Bahamas Bowl Game - MTSU vs. Western Michigan

[Pick Bot]

Bahamas Bowl – Middle Tennessee vs. Western Michigan Over 63.5 1.1* Free play
I’ll take the over in this game despite the line move towards that number. This was a Conference USA vs. MAC game last year and the final score was 49-48. The weather won’t be a factor according to tonight’s weather in the Bahamas for Christmas Eve. Both teams feature offenses that can pretty much to do it all, and like to do it with pace. On the Blue Raiders side it starts with their QB in Stackstill who completed 66.7 % of his passes for 27 TD’s and just 8 interceptions, and Western Michigan’s Zach Terrell nearly matched that. I see no reason for him to slow down as he should have plenty of protection in this game, as Western Michigan struggles to get to the QB. Against passing offenses Western Michigan gave up some big #’s 39 and 40 points while also scoring a lot of points themselves. Ironically both of those games came with extra preparation time so I don’t worry about this defense putting together a strategy that will help them stop Middle Tennessee.

The other thing ot consider is the fact that Western Michigan has given up 5.3 yards per carry and have allowed 8 of their 12 opponents over 4 yards per carry. When Middle Tennessee adds in the running game with their elite passing game they average 45.2 points per game. Meanwhile I’d be worried about the Blue Raiders defense as well, because the two times they faced a team with balanced offenses similar to Western Michigan they gave up 45 and 58 points. This game has elite recievers all over the field for these two conferences and it should make for a very interesting and fun game with Richie James, and Ed Batties catching the ball on the Blue Raiders side combining for over 2,000 yards and Daniel Braverman on the Western Michigan side.
It’s worth noting that I would lean towards Middle Tennessee here, but I don’t like the fact that they finished the season on a high that typically doesn’t bode well in bowl scenarios, but Conference USA teams are 17-10 in bowl games the last 5 years while the MAC is 11-17 including this year.

Don’t miss out on Christmas Eve night’s POD – Freddy is a career 8-1 ATS on Christmas Eve Bowl games, and releases a max rating NCAAF POD, which has gone a career 64.7% ATS on max rating bowl play of the days!