Western Michigan at Central Michigan odds, picks and prediction
The Western Michigan Broncos (2-0, 2-0 MAC) and Central Michigan Chippewas (2-0, 2-0) meet in Mount Pleasant, Mich., for a 7 p.m. ET kickoff Wednesday. Below, we analyze the Western Michigan-Central Michigan college football betting odds and lines, with picks and predictions.
Western Michigan at Central Michigan:Betting odds, spread andlines
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports' betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated at 12:43 p.m. ET.
- Money line : Western Michigan -121 (bet $121 to win $100) | Central Michigan +100 (bet $100 to win $100)
- Against the spread/ATS : Western Michigan -1.5 (-106) | Central Michigan +1.5 (-115)
- Over/Under : 58.5 (O: -115 | U: -106)
Western Michigan at Central Michigan: Three things to know
- Western Michigan stunned Toledo last week with a come-from-behind 41-38 victory. Trailing 38-28 after a Rockets TD with 2:54 to go, the Broncos scored with 45 seconds remaining to cut the deficit to 38-34 - they missed the PAT. Western Michigan then recovered an onside kick and went on to score the go-ahead TD with 17 seconds remaining on a fake spike play, which tricked everyone.
- The Broncos have won and covered both of their games, including a 58-13 win at Akron in their only previous road contest. The Over has connected in each game for WMU, too, as they're averaging 49.5 points per game, which rank second in the country. On defense, they're allowing 25.5 PPG. QB Kaleb Eleby has passed for 546 yards, and WR D'Wayne Eskridge is a star in the making with 245 receiving yards and speed to burn in the return game.
- Central, 2-0 SU/ATS, thumped Northern Illinois 40-10 as 5.5-point favorites last week. The Chips have stepped up defensively, yielding just 294.5 total YPG to rank eighth, while allowing 92.0 rushing yards per game to check in at ninth. They're also 16th in the country with just 18.5 PPG allowed.
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Western Michigan at Central Michigan: Odds, betting lines, predictions and picks
Prediction
Central Michigan 36, Western Michigan 31
Money line (ML)
CENTRAL MICHIGAN (+100) is a good play on the money line at home. The defending West Division champs have the defense to hold Eleby and Eskridge in check, and the Chips offense has looked just as potent as their rivals from Kalamazoo.
Know this wager comes with risk, however, as CMU has dropped four straight home games against Western, including a 35-10 shellacking in 2018 in the most recent game at Kelly/Shorts Stadium.
Against the spread (ATS)
CENTRAL MICHIGAN +1.5(-115) might be struggling lately in this rivalry, but it's cashing tickets most everywhere else. Western Michigan is just 2-7 ATS in the past nine on the road, and 4-17 ATS in the previous 21 following a cover. CMU is 7-1 ATS in the past eight at home, and 8-3 ATS in the past 11 overall. For what it's worth, the Chippewas are a sparkling 10-0-1 ATS in their past 11 appearances on a Wednesday.
Sure, the road team is 7-1 ATS in the past eight in this series, and the Broncos are 4-0 ATS in the past four trips to CMU, but go against those trends and roll with the Chips.
Over/Under (O/U)
OVER 58.5 ( -115) is the way to go here, going 6-2-1 in Western's past nine road games and six of the past eight at home for Central. The Over is also 9-4 in the past 13 for the Chips against a winning team.
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