College football bettors finally get their fix for their mid-week withdrawal. Yup, it’s the return of the MACtion! The Mid American Conference returns to action Wednesday with all 12 teams taking the field, and one of the most intriguing matchups featuring Buffalo visiting Northern Illinois.
The Bulls have high expectations this season, as they are the betting favorites to win the conference, so can they get off to a good start against the perennial MAC power Huskies?
Let’s take a look at our best college football predictions for Buffalo at Northern Illinois, with kickoff scheduled for Wednesday, November 4 at 7:00 ET.
Buffalo Bulls at Northern Illinois Huskies betting preview
Weather
It should be a nice night to kick off the MACtion at Huskie Stadium. The forecast is calling for mostly clear skies with temperatures in the mid-50s. There is expected to be a 10-12 mile per hour wind gusting towards the northeast corner of the stadium. Be sure to monitor the gametime conditions with our NCAA football weather info.
Key Injuries
Buffalo: Dylan McDuffie RB (Out).
Northern Illinois: Jevyon Ducker RB (Out).
Find our latest NCAA football injury reports.
Betting trend to know
Buffalo was one of the best bets in the MAC last season, going 7-2 ATS against conference opponents. Find more NCAA betting trends for Buffalo vs. Northern Illinois.
Against the spread (ATS) pick
Buffalo went 8-5 a season ago, winning six of its final seven games, including the program’s first bowl victory by thumping the Charlotte 49ers 31-9 in the Bahamas Bowl. But conference losses to Miami (Ohio), Ohio and Kent State dashed the Bulls dreams of a conference title.
Now, the Bulls return one of the best running games in the country, along with an experienced defense, and are set to thrive in 2020.
That ground game is led by Jaret Patterson, who finished fifth in the nation in rushing last season with 1,799 yards and a whopping 19 touchdowns, closing out the season on an incredible run. Over the Bulls' final six games, Patterson averaged 31.2 carries for 185.5 yards per contest. But Patterson wasn’t the only Bulls back to thrive in 2019, as Kevin Marks Jr. also racked up over 1,000 yards on the ground.
Then there's the Bulls’ defense, which ranked in the Top 10 nationally in yards allowed per game and surrendered just 22.3 points per contest last season, returning up to 10 juniors and seniors that are expected to start.
On the other side, while Northern Illinois is coming off a decade in which they won four conference titles, the Huskies appear to be a team in transition this year. NIU is coming off a 5-7 campaign and five key players transferred after the spring semester.
QB Ross Bowers is charged with leading the offense, but is coming off a season where he completed 57.8 percent of his passes and threw more interceptions (eight) than touchdowns (seven). The Huskies defense is inexperienced and didn’t face Buffalo last season, but still gave up five yards per carry to opponents.
Buffalo just has more talent, experience and depth at nearly every position in this matchup and should win this game by two touchdowns.
PREDICTION: Buffalo -10 (-110)
Over/Under pick
Over the final six games of Buffalo’s season where Patterson went nuts, the Bulls went 5-1 Over/Under with an average total of 52, and surprise, surprise, the total for Wednesday’s matchup against the Huskies is 52.5.
Just because the Bulls have a run-heavy offense, doesn’t mean they’re not capable of running up the score (pun intended). The Bulls averaged 40.3 points per game over that stretch and it's not crazy to think they’ll put up a 40-burger in this one. That leaves just 12 or so points we have to rely on the Huskies for, and while we don’t expect a whole lot from the NIU offense in this one, Bowers still has a solid receiving corps and offensive line, which should get us Over the number.
PREDICTION: Over 52.5 (-110)
Team Total Prop Pick
As mentioned, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Buffalo get near or above 40 points in this game, so betting their team total to go Over seems like a safe wager, particularly when you consider the NIU defense.
The Huskies played four of the top five scoring offenses in the MAC last season (the lone one they didn’t was the Bulls), and in those four games, they allowed an average of 31.3 points. That number would have likely been higher if not for a rain-soaked contest against Western Michigan in which they allowed just 14 points.
With NIU expected to take a step back in 2020, don’t be shocked to see a lot of “Running of the Bulls” headlines after this one.
PREDICTION: Buffalo Over 31.5 Team Total (-107)
Buffalo vs Northern Illinois betting card
- Buffalo -10 (-110)
- Over 52.5 (-110)
- Buffalo Over 31.5 Team Total (-107)
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