Western Michigan at Michigan

The first year for Michigan under Rich Rodriguez was certainly one full of adjustments. They had a horrible season. But his teams are noted for making big strides in year two, and he certainly has the supporting cast in place to do just that in 2009. The offense returns nine starters from last year's team. What does that mean in this game? Home favorites that return 9+ offensive starters that are playing a non-conference opponent during the first month of the season have been good bets to win the game, having gone 25-0 the past three seasons and 55-7 the past ten seasons. That does not even begin to tell the whole story here. The last five years in this situation the games have been brutally lopsided as the team returning the nine offensive players has won by an average score of 37.5 to 14.8. That is a huge 22.7 points per game. That sets the stage for a Michigan blowout in this one. Michigan is a bit underrated right now, given their disastrous 2008 campaign. We'll take advantage of that and get them here at a line well below what it should be.