The Big Ten is Back!

The Big Ten kicks off this Saturday, August 27th, with the first game starring the Nebraska Cornhuskers vs the Northwestern Wildcats. This game will be played at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland, and is expected to start at 12:30 pm. This will be the first game since 2016 that an NCAAF game will be played in Ireland. This game was scheduled to be played in 2021, but due to COVID-19, it was postponed to this year. For a majority of these players, it will be the first time they play football in another country. There have been six games that have been played in Ireland, the first dating back to 1988. In all but one, the final total score of the game has been at least 50 points. With football back in Ireland, expect both of these teams to play their best and try to come back to the states with a foot in the right direction.  Caesars Casino & Sportsbook has the match result odds at -550 Nebraska and +400 Northwestern. Additionally, the over/under total points for the game are set at 49.5 with the over and under both being -110. New users will receive a Risk-Free Bet of up to $1500 on their first wager. 

The Nebraska Cornhuskers are coming off an underwhelming season. They finished last season 3-9 and had a conference record of 1-8, only finishing higher than the Wildcats in the Big Ten West. Their only conference win came against the Wildcats where they won by a final score of 56-7. In that game, they dominated on both sides of the ball. They recorded 657 yards of total offense and held the Wildcats to under 300 total yards. Of the 657 yards, 427 were rushing. The leading rusher for the team was running back, Jaquez Yant, who had 127 yards. A close second to Yant’s impressive stat line was running back Rahmir Johnson, who rushed for 74 yards and two touchdowns. Quarterback Adrian Martinez showed out in this game as he had over 250 yards of total offense and four offensive touchdowns. Unfortunately, Martinez transferred to the Kansas State Wildcats and will not be involved in this game against Northwestern. On the bright side, the Cornhuskers will have both Yant and Johnson available for them in this game. However, after their dominant victory against the Wildcats, the Cornhuskers would end up losing six straight games to end the season. 

The Northwestern Wildcats had a similar season to the Cornhuskers. They also finished 3-9 with a conference record of 1-9 but were the last seed in the Big Ten West. Their conference victory came against the Rutger Scarlet Knights where they won by a final score of 21-7. In the game against the Cornhuskers, they were able to score a touchdown late in the first quarter but were unable to score any points for the rest of the game. The Wildcats really got outplayed in this game and could end up getting dominated again in this game. The only advantage the Wildcats have in this game as opposed to the one last season is that this game will be played on a neutral site. After their defeat against the Cornhuskers, the Wildcats would end the season 1-6, losing six straight. 

Both of these teams had awful seasons last year. The only advantage in this game belongs to the Cornhuskers as they dominated the Wildcats the last time they played each other. I expect both of these teams to approach this game with something to prove as they both ended the year losing six straight games. As it is the first game of the season, I do expect this game to have a lot of points scored. In the last game, there were 63 points scored. Although the majority of the points belonged to Nebraska, I do expect this game to have a similar point total with a more even result. 

For our Nebraska Cornhuskers vs Northwestern Wildcats prediction take the over on the 49.5 total points scored in the game.