't a problem for Michigan State last year. The Spartans won their first eight games and capped a resurgent season with a Peach Bowl victory against Pittsburgh to finish 11-2. Now at the midpoint of this season, Michigan State is facing an uphill battle just to reach six wins and become bowl eligible. That is the result of…

Not many gave it a second thought when Texas A&M entered the season ranked No. 6 in the preseason AP Top 25. Sure, it was rare leap for a team that finished unranked the season prior, but coming off compiling the No. 1 recruiting class of all time and with three new additions in the quarterback room, some viewed the Aggies as a dark horse College…

Betting stats are provided by BetMGM.* A new set of rankings rules college football in Week 10 with the release of the first set of rankings from the College Football Playoff committee on Tuesday night. One of the biggest surprises in the rankings came in the Big Ten, when Michigan was put outside the top four at No. 5, behind ACC leader…

Betting stats are provided by BetMGM.* A new set of rankings rules college football in Week 10 with the release of the first set of rankings from the College Football Playoff committee on Tuesday night. One of the biggest surprises in the rankings came in the Big Ten, when Michigan was put outside the top four at No. 5, behind ACC leader…

The Purdue Boilermakers will travel to take on the Illinois Fighting Illini in a Saturday afternoon Big Ten college football matchup at Memorial Stadium. Let's continue our college football odds series and make our Purdue-Illinois prediction and pick. Purdue has gone 5-4 this season, including a 3-3 record in Big Ten play. The Boilermakers have…

Big Ten Media Days is here and with it the unofficial start of the college football season. And that makes it officially prediction season. Including in the Big Ten, which, although it canned its media preseason poll in recent years, still offers us a view of what to expect in the conference. That's thanks to Cleveland.com, which picked up the…

The Illinois Fighting Illini take on the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Check out our college football odds series for our Illinois Nebraska prediction and pick. The Illinois Fighting Illini are having the time of their lives. They control their fate in the Big Ten West Division. If they win out, they win the division championship and would earn their…

The Minnesota Golden Gophers will travel to take on the Illinois Fighting Illini in a Big Ten college football matchup on Saturday afternoon in Champaign. With that said, it's a good time to check out our college football odds series, which includes a Minnesota-Illinois prediction and pick, laid out below. Minnesota has surged to a 4-1 record this…

Betting stats are provided by BetMGM.* A new set of rankings rules college football in Week 10 with the release of the first set of rankings from the College Football Playoff committee on Tuesday night. One of the biggest surprises in the rankings came in the Big Ten, when Michigan was put outside the top four at No. 5, behind ACC leader…

It's November, and in college football, November means it's time to get down to business. The Southeastern Conference rubber hits the road this week in both divisions, with LSU facing Alabama to most likely decide the West title (Ole Miss still has a shot) and then the real showdown in the East: Tennessee (No. 3 in the human polls but No. 1 in the…

Hopefully everyone's been too caught up in the Michigan-Michigan State game fallout to tally up how the last week of games went for MLive's college sports pickers. But we have to come clean: we had a dreadful week. As a group, we went 3-17 in Week 9 Big Ten games. That includes an 0-5 performance from yours truly. Our overall records took a hit as…

It's November, and in college football, November means it's time to get down to business. The Southeastern Conference rubber hits the road this week in both divisions, with LSU facing Alabama to most likely decide the West title (Ole Miss still has a shot) and then the real showdown in the East: Tennessee (No. 3 in the human polls but No. 1 in the…

The final college football game of the 2017 calendar year will be played Saturday night in Miami between the runners-up in the ACC and Big Ten Championship Games. This one should be a good one as Wisconsin heads south to play the suddenly resurgent Miami Hurricanes. Despite a banner season in Miami with the first trip to an ACC Championship Game,…

Another week of Big Ten football is in the books and it remains the same at the top. Penn State was able to get back on track, proving that it is at the top of the second tier in the conference. Michigan was on a bye and Ohio State picked up a big victory. Was it a statement win? Iowa is not as strong as in the past but the Buckeyes laid 54 points…

Every Tuesday, Matt Hayes tackles the 10 hottest topics in the Big Ten … I don't want to be the guy who has to point this out, but maybe, just maybe, Ohio State - a Playoff lock in the minds of many - is a product of one of the easiest schedules in the nation. I know, I know, it's Scarlet and Gray blasphemy. It couldn't have anything to do with…

As the final month of the regular season nears and Big Ten teams get more games under their belts, it's beginning to become clearer which teams are contenders and which are pretenders. There are five games on the docket in the conference this weekend, and DraftKings Sportsbook has odds available for four of them. Let's take a look at this week's…

Last week was a frustrating one for this column because a previously unannounced injury to Kentucky quarterback Will Levis caused that pick to go south, underdog Akron couldn't keep up in a track meet with Ohio, and TCU pushed against Kansas despite having numerous cover chances. Only Wake Forest got us to the window by going over its team total,…

A huge win over Iowa on Saturday has put the Illinois football team in the AP Top 25 for the first time since 2011. Seeing the Illini in the rankings is something I didn't think I would witness this soon in the Bret Bielema era. But Illinois has earned the No. 24 spot with their 5-1 start to the 2022 campaign. Next up is a tough Minnesota…

College football is a window into America. In some ways, it's an ugly view. The sport thrives on the strength of an unpaid and largely nonwhite labor force, with fans buying tickets and media companies paying billions of dollars that get funneled toward lavish practice facilities and salaries for mostly white coaches and administrators. In other…

college football odds series for our Iowa Illinois prediction and pick. The Iowa Hawkeyes would be one of the best teams in the country … if they had a quarterback. This was said in the offseason. It was said at the start of the regular season. It is being said one month into the regular season. If Iowa had a reasonably competent quarterback to…

Things to watch during Week 6 of play in the Big Ten Conference: GAME OF THE WEEK Iowa (3-2, 1-1 Big Ten) at Illinois (4-1, 1-1) Illinois is riding a wave of momentum under second-year coach Bret Bielema, and he put out a call to fans to fill the stadium for an "Orange Out" at only the third Saturday night Big Ten game in Champaign since 2014. An…