So I was out of town last week as the Boilermakers took down the Cornhuskers, not only covering, but WINNING THE GAME. It was impressive. Sure, the Huskers were hurt, but Purdue SCORED FIFTY FIVE POINTS! Nebraska was favored by 7.5, and it was never in doubt that Purdue would cover.
Well worth losing the ten Euros, especially since I know five or so Husker fans, who are all on suicide watch this season.
Moving on to Week 10, it went the other way. The line was haywire, it opened at Illinois -2.5, went up to Illinois -5, then closed at Illinois -3 but at -120 instead of the normal -110. I can’t tell if it was the result of a lot of action, or if it was the result of minimal volume causing big swings. Either way, it was interesting to see it fluctuate so dramatically, only to go back where it opened.
The Illini took an early 20-0 lead, which had me feeling pretty secure, but a 15 play drive, Purdue’s longest of the year, to end the first half put the spread on ice a bit. The next drive, the Illini scored a touchdown after trying to run the clock out, and it was to the races after that.
So after 10 weeks, Purdue is 3-5 ATS with 1 off the board. After starting out 0-3 ATS, the lines clearly started shifting. I can’t say that I thought Nebraska was a full touchdown better than Purdue (or that Wisconsin was 24 points better). We’ll see what the lines look like the next two weeks against Northwestern and Iowa.
Here are the updated week by week results. Still up a little over 10 Euro, which means that with 3 games left, the team can go 2-1 ATS to get breakeven.
| Week | Opponent | Line | Final difference | Result | Cumulative net result |
| 1 | Marshall | -7.5 | Marshall -10 | Win (+8.13) | +8.13 |
| 2 | Indiana State | Off the board | Purdue -24 | N/A | +8.13 |
| 3 | Virginia Tech | -6.5 | Virginia Tech -17 | Win (+8.13) | +16.26 |
| 4 | Bowling Green | -4 | Bowling Green -7 | Win (+8.13) | +24.39 |
| 5 | Michigan State | -21 | Michigan State -3 | Lose (-10) | +14.39 |
| 6 | Minnesota | -3.5 | Minnesota -28 | Win (+8.56) | +22.95 |
| 7 | Wisconsin | -23.5 | Wisconsin -17 | Lose (-10) | +12.95 |
| 9 | Nebraska | -7.5 | Purdue -10!!! | Lose (-10) | +2.95 |
| 10 | Illinois | -3 | Illinois -34 | Win (+7.41) | +10.36 |