The Northern Illinois Huskies (0-2, 0-2 MAC) and Ball State Cardinals (1-1, 1-1) meet in Muncie, Ind., for a 7 p.m. ET kickoff Wednesday. Below, we analyze the Northern Illinois-Ball State college football betting odds and lines, with picks and predictions.
Northern Illinois at Ball State: Betting odds, spread and lines
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. ET.
- Money line: Northern Illinois +460 (bet $100 to win $460) | Ball State -667 (bet $667 to win $100)
- Against the spread/ATS: Northern Illinois +14.5 (-110) | Ball State -14.5 (-110)
- Over/Under: 62.5 (O: -106 | U: -115)
Northern Illinois at Ball State: Three things to know
- The Huskies hung tough in their opener against Buffalo, falling 49-30. The game was actually much closer, as NIU outgained the conference champs in yardage, but the Bulls had three defensive touchdowns. Last week, NIU was dusted 40-10 against Central Michigan. While NIU has been good against the pass, it cannot stop the run, allowing 208.0 yards per game to rank 101st in the nation.
- Ball State has had mixed results, losing its opener 38-31 at Miami-Ohio, and winning 38-31 last week against Eastern Michigan. The Cardinals offense ranks 15th with 507 total yards per game, and they’re 15th in rushing yards with 236.5 YPG. Defensively, the Cardinals are allowing 269.0 passing YPG to check in 102nd.
- The Huskies have dominated this series, going 7-1 ATS in the past eight meetings, and 5-0 ATS in the past five trips to Muncie. The road team is also 8-3 ATS in the past 11 in this series.
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Northern Illinois at Ball State: Odds, betting lines, predictions and picks
Prediction
Ball State 34, Northern Illinois 26
Money line (ML)
Ball State (-667) will cost you more than five times your return. That’s just not a good plan over the long term, especially when playing heavy favorites with a poor defense capable of folding at any time. AVOID.
Against the spread (ATS)
NORTHERN ILLINOIS +14.5 (-110) is the play. The Cardinals are averaging 34.5 PPG, but allowed both Miami-Ohio and Eastern Michigan to score 31 points each against them. They might be able to win, but by double digits? Unlikely. Plus, NIU has dominated this series, at least against the number.
Over/Under (O/U)
AVOID. So far Ball State has seen a total of 69 points scored in each of their games, winning and losing by a 38-31 score. The Huskies had a power outage on offense last week at home, and they’re a bit of a question mark in their first road outing. This one will be just too close to call, so focus on the spread instead.
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