Western Michigan vs. Northern Illinois Predictions, Picks & Odds Week 12: Will Huskies Buck Trend?

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13 November 2023

Western Michigan vs. Northern Illinois Predictions, Picks & Odds Week 12: Will Huskies Buck Trend?

Two teams looking toimprove to better than .500 in conference action meet, and we offer our best Western Michigan vs.Northern Illinois prediction based on the best college football odds.

Western Michigan (4-6, 3-3 MAC) is one of four MAC teams that's won at least two straight contests, and it's searchingfor its first three-game winning streak of the season.

Meanwhile, Northern Illinois (4-6, 3-3 MAC) has lost two straight following three wins in a row. Five of the Huskies’ six losses have been by only onepossession.

Hereis our best Western Michigan vs. Northern Illinois prediction and our college football picks (odds via our best college footballbetting sites; pick confidence based on a 1-to-5-star scale).

Western Michigan vs. NorthernIllinois prediction: Week 12

Northern Illinois -4(-110 via BetMGM) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Northern Illinois has struggled mightily in the home favoriterole, going 0-10 ATS in its last 10 such games. Now it faces a Western Michiganteam amid its only winning streak of the season, having lost two of theprevious three meetings with the Broncos, and the spread is climbing in theHuskies’ favor. Thus, we are excited to back the favorites and the sharpaction, and we expect that 10-game coverless streak to end this week.

In what is projected to be a close game, we are backing theHuskies, as 80% of their games have been decided by 10 points or less.

Northern Illinois quarterback Rocky Lombardi is making his 50th career start.While he has an underwhelming 9-5 touchdown-to-interception ratio with a 58.2% completionpercentage this year, those numbers improve mightily in conference play, as hehas thrown eight touchdowns to one interception and completed 62.6% of hispasses. Lombardi’s numbers should continue to improve when facing a Broncos defensethat entered last week ranked 105th or worse in finishing drives, quality drives, and line yards, and it was 96th in pass success.

With the Northern Illinois defense ranking in the top 20 in thecountry in pass success, it is built to neutralize Western Michigan’s bestoffensive weapon, wide receiver Kenneth Womack, whose 66 receptions are 22 morethan the next-closest MAC receiver.

Thus, we believe this is the week when theHuskies improve their poor rush defense metrics. Northern Illinois allowed 186yards on the ground to Ball State (worse than its 167 yards per game averageentering the week) but slightly improved from allowing 4.5 yards per carry tojust 4.2 yards per carry last week. The Huskies will dare Broncos quarterbackHayden Wolff, who ranks ninth in the conference in passing yards, to beat them.

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Western Michigan vs. Northern Illinois best odds

AsNorthern Illinois backers, it is a no-brainer to make BetMGM our preferred option among our best sports betting apps for this wager, as it is the only one that has yet toincrease its line as high as its competitors. We would play this number to -4.5and lay off at -5 or higher, considering a field goal has decided three of theprevious four games between these teams.

For the best odds on this bet, be sure to use our exclusive BetMGM bonus code: SBRBONUS.

Western Michigan vs. NorthernIllinois odds

Allof our best sports betting sites have moved their lines in Northern Illinois’ favor,as they all had lines of Huskies -3 at some point. The early betting splitsare 60/40 in favor of the Huskies despite Western Michigan having a much betterATS record (7-3 compared to Northern Illinois’ 4-6 ATS record).

DraftKings and bet365 offer a total of 55 points, while our other best sportsbooks are slightlyhigher at 55.5. The line dropped significantly at FanDuel, from an openingnumber of 56.5 on Friday morning down to 53.5 on Sunday afternoon, beforerebounding two points higher over the next 24 hours. The betting splits aretilted heavily in support of the Over, with a 71/29 split.