Miami is a team I'm looking to go against early with a re-tooled roster. Chuck Martin is a good coach but the RedHawks could struggle out of the gate after losing all 11 starters on offense. I love fading teams with a brand new offensive line because that unit is all about playing together. Miami’s returning offensive line has three career starts. I do expect Wisconsin to be improved this season with transfer QB Billy Edwards, although this is more about fading Miami until all the new pieces come together. Bet up to -18 for a half unit.

DeQuan Finn is the starting QB for Miami-Ohio, and it'll be his seventh season in college football for his third different team, but memories from his Toledo days still hold weight with me. Enough weight for me to bypass everything I follow in an opening game, such as returning starters. This team doesn't return any starters from last year. But they have Finn, who threw 66 touchdown passes to only 25 interceptions over his career. On the other end, we have Wisconsin, that's been on the decline for the last few years. The new transformation of the Big Ten, the changes to other conferences, and all the transfer portals have all come at the expense of Wisconsin football. I took the points with Miami.

They're playing "Pick an Identity" at Wiscy as Luke Fickell has apparently decided to embrace the old Barry Alvarez smashmouth template after his brief adventure running a more-progressive attack under OC Phil Longo (now Sam Houston's HC) derailed the past two seasons. It's worth noting, however, that new Badger QB Billy Edwards won just one Big Ten game as Maryland's starter last fall, and the 2024, no-bowl Wiscy didn't come close to covering double-digit spreads in a pair of non-conference games at Madison. Meanwhile, Miami-O is no pushover, and the last time QB Dequann Finn was piloting a MAC offense he was winning league MVP honors at Toledo before a detour to Baylor ended in a rib injury early last September at Utah. Play Miami-Ohio