There are still four teams who have a viable chance to win the MAC West at this point with two games left to go in the season.
The Northern Illinois Huskies can take a massive step forward if they can knock off the Western Michigan Broncos in a game which will serve as an eliminator for the MAC title for the losing side.
College Football Odds at BookMaker.eu Western Michigan Broncos +3 Northern Illinois Huskies -3
ODDS ANALYSIS
The Broncos had yet to lose a game in conference play this year before last week, but they were rightfully underdogs to the MAC East champs from Bowling Green. The 41-27 loss wasn't really ever all that close, and WMU now faces a real threat of finishing the season with three consecutive losses. If that turns out to be the case, there's virtually no shot this club goes bowling.
WMU is a dog again in this one at +3 thanks to the fact that NIU has been spotless SU this year at home, winning all of its games by at least eight points.
KEY MISMATCH
Drew Hare's season is over with for Northern Illinois, and that has caused it to turn to Ryan Graham, a redshirt freshman who will take this team over going forward, very likely for the next three seasons.
Graham is very likely a star in the making in DeKalb, but he's just raw at this point. Northern Illinois is going to be forced to keep the ball on the ground due to the fact that Graham isn't a polished passer yet. That could play into the hands of a Western Michigan defense which hasn't been all that great but has been opportunistic forcing turnovers at times.
KEY STAT
26 – The minimum number of carries Joel Bouagnon has gotten in his last three games for Northern Illinois. Clearly, the team's leading rusher is going to be a big part of the offensive game plan, and we suspect he'll end up scoring at least once in this game. The only game in which the junior didn't find the end zone this year was against Ohio State in the Horseshoe.
BETTING ANGLE
Western Michigan has covered its three road games since getting stunned by Georgia Southern in its first road test of the year. It's also notable that the Broncos have had a history of covering as dogs, going 3-1 ATS on the year, the sole loss being last week at home against Bowling Green.
ANALYSIS AND ODDS PREDICTION
We think the oddsmakers are going to undervalue the loss of Hare in this game for Northern Illinois, and that's going to create a real opportunity to bet on the Broncos.
Sure, Graham generated the victory on the road against Toledo, and yes, he put up 41 points last week against Buffalo, but we think this is a much different challenge.
The Broncos can play, and they can certainly put some points on the board with their two dangerous receivers, Daniel Braverman and Corey Davis, both of which will have over 1,000 yards through the air by the time this game is over with.
WMU knows the importance of this one, and it's good enough to snare this victory to eliminate the Huskies from contention in the rough and tumble MAC West.
Western Michigan 34, Northern Illinois 27
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Real-time spreads, totals, props and moneyline odds are all available by clicking here, so start betting with BookMaker today! The game between the Western Michigan Broncos and the Northern Illinois Huskies will go down Wednesday, November 18, 2015 at 8:00 p.m. ET at Huskie Stadium. The matchup will be televised on ESPN2.
