Outkick Bets: Wednesday MACtion
It’s the last night of MACtion this week and I’m fired up for a couple of quality matchups. We are looking at a couple of road teams showing up as short favorites (as of typing) and if Tuesday’s action is a harbinger of tonight’s matchups, we are gonna have one good game and another good half. Let’s see what’s up.
Central Michigan -1 @ Ball State
Yes, the fighting Jim McElwains are traveling to Muncie, Indiana for their next to last MAC game of the season and boy, this looks like a favorable matchup. These last couple of weeks I have gotten even more acquainted with all these teams and this one lines up nicely for the Chippewas. The numbers make sense for us to take this road fav. Central Michigan averages near 450 yards per game (24th in the country) and 283 of those yards are via the air. Ball State already struggles to stop the air attack, ranking 96th in the country in pass defense giving up 248 yards per contest. Ball State’s offense won’t impress many, racking up 347.2 yards per game which is good for 106th in the nation. Central Michigan comes into tonight’s game 3-1 ATS in their last 4, all MAC games, whilst Ball State is 0-3 ATS in their last three conference games. Friends, it’s not all about numbers and sometimes those numbers lie, but tonight they are an accurate representation of these two.
Northern Illinois -1.5 @ Buffalo
If y’all were looking for a MAC game that has a chance at ending in two hours, tonight’s Huskies/Bulls matchup is your best bet. Both of these squads are behemoths on the ground. Northern Illinois is 15th in the land rushing for 220.2 per game. Buffalo checks in just under 200 yards per game (197.5 to be exact) and that’s good enough for 30th in the NCAA. The better news? Neither one can stop the opponent’s tailbacks worth a lick! Buffalo allows 198.1 yards on the ground per game (109th) and there are only 21 teams worse than that. Luckily for us, one of those teams that is worse is in this game! Northern Illinois allowed 208.8 yards on the ground and that’s 119th in the country. Check this out: during MACtion these past two weeks, Buffalo has allowed 203 yards per on the turf while Northern Illinois is giving up 303 yards. Holy smokes! Despite this for the Huskies, they are still 6-3-1 ATS this season and the Bulls are on a cold streak in that respect, going 1-5-1 ATS in their last seven games. Folks, don’t blink because we might miss this one and the fact that the Huskies will cover the -1.5 on the road.