The Illini are giving too much to cover on Saturday. Illinois is not equipped to be this large of a spread favorite with Bret Bielema as HC. The Illini weren't the better team last week against Kansas and they will be humbled a bit at home by the Chippewas, who are guided by former Colorado State and Florida HC Jim McElwain, whose CMU teams have covered in four straight games against power-conference competition as large underdogs. Those games were vs. Miami, Oklahoma State, Penn State and Notre Dame.

The Illini are 2-4 ATS vs. non-Power four opponents under Bielema and the Big Ten is 7-8 ATS vs. the MAC over the last two seasons. This is a bet against Illinois as much as it is against the Big Ten, which gets too much respect nationally at times. As a grad of a Big Ten school, I can honestly say that. The Chips return 13 starters and will play much more disciplined after last week's turnover-filled blunder.

Let's catch the Illini in a letdown spot after a win over a ranked Jayhawks squad with games vs. ranked Nebraska and Penn State teams looming!