Northwestern has opened as 4.5 point underdogs for its August 30 season-opener at Purdue, according to lines via Vegas Insider as of May 21.
This doesn’t come as a huge surprise, for a few reasons.
First, the game is in West Lafeyette, and home field typically accounts for somewhere from 2.5-3.5 points (not that the gameday atmosphere in West Lafeyette is anything to write home about). On a neutral field, Purdue would still be favored, but by a smaller margin.
Plus, the uncertainty regarding Clayton Thorson’s health is working against NU here. It’s unclear if he’ll be ready to play Week 1, and, while the line likely takes this uncertainty into account, he would likely swing the line toward NU by several points if he were a lock to play.