The Western Michigan Broncos (7-5) and Nevada Wolfpack (8-4) meet Monday at 11 a.m. ET for the Quick Lane Bowl at Ford Field in Detroit. Below, we look at the Western Michigan vs. Nevada odds and lines, and make our expert college football picks, predictions and bets.
Western Michigan has cranked out 541.0 total yards per game over its last three contests, and the Broncos’ season average of 463.3 total yards ranks 15th in the nation.
The yardage hasn’t always translated into points, though — WMU is 1-4 against the spread over its last five games; three of the ATS margins of defeat were 20-plus points.
Nevada is 3-3 over its last six games, but the three losses were by a combined 6 points. The Wolfpack sports the leading pass attack in the Mountain West Conference with 365.8 yards per game.
However, those numbers are with Quick Lane opt-out QB Carson Strong (4,186 passing yards, 70.0% accuracy mark, 36 touchdown passes) at the helm. If Nevada will have to lean on a ground game ranked 129th in FBS with 73.8 yards per game if it’s forced to run here.
Rankings courtesy of the AFCA Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports.
Western Michigan vs. Nevada odds, spread and lines
Odds provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Monday at 10:25 a.m. ET.
- Money line: Western Michigan -270 (bet $270 to win $100) | Nevada +210 (bet $100 to win $210)
- Against the spread (ATS): Western Michigan -6.5 (-122) | Nevada +6.5 (-102)
- Over/Under (O/U): 56.5 (O: -115 | U: -107)
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Western Michigan vs. Nevada odds, lines, picks and predictions
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Prediction
Western Michigan 31, Nevada 24
Money line
The opt-out of Strong makes it very tough to make a case for Nevada here. The WMU run game is efficient; the Wolfpack defense against the run is not. Much of this game aside from turnovers and big plays could well come down to just that.
BACK THE BRONCOS (-270). The attractiveness of this game has waned by the day as it approaches. Consider just a partial-unit play.
Against the spread
PASS unless the tag were to slip to minus-6 or better (or a more even price on the -6.5).
Over/Under
The UNDER 56.5 (-107) is advisable. Figure Nevada being forced into two or three field-goal attempts and the Bronco run game as being a worthy governor of pace.
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