College football picks: Penn State part of Week 6 CFB Big Ten parlay that pays nearly 6-1 at BetMGM

The Big Ten doesn’t have any monumental matchups like Oregon at Penn State in Week 5, but there are still seven games involving conference teams in Week 6. Which three Big Ten teams are we backing against the spread to make up our BetMGM parlay for Week 6?

College football Week 6 Big Ten parlay

Final odds: +595 (wager $100 to win $595)

Purdue +9.5 vs. Illinois

Illinois is coming off a 2-point home win over USC after a game-winning field goal as time expired. After pulling off its biggest win of the season, the Illini could be in for a sleepy start with a noon ET kickoff against a perceived conference bottom-feeder like Purdue. But the Boilermakers already looked much more well-coached in Year 1 under Barry Odom compared to previous head coach Ryan Walters. They’ve played two of the better offenses in the country in their past two games with USC and Notre Dame, and Illinois isn’t nearly at that same level on that side of the ball.

Penn State -25.5 at UCLA

James Franklin may not be able to beat great teams, but he sure can run up the score against bad teams. UCLA has already fired head coach DeShaun Foster and just let go offensive coordinator Tino Sunseri earlier this week. It would be a surprise if the Bruins didn’t finish 0-12 this season, given the rest of the schedule and what the program has turned into. I wouldn’t give UCLA much of a chance to keep this game close against Penn State in general, especially an angry Penn State that is looking to avenge its heartbreaking loss to Oregon last weekend. This is just a tough spot for UCLA. 

Michigan State +11.5 at Nebraska

I’m not sure Nebraska has earned this type of respect to be laying double digits here. Sure, the Cornhuskers edged Cincinnati on the road in their season opener. But they were thoroughly outplayed at home by Michigan and have two other wins over the likes of Akron and Houston Christian. Jonathan Smith has a tough task ahead of him rebuilding this Michigan State program, but I trust him to cook up a strong game plan coming off of a bye.