College football 2021: Predictions for Power Five, plus AAC, title games

Big Ten Championship Game

Matchup: No. 13 Iowa (10-2) vs. No. 2 Michigan (11-1)
Time/TV: Saturday at 8 p.m. ET on FOX
Location: Lucas Oil Stadium (Indianapolis, Ind.)
Spread: Michigan -11

Unlike the ACC championship, the Big Ten title game features two of the best defenses in the nation. This game will be the polar opposite of the ACC matchup and should be very low-scoring. The over/under for this one is 43.5 and I fully expect the under to hit.

Iowa’s offense is flat-out bad, for lack of a better term. They have struggled to move the ball and find playmakers all season long. The Hawkeyes are averaging less than 300 yards a game on offense which is not a recipe for success.

Sadly, this is not the defense you want to be facing either when you struggle to move the chains and can’t put points on the board. Especially with the nation’s top edge defender in Aidan Hutchinson playing out of his mind lately. If Hutchinson has another great game, he fully deserves the Heisman Trophy, in my opinion.

Now, Michigan’s offense certainly isn’t bad, but it isn’t anything electric or high-powered. They pound the run nonstop and rarely take downfield shots. So this Iowa defense will be a challenge for the Michigan offense as well. It is a much better defense than Ohio State’s. Both of these teams are top 10 in the country in opponent scoring allowing only 17 points a game. I don’t even think the Hawkeyes will score 17 points, though.

Michigan is playing too well right now and has too much momentum going into this game. After finally beating Ohio State, the Wolverines are on cloud-nine and are destined to finally make the College Football Playoff if they can defeat Iowa. I expect them to do just that and take care of business. Jim Harbaugh might finally find himself in the playoff after Saturday night.

My prediction: Michigan wins 24-10