LOS ANGELES — The 2026 debut of Big Ten picks wound up a rare week in which my record picking games against the spread was better than picking games straight-up.
I missed three winners across 10 games involving Big Ten schools last week, including the game played at Husky Stadium. I was fortunate, though, to pick all eight Saturday games correctly against the spread (after going 0-2 on Friday, thanks to Rutgers’ resurgence against Howard and Northwestern’s peskiness at Indiana). That should provide a nice cushion for an inevitable midseason swoon.
There are eight games this weekend, all of the conference variety, with one Friday; Oregon and UCLA are idle (and play each other next week). All kickoff times Pacific. All lines courtesy of BetMGM. All rankings courtesy of the AP Top-25.
Last week: 8-2 against the spread (7-3 straight-up)
Season: 8-2 (7-3)