The Northern Illinois Huskies are following up their run to the Orange Bowl last year with another run at a BCS berth, winning their first 11 games for new head coach Rod Carey.
NIU has a good shot to make it 12 in a row when it hosts 1-10 Western Michigan Tuesday night in DeKalb.
The Huskies not only seem headed toward another big bowl, they've also been very kind to their financial backers this season, going 8-3 ATS.
The Broncos, meanwhile, are 3-8 ATS this year, following their loss at home to Central Michigan a couple weeks ago.
In the early wagering Northern Illinois, which has won the last four games in this series, was favored by 35 points over WMU.
Supporters of the Broncos have seen them go 1-10 and 3-8 ATS so far this season, while the Huskies are at 11-0 and 8-3 ATS. In totals betting, the Huskies are 7-4, while the Broncos are 4-7.
View Western Michigan Broncos vs Northern Illinois Huskies Odds and Stats.
Sportsbooks such as Sportsbook had set the Huskies as 33.5-point favorites on the Sportsbook line for this contest. The total was 63.5 over at Sportsbook.
It's a betting matchup between the No. 16-rated Huskies and the No. 116-ranked Broncos, according to the NCAAF Power Rankings here at Odds Shark. Predictive-scoring models run on this game indicate a potential 46-11 result in favor of the Huskies.
Western Michigan lost its last outing, a 27-22 result against Central Michigan on November 16. Western Michigan failed to cover in that game as a 2-point underdog, while the 49 combined points took the game UNDER the total. Toledo was unable to contain Jordan Lynch in its last action Wednesday and the result was a 35-17 Week 13 loss against the Huskies.
How They Match Up:
The game also pits Northern Illinois's No. 7-ranked offense, averaging 43.73 PPG, against a Broncos defense that ranks No. 108 this week at 35.64 PPG. The Huskies aerial game is averaging 240.18 yards per game, more than the Broncos secondary allows through the air, 181 YPG per game.
In comparing defenses, the Broncos own the league's No. 113-rated front 7 in terms of stopping the run, allowing 251.67 yards per game when on the road. Northern Illinois, on the other hand, rates No. 15 this week in generating rushing yards at home.
A few Broncos at Huskies trends to consider:
Western Michigan is 1-7 ATS in its last 8 games
Western Michigan is 1-12 SU in its last 13 games
The total has gone UNDER in 9 of Western Michigan's last 13 games
Western Michigan is 4-9 ATS in its last 13 games on the road
Northern Illinois is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games
Northern Illinois is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
Northern Illinois is 8-4 ATS in its last 12 games at home
Northern Illinois is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home
