Vegas Spreads: West Michigan at Michigan State - Week 1 Football Odds

The Michigan State Spartans are coming off a disappointing season in which they took a step back and will open against a dangerous Mid American Conference foe in Western Michigan. WMU is eager to duplicate Central Michigan’s upset road win over the Spartans last year. Kick-off is set for 12:05pm EST on ESPN2 and online sportsbooks opened with Michigan State as a 23.5-point college football betting favorite in Vegas spreads with an over/under total of 50. The Spartans were picked to finish high in the Big Ten conference last year and finished 6-7 in a letdown season that ended with an Alamo Bowl loss to Texas Tech.

Michigan State got no such preseason love this summer but does return 7 starters on offense heading into week 1 college football odds led by junior quarterback Kirk Cousins along with 6 starters on a defense that should be improved. MSU head coach Mark Dantonio is optimistic that the Spartans can climb back into Big Ten contention. “I’m certainly very excited about it,” said Dantonio about the start of the season. “I see a very unselfish attitude.” The defense must improve from the 26 points per game allowed last year and the line is of concern. Defensive backs are solid and the linebackers are led by All American Greg Jones.

The weak pass rush was a major culprit in the defense’s poor play of 2009. Cousins should be improved after an up and down season in which he showed promise. MSU is also hoping for a much improved running game and believes they have the line to deliver the goods. Alex Carder takes over at QB for Western Michigan as record breaking signal caller Tim Hiller graduated. Head coach Bill Cubit is known for his creative and high octane passing attack and brought in Dave Cohen as the new defensive coordinator after the unit failed to deliver toughness last year.