Western Michigan Broncos vs. Ball State Cardinals
A perfect season and a divisional championship are both on the line in Muncie, IN, and BetUS Sportsbook will have all of the action covered when the Western Michigan Broncos (9-2, 5-5 ATS) try to spoil the undefeated season of the Ball State Cardinals (11-0, 8-2 ATS).
Though their chances are slim, the Cardinals have one last regular season chance to impress the BCS committee members into letting them join the elite bowl games this winter. With some help, Western Michigan can win the MAC West and go to the conference title game for the first time since 2000. Last season, Ball State marched into Waldo Stadium and knocked the Broncos off 27-23 as one-point road chalks.
The Broncos will have had 10 days off from sports betting action since beating Toledo 27-17 on November 15th. Before failing to beat the 14-point spread that day, Western Michigan had been one of the hotter ATS teams in the land; the Broncos rolled off four of five victories against the NCAA football betting line.
They’ve also been a streak team for ‘total’ bettors as well. They are currently on a streak of three straight ‘unders’ after playing three straight ‘overs’. WM’s 23rd ranked offense is paced by junior QB Tim Hiller who has thrown for a whopping 3,382 yards and 33 touchdowns this season. He has thrown for at least two touchdown passes in all but one game this season. The WMU passing attack ranks 8th in the country churning out 309.8 yards per game mostly due to his efforts under center.
In their sternest test of the season, the Cardinals passed with flying colors by knocking off Central Michigan 31-24 in Mt. Pleasant last Wednesday night. After failing to cover the pointspread in its 31-16 victory over Miami (OH) the week before, Ball State rallied late to cover the 6-point spread last week.
The Cards overcame a 423-yard effort from Chippewa QB Dan LeFevour with another stellar effort by the offenses main offensive superstars, RB MiQuale Lewis and QB Nate Davis. Davis completed 12-of-22 passes for 171 yards and four touchdowns, while Lewis toted the rock 28 times for 177 yards.
Ball State trailed 24-17 early in the 4th quarter and appeared to be headed for its first loss of the season, but two Davis TD passes in the final 13 minutes of the game earned the Cardinals their 11th victory of the season.
The college football betting odds are on the Cardinals’ side, as the oddsmakers have installed them as 10.5-point home favorites and set the game ‘total’ at 53.5.
The NCAAF betting trends offer some mixed results. The road team has won the L/3 games in this series. Ball State has covered the spread in five of the L/7 meetings, but Western Michigan had covered three of the previous four. The Cardinals have been fantastic in MAC play this year going 5-2 ATS and have won ATS in 11 of their L/16 conference games.
