The Ball State Cardinals (5-4, 3-2 MAC) and Northern Illinois Huskies (6-3, 4-1) battle Wednesday in a 7 p.m. ET game at Huskie Stadium in DeKalb, Ill. Below, we look at the Ball State vs. Northern Illinois odds and lines, and make our expert college football picks, predictions and bets.
Wednesday’s “MACtion” tilt at NIU is a key game in the race for the MAC West title, especially with the second-place Cardinals playing solid football of late and winning four of their last five games.
Ball State is improving offensively and is starting to become a reasonable facsimile of the Cardinals team that went 7-1 last season. However, that improving offense is relative: BSU still ranks ninth in MAC scoring, and its gains have come against some struggling defensive teams.
The Huskies are a bit of a work in progress on defense. Northern Illinois is coming off a 52-47 loss at Kent, and NIU has coughed up 90 points over its last two games. However, the Huskies have been solid with the ball in their possession and have rushed for 221.1 yards per contest which ranks 15th in FBS and No. 2 in the MAC.
Rankings courtesy of the AFCA Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports.
Ball State at Northern Illinois odds, spread and lines
Odds provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated at 10:44 a.m. ET.
- Money line: Ball State -140 (bet $ 140 to win $100) | Northern Illinois +115 (bet $100 to win $115)
- Against the spread (ATS): Ball State -2.5 (-112) | Northern Illinois +2.5 (-108)
- Over/Under (O/U): 61.5 (O: -115 | U: -107)
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Ball State at Northern Illinois odds, lines, picks and predictions
Prediction
Northern Illinois 31, Ball State 28
Money line
Ball State may have some road fatigue that crops up in this midweek night game at NIU as its played just one home game since Oct. 2.
Looking under the hood, Ball State has some analytic measures that indicate they are trampling all over the good-versus-lucky line with regards to how it moves the ball on third downs and in its opponent’s territory.
Figure Northern Illinois as having a significant edge in the trenches when it has the ball. Enough so to make this game more of a pick ’em. BACK THE HUSKIES (+115).
Against the spread
The Huskies are 9-2 ATS over their last 11 games following an ATS loss. They are 8-1 ATS in their last nine games against BSU.
NIU runs the ball 64.3% of the time which ranks 10th in FBS. That ground game is the home side’s best defense in this one and on what figures as a somewhat breezy night in DeKalb, that running game makes the Huskies a value play.
BACK NORTHERN ILLINOIS +2.5 (-108).
Over/Under
The public looks to have this one surrounded. BACK OFF.
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