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Michigan State football is shockingly large favorite against Prairie View A&M

This is a lot of points.

By Trevor Michael

Aug 30, 2024; East Lansing, Michigan, USA; Michigan State Spartans running back Nate Carter (5) squeezes through a hole during the game against the Florida Atlantic Owls at Spartan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Young-Imagn Images
Aug 30, 2024; East Lansing, Michigan, USA; Michigan State Spartans running back Nate Carter (5) squeezes through a hole during the game against the Florida Atlantic Owls at Spartan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Young-Imagn Images / Dale Young-Imagn Images
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Michigan State football is riding high after their upset win at Maryland last week and as a reward, the Spartans are now the largest favorite that they’ve been in quite some time.

It’s no surprise whatsoever to be a heavy favorite when going up against an FCS team like Prairie View A&M, but even this spread surprised me a little bit.

That’s right, the Spartans are a 40.5-point favorite against Prairie View on Saturday which is the largest spread in MSU’s favor since 2014.

The thing that initially shocked me the most is that this year’s Michigan State team can even get a large enough spread comparable to the teams during the best part of Mark Dantonio’s tenure. The 2014 team was the Cotton Bowl-winning team that was sandwiched between two Big Ten championship teams, so it doesn’t get much better than those squads.

Now I’m not saying this year’s team isn’t good, I actually think they’re still better than most give them credit for, but they are nowhere near the level of those early 2010 teams.

But nonetheless, this is what happens when you put a solid Power Four team against a very bad FCS team. This Prairie View team is 1-1 so far this season, but it’s that one loss I want to focus on. They lost to Texas Southern Week 1, 27-9, and that Texas Southern team just lost to Rice 69-7 last week. So yeah, they aren’t good at all.

This spread however still surprises me because 40.5 points is still a very large number. Michigan State’s offense has been inconsistent at best and has had a major turnover problem so far this year as well. Those two things aren’t what you want to see for a team trying to cover a spread.

I also don’t get the feeling that Jonathan Smith will want to embarrass Prairie View, so that makes me think he’ll take his foot off the gas a little in the second half.

Regardless, I still think this is a spread Michigan State can cover on Saturday. I’m not going to risk any of my hard-earned money on it, but I could see MSU scoring somewhere in the 40s while holding Prairie View scoreless.

We’ll find out what happens soon, but I recommend avoiding betting this spread and just sitting back and enjoying a blowout victory in Spartan Stadium this weekend.

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