First, a note about the weather: As this is written, there’s about 5 inches of snow on the ground in State College. It’s already the biggest snowfall ever in SC in October, and they’re expecting twice that much by game time.
All grass parking areas will be closed, and if you’ve been up there, you know how much grass parking there is. They’re planning to have people park at Wal-Mart, Home Depot, etc. and be shuttled in. We media folk have been told our parking spots will be unavailable after 11 a.m. For a 3:30 p.m. game. And it’s homecoming. The term logistical nightmare comes to mind.
As always, the message is- stay home.
As for the football…
Lay these team’s seasons next to each other, given the respective strengths of schedule, and it’s hard to say Penn State’s had the better year. The Nits have played one game they could possibly have lost, and lost it. Minnesota’s had 4-5 games tougher than any of Penn State’s wins, and the Gophers have won 2-3 of them.
Last weekend I’d have guessed Penn State would be favored by 7-8, and half that would be marquee-name inflation.
The opening line was 16 1/2. Now it’s 17 1/2.
More than double what I would’ve predicted. Never, ever remember that happening before, in any football game.
A line that seems insane usually means Vegas is trying to tell you something. In this case, the message can only be: We’re begging you, American Betting Public, to take Minnesota.
So I won’t.
Penn State 23, Minnesota 10.
