Ball State vs. Western Michigan College Football Predictions: The No. 15 Ball State Cardinals and the Mid-America Conference (MAC) again kick-off the college football week Tuesday night in an ESPN2 televised game as they host the Western Michigan Broncos in Muncie, Ind with kickoff set for 7 pm ET. Also tonight, the Northern Illinois Huskies play host to the Navy Midshipmen in a game that can be seen on ESPN Classic.
According to oddsmakers at SBGglobal.com , the undefeated (11-0, 7-0 MAC) Cardinals are listed as 10 1/2-chalk ATS and -400 moneyline favorites over the Broncos while the Huskies are slight 3-chalk ATS and -150 moneyline favorites over the Midshipmen. Betting totals are holding at 55 in the Ball State/W. Mich game and 52 1/2 in the NIU vs. Navy contest.
There is plenty at stake in the game between Western Michigan and Ball State. With a win, the Cardinals will win the Western Division outright and will play the MAC East winner Buffalo in the title game. For Western Michigan to win the division, they need to win against Ball State and hope Central Michigan falls to Eastern Michigan this week.
The Broncos are 9-2 overall and 6-1 in league play. Western Michigan and Central Michigan are tied for second in the MAC West Division at 6-1, while Ball State is in first at 7-0.
At 6-5, the Huskies need a win if they hope to be playing in any of the nationals 34 bowl games. The MAC is contracted to the Motor City, GMAC and International Bowls. Those games will probably be filled by Ball State, Western Michigan and Buffalo, all with better records than Northern Illinois. So the Huskies will have plenty incentive to win that seventh game tonight.
College Football Predictions: I expect Ball State to have its way with Western Michigan tonight. While the Huskies have had a good year in winning nine games, they haven't always been dominant as Ball State. The Cardinals will be looking to put Western Michigan away quickly. I expect a double-digit win tonight.
Navy vs. NIU..This should be a close game between two motivated football teams. While Navy is guaranteed a bowl, NIU isn't and needs this win. However; the Midshipmen need to rebound from its loss to Notre Dame in Week 13. This appears to be an evenly matched contest so I am going with the home team; NIU -3.
Trap Alert: Navy could be looking over this game to next weeks Army-Navy battle. This gives the NIU pick a little more value.
