Welcome back to another week of Sharpening The Edge.

Last week’s article-only picks went 3-0 to put us at a combined record of 5-1 in STE’s first two weeks.

On top of this weekly column’s three picks, I post a Wolverine Den board-exclusive list of picks every Saturday morning. Those picks went 2-2 last week.

Here’s a recap of last week:

Article-only picks:

MICH -1 (Michigan won by 4) WIN

UAB/Marshall U55.5 (21-14 final) WIN

Eagles/Broncos U45.5 (30-13 final) WIN

Board-exclusive picks:

FSU +2.5 (FSU won outright) WIN

BC/GT o54.5 (41-30 final) WIN

Utah -14 1H (Utah led 21-17) LOSS

TULS/TULA o55 (20-13 final) LOSS

A new feature added last week was Dog of the Day where I picked my favorite moneyline underdog of the slate. Tulane was the pick last week and lost by a touchdown.

Record: 5-2 overall (0-1, Dog of the Day)

With a 5-2 finish last week, this puts Sharpening The Edge at 11-4 overall since starting two weeks ago. That puts us up 7 units, meaning if you bet $100 per unit then this record would win you $700, on average.

As we move along, we will begin hammering an NCAAB slate but for the time being, we’re going to stay focused on football including both NCAAF and NFL.

Time to attack this week’s board …

Here we go.

Two teams fighting for a shot at not only the Big Ten Championship but a spot in the College Football Playoff.

Michigan State is no fraud despite its slip-up two weeks ago at Purdue.

Ohio State is exactly who we thought they were: a team dedicated to the identity that’s brought it to conference dominance and national prominence over the past decade.

The Spartans have a Heisman contender in running back Kenneth Walker III, and the Buckeyes have one in quarterback C.J. Stroud.

All things considered, this should be an instant classic. Yet the spread is out to nearly three touchdowns in favor of the Buckeyes.

Our strategy in making picks remains the same: find a couple of edges and run with it. If you find three, hammer it. If you find one, you better love it or you’ll be disappointed.

As for the first edge … the Buckeyes are no stranger to facing big spreads at home against ranked opponents. Last week, they did at home against Purdue, covering a 19.5-point spread by 8.5 points in a 59-31 victory.

However, OSU failed to cover in two other similar settings as 18.5-point favorites against Penn State and losing outright to Oregon as 14.5-point favorites.

As it always does, Ohio State turns a corner come November and revs its engines through every opponent this time of year.

I’ll bet on that continuing.

Additionally, I’m going to buy in on a two-edge special here with one of my own system picks.

The second edge is the money-percentage differential, a measuring stick often relied upon with STE’s picks and thus often profitable. Simply put, I like going where the money goes but only when the differential is convincing me to do so.

Michigan State is getting 71-percent of the tickets and rightfully so. To the average bettor, this large of a spread with two teams ranked this closely makes it easy to put a wager on the Spartans. You can relax until this game, or if this game, gets out of hand.

But to us, the real crazy bunch of wackos who dig into it all, Ohio State is getting 72-percent of the money despite only having 29-percent of tickets. That’s a 43-percent differential.

Lastly, when a line from Vegas seems crazy, it’s because those mad scientists know you’ll all think so.

Give me the Buckeyes up to -20.5.

Pick: Ohio State -19

Let’s keep this one the opposite of the last one: short and sweet.

Nobody wants to watch this game but hey, nobody wanted to watch Marshall/UAB last week and that ended up being a smash play for us.

Purdue has a top-30 scoring defense and Northwestern has the 75th overall scoring offense.

Meanwhile, Purdue’s offense is 57th in points compared to Northwestern’s abysmal 114th-ranked scoring defense.

The Wildcats have scored 7, 12, 14, and 7 points in their last four games. The last time they scored more than three touchdowns in a game was against Ohio in Week 3.

Long story short, if there are going to be points scored in this game they’re likely going to come from the Boilermakers.

Despite that, 76-percent of the tickets and 69-percent of the money rests on the over.

Yet the line has moved in favor of the under from 48.5 points to 47.5.

That’s sharp money, or “pro bettors” to those who don’t know the term, coming in and forcing Vegas to move this line in their direction.

We’ve got enough here to take this total under 47.5 points and I’d take it down to 45.5.

Pick: Under 47.5

This one isn’t so analytical as the others.

It’s a spot play that plays well into the Irish’s hands.

Tech has been abysmal this season with a 3-7 record and losers of four out of their last five games against the spread. Eliminated from bowl eligibility, there’s nothing to play for but pride on its sideline.

Meanwhile, Notre Dame is 9-1, covered the spread in five straight games, and is playing for a spot in the College Football Playoff.

I like the heavily-favored, clearly better home team with far more on the line to play until the whistles blow having to prove to the College Football Playoff Committee that it’s worthy of a spot.

I’ve got the Irish up to 20.5.

Pick: Notre Dame -17.5

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