Talking points: Take Sparty

Football expert Phil Steele is the owner and publisher of Phil Steele’s College Football Preview, regarded as the college football bible. Get in-depth coverage of college and pro football 24/7/365 at PhilSteele.com.

MICHIGAN STATE (+231/2) over Michigan: Despite these schools trending in opposite directions, this is still a big rivalry game. This is just the third time this decade the Spartans have been a home underdog, and they pulled outright upsets in the other two.

The last 12 times the Spartans have been underdogs, they are 10-2 against the spread with eight outright upsets, including earlier this year against Notre Dame. I’m calling for Michigan to win by 17, so take the points.

Stanford (-51/2) over ARIZONA: Before the season, I projected sophomore quarterback Keller Chryst would be the starter for Stanford. He will make his first start this week. Last year’s Heisman Trophy runner-up, Christian McCaffrey, has been banged up, but will be close to 100 percent after returning from injury last week not fully healthy. The Cardinal have a massive edge on defense and special teams and are in desperate need of a win, while Arizona has lost its Pac-12 games by an average of 19 points.

LAST WEEK (NCAA): 0-2 SEASON: 7-7- 1