MAC Championship Betting Odds – Northern Illinois vs. Bowling Green
Carrie Stroup here with your MAC Championship betting odds for Northern Illinois vs. Bowling Green. Place your 1st bet here, get your 2nd bet FREE.
NORTHERN ILLINOIS HUSKIES (10-2) vs. BOWLING GREEN FALCONS (7-5)
Sportsbook.ag Line & Total: Northern Illinois -7, Total:62
Opening Line & Total: Northern Illinois-5.5, Total: 59
Northern Illinois attempts to win its third MAC Championship in four years when it takes on Bowling Green Friday evening in Detroit.
The Huskies are playing in this conference title game for the fifth straight season, but after capturing wins in both 2011 and 2012, they entered last year's game with a 12-0 record and these Falcons shocked them with a 47-27 blowout win, racking up 574 yards of offense and intercepting two NIU passes.
This year, the Huskies put together another stellar season and dominated their conference with a 7-1 record SU with their lone loss coming to Central Michigan on Oct. 11 by a score of 34-17 as 8-point favorites at home. They have ripped off six straight wins since that setback, but in conference play they did not do very well for bettors, though, going 3-5 ATS while actually covering three of their past four games. NIU had some close calls down the stretch, winning by an average of just 6.7 PPG in its past three contests while being the underdog in each of the past two games. The school finished off the year with a nice win over Western Michigan in which it outscored the Broncos 31-21 while getting 8.5-points on the road. Northern Illinois scored the final 24 points of the game behind 355 yards of offense and six forced turnovers.
Bowling Green has not been quite as dominant as its counterpart in this one, going 5-3 SU (2-5 ATS) in conference, and made this championship game despite losing its past two games. The Falcons took defeats against Toledo (by a score of 27-20), and then finished the regular season off with a disappointing 41-24 loss to Ball State as 10-point favorites at home. They were able to get 314 yards rushing in the game against the Cardinals but failed to make plays when they needed to in a contest where the teams combined for 939 yards of total offense.
Before last season's MAC Championship Game upset, the Huskies had won the previous three meetings in this series (2-1 ATS) by an average of 17.0 PPG. Trends show that NIU is 11-0 ATS off an upset win over a conference rival as an underdog since 1992, while Bowling Green is 12-3 ATS (80%) after playing a game at home over the past three seasons. There are no significant injuries to either roster in this big game.
Northern Illinois has one of the best rushing attacks in the nation as they gain 246.2 YPG on the ground (18th in FBS) while passing for a mere 187.2 YPG (103rd in nation) and have scored 30.6 PPG (55th in FBS). QB Drew Hare (1,879 pass yards, 15 TD, 1 INT) may not have a ton of volume, but is extremely efficient with a 60% completion rate for 7.5 YPA. He attempted just 20.8 passes per game and surpassed 200 yards only twice, but mainly serves as a runner while leading the team with 790 yards on the ground (5.9 YPC) and seven touchdowns.
Joining him in the backfield is HB Cameron Stingily (779 rush yards, 11 TD) who has three performances of 100+ rushing yards, but has averaged a mere 51.3 YPG over the past three games. Stingily rushed for 74 yards on 12 carries (6.2 YPC) in last year's MAC title game versus Bowling Green.
Northern Illinois' one receiver of note is WR Da’Ron Brown (932 rec yards, 6 TD) who has averaged a strong 16.9 yards per catch while hitting the century mark for yards on three separate occasions.
The Huskies defense has been decent while allowing opponents to score 24.2 PPG (45th in nation) on 390.9 total yards per game, and have allowed more than 21 points just once over their past five performances. DB Marlon Moore (86 tackles, 1 INT), LB Rasheen Lemon (81 tackles, 2.5 sacks) and DL Jason Meehan (46 tackles, 7 sacks) have all been impressive on this side of the ball.
The Falcons bring a much more balanced offense to the table in this one while scoring 30.8 PPG (54th in FBS) behind 258.9 passing YPG (42nd in nation) and 180.6 rushing YPG (49th in FBS). QB James Knapke (2,654 pass yards, 12 TD, 10 INT) has struggled with turnovers, as he has thrown a pick in eight of his 11 games while actually going over 300 yards in four different performances. He performed very poorly in the final two contests of the year as the team lost both times and Knapke combined to connect on just 25-of-51 passes (49%) with an average of 105.5 YPG through the air.
HB Travis Greene (803 rush yards, 9 TD) is coming off his best showing of the year when he rushed for 159 yards (11.4 YPC) and a score in the loss to Ball State. He has also been a solid receiver with 180 yards on 24 catches (7.5 avg) and 1 TD. In last year's MAC Championship, Greene racked up 156 total yards with a pair of touchdowns (1 rushing, 1 receiving). Greene has some solid depth behind him, as both HBs Fred Coppet (653 rush yards, 6 TD) and Andre Givens (474 rush yards, 8 TD) have done well. WR Roger Lewis (934 rec yards, 5 TD) has been the biggest threat through the air while the team has plenty of great options with WRs Ryan Burbrink (663 rec yards, 3 TD) and Ronnie Moore (598 rec yards, 5 TD) getting some solid production.
The reason this team isn’t better, is a defense that has allowed 32.5 PPG (101st in nation) and has giving up more than 40 points five times this year. The Falcons have surrendered 494.7 total yards per game, including 565.8 total YPG in six non-home games. LB Gabe Martin (100 tackles, 2 INT, 15 TFL) and DB Nick Johnson (61 tackles, 5 INT) have been bright spots on this side of the ball, but will need do a much better job to win the championship game.
- Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com Senior Reporter
