The Central Michigan Chippewas look to avoid a letdown when they visit the Northern Illinois Huskies on Wednesday night for a Mid-American Conference West division battle. The Chippewas (1-0) defeated fellow conference contender Ohio 30-27 in the season opener last week and now face a Huskies team they beat 48-10 last season. Freshman quarterback Daniel Richardson leads a balanced offense, and the defense had five sacks and recovered two fumbles last week. NIU (0-1) opened with a 49-30 loss to Buffalo.
Kickoff from Huskie Stadium in DeKalb, Ill., is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET. William Hill Sportsbook lists the Chippewas as a seven-point favorite in its latest Central Michigan vs. Northern Illinois odds, and the over-under for total points scored is 58. Before you make your Northern Illinois vs. Central Michigan picks, check out the college football predictions for MACtion from the SportsLine Projection Model.
The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every FBS college football game 10,000 times. Over the past four-plus years, the proprietary computer model has generated a stunning profit of almost $3,900 for $100 players on its top-rated college football picks against the spread. It is a sizzling 37-20 on top-rated picks through 10 weeks of the 2020 college football season, returning over $900 in profit already. Anyone who has followed it has seen huge returns.
Now, the model has set its sights on Central Michigan vs. Northern Illinois. You can visit SportsLine now to see the picks. Here are the college football odds from William Hill and trends for Northern Illinois vs. Central Michigan:
- Central Michigan vs. Northern Illinois spread: Chippewas -7
- Central Michigan vs. Northern Illinois over-under: 58
- Central Michigan vs. Northern Illinois moneyline: Chippewas -270, Huskies +220
- CMU: RB Kobe Lewis has 856 yards, averaging 6.4 yards per carry, over his past nine games.
- NIU: QB Ross Bowers threw for at least 220 yards in seven of his nine games last season.
Why Central Michigan can cover
Central Michigan is 10-4 against the spread in its last 14 games following a straight-up win, and Richardson threw for 243 yards and one TD and rushed for another in place of the suspended David Moore. He got help from a ground game that had 184 yards, led by Kobe Lewis, who ran for 112 and scored twice. NIU allowed 179 rushing yards and 5.4 per carry last week. Richardson also has plenty of weapons outside, including All-MAC receivers Kalil Pimpleton and JaCorey Sullivan.
The Chippewas, who are 11-1-1 ATS in their last 13 Wednesday games, also got a strong performance from their defense in the win against Ohio. Troy Hairston had three sacks and Amir Siddiq had two, and George Douglas had one of the team's two fumble recoveries. The Huskies had five turnovers against Buffalo, and now they face a CMU defense that ranked second in the MAC in yards per game last season and allowed just 345 against Ohio's superior attack.
Why Northern Illinois can cover
Northern Illinois is 6-0 against the spread in its last six games following an ATS loss, and the Huskies are likely to give running backs Erin Collins and Harrison Waylee a lot of work. They combined for 115 yards last week before the Huskies fell too far behind in the second half. Northern Illinois has an experienced quarterback in Ross Bowers, who threw for 2,130 yards and seven TDs last season. He threw for 202 in the loss to Buffalo, and he has a strong corps of receivers.
Tyrice Richie had 106 yards on nine catches last week for the Huskies, who are 7-3 in their last 10 games against a team with a winning record. Fellow wideout Cole Tucker, who scored a TD against Buffalo, had a team-high 38 catches last season, and tight end Daniel Crawford was second with 37.
How to make Central Michigan vs. Northern Illinois picks
SportsLine's model is leaning under on the total, with the model suggesting the teams won't score 50 points combined. It also says one side of the spread has all the value. You can only get the pick at SportsLine.
So who wins Central Michigan vs. Northern Illinois? And which side of the spread has all the value? Visit SportsLine right now to see which side of the Northern Illinois vs. Central Michigan spread to back on Wednesday, all from the advanced model on a 37-20 run on its top-rated college football picks this season, and find out.
