After entering Big Ten Conference play as an underdog, Nebraska football is back to being a betting favorite at Memorial Stadium.
The Huskers (3-1, 0-1 B1G) opened as 11½-point favorites for the matchup in Lincoln against Michigan State in early betting lines Sunday, with the consensus line moving closer to 10½ points. The Huskers will play as a favorite for the fourth time this season after competing as a 3½-point underdog against Michigan in week four. It was the first time in 2025 that Nebraska played as the underdog.
Most sportsbooks had Nebraska listed as a 10½-point favorite over the Spartans as of Sunday, with FanDuel giving the Huskers an extra point at 11½ points. The over/under point total remained at the open at 53½ points, as FanDuel remained the outlier, bumping the total down to 52½ points.
Nebraska is 2-2 this season against the spread in 2025, going 2-1 at Memorial Stadium and 1-1 as a favorite. The Huskers won the season opener over Cincinnati 20-17 but failed to cover as six-point favorites. They rebounded with blowout wins over Akron (68-0) and Houston Christian (59-7) as 34½-point favorites against the Zips and 48½-point favorites against the Huskies. Nebraska’s 30-27 loss to Michigan failed to cover the Nebraska 1½-point underdog line.
The Huskers are 3-1 on the season in their over/under history, going a perfect 3-0 at home in point totals. Nebraska failed to cover the point total in its season opener at Arrowhead Stadium against Cincinnati, but did hit the over against Akron (47½ points), Houston Christian (59½ points), and Michigan (47½ points).
The Huskers finished the 2024 season 7-4-2 against the spread and 4-9 in hitting the over in total points. In Nebraska’s last six matchups dating back to the 2024 Black Friday loss at Iowa, the Huskers are 4-2 against the spread while hitting the over twice.
Michigan State is 1-3 against the spread this season but is 1-0 as an underdog. The Spartans failed to cover as a favorite in their first three games of the 2025 season despite a 3-0 start with wins over Western Michigan, Boston College and Youngstown State. Michigan State has hit the over in three of its four contests this year, as the outlier was the 23-6 victory in the season opener against Western Michigan.
In Michigan State’s last five contests dating back to its 2024 season finale against Rutgers, the Spartans are 1-4 against the spread and 4-1 in the over total points.
Nebraska and Michigan State are aiming for their first Big Ten Conference wins of the season, as the Spartans fell to USC on Sept. 20, 45-31, while the Huskers dropped to Michigan 30-27. Both teams had bye weeks last week.
Nebraska coach Matt Rhule is preparing his team for college football chaos after the past weekend in the sport featured several upsets and top teams taking their first losses of the season.
“How does Alabama go from losing the first game to then they beat Georgia? How does Florida State go from beating Alabama then losing to Virginia? And how does Illinois go from giving up 63 points and then now turning around beating USC?” Rhule said during his Monday press conference. “I think it’s A, There’s way more parity in college football than ever before. And B, it comes down to your mindset. Are you locked in and focused? Making sure that our guys have the best version of themselves showing up.”
Rhule added that Michigan State quarterback Aidan Chiles “does all the pro-style things” and could cause the Blackshirts headaches Saturday.
“He is dynamic. He can run. We’ll obviously see the quarterback draw and all the things that we’ve seen, so we’ll have to be prepared to stop that,” Rhule said.
Nebraska takes on Michigan State at 3 p.m. CDT Saturday in Lincoln’s Memorial Stadium. The game will be broadcast on FS1 and heard across the Huskers Radio Network on its affiliate stations.
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