The Purdue Boilermakers take on the Michigan Wolverines. Check out our college football odds series for our Purdue Michigan prediction and pick. Find how to watch Purdue Michigan.

The College Football Playoff rankings were released this week, and the Michigan Wolverines are in the top four. In a normal world, we should be discussing the Wolverines' chances of making the playoff for a third straight season. An unbeaten team should be the talk of the sport, given that Georgia is not as strong as it was in previous seasons. The path is there for Michigan to win the national championship. The Maize and Blue should be the focus of the college football world for what they're doing on the field.

Instead, the Connor Stalions saga is dominating the discussion in college football. The lower-level staffer resigned from his post at Michigan after several days of revelations about his attempts to steal signs from opposing teams. Sign-stealing isn't itself a violation, but how that is done does possess some parameters and guardrails. There appears to be credible evidence that Stalions blew past those guardrails, which has Michigan in hot water with other Big Ten schools and coaches, who want commissioner Tony Petitti to hand down punishments against Michigan for what Stalions has done, and for what head coach Jim Harbaugh was supposed to be responsible for preventing, but didn't. This cloud of controversy and outrage is overwhelming anything else connected to Michigan football. We'll see how this drama plays out on the field against Purdue.

Here are the Purdue-Michigan College Football odds, courtesy of FanDuel.

College Football Odds: Purdue-Michigan Odds

Purdue Boilermakers: +32.5 (-110)

Michigan Wolverines: -32.5 (-110)

Over: 52.5 (-110)

Under: 52.5 (-110)

How To Watch Purdue vs Michigan

Time: 7:30 pm ET / 4:30 pm PT

TV: NBC

Stream: fuboTV (click for a free trial)*

Why Purdue Could Cover the Spread

The Boilermakers have seen and read what everyone else has been following over the past few weeks. They have noticed how much Connor Stalions worked to give Michigan an extra advantage through sign-stealing. They will certainly play hard in this game — not just because playing Michigan is always a big moment for other Big Ten schools, but precisely because Michigan is now the ultimate villain in the Big Ten. Purdue definitely wants to send a message and prove what it can do. No, the Boilermakers aren't a good team, but Purdue can cover the very large spread with a reasonably good defensive performance. Head coach Ryan Walters is a very good defensive coach. As long as he can hold Michigan under 40 points, Purdue should be able to cover this spread, given that the Boilermakers could score seven points in this game, a reasonable expectation of what Purdue could do on offense.

Why Michigan Could Cover the Spread

The Wolverines are sick and tired of this off-field controversy enveloping the program. They want to go on the field and escape from the media spotlight. They just want to play ball. They're very good at playing ball. More precisely, they are good at putting the beatdown on bad teams. They have won their last four games by 38 points or more. They have not won by fewer than 24 points in any game they have played this season. This team wins big and is scoring enough (in the 40s and 50s) to cover point spreads against bad teams. Purdue is a bad team.

Final Purdue-Michigan Prediction & Pick

The distractions following Michigan off the field cast a cloud over this game. It's a great game to stay away from.

Final Purdue-Michigan Prediction & Pick: Purdue +32.5