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Central Michigan vs. Northern Illinois Prediction, Odds, Spread and Over/Under for College Football Week 10

By Reed Wallach

Sep 24, 2022; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Northern Illinois Huskies running back Antario Brown (1)
Sep 24, 2022; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Northern Illinois Huskies running back Antario Brown (1) / Jordan Prather-USA TODAY Sports
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Two teams who have been tough to peg, meet on Wednesday night in our first edition of MACtion of the 2022 season.

Central Michigan has battled injuries all season long, struggling to build on their 9-4 season that included a five game winning streak to finish the year. They head on the road to face last season's conference champions, Northern Illinois, who are also scuffling amidst quarterback injuries. Rocky Lombardi has been in and out of the lineup and the Huskies are a meager 2-6 on the year.

Who can get on track for the final stretch of the season? We got you covered with our game preview:

Central Michigan vs. Northern Illinois Odds, Spread and Total

Central Michigan vs. Northern Illinois Betting Trends

  • Northern Illinois is 0-4 against the spread (ATS) as a favorite this season
  • Northern Illinois has gone OVER in six of eight games this season
  • Central Michigan has gone UNDER in five of eight games this season

Central Michigan vs. Northern Illinois Prediction and Pick

Quarterback availability is the key here, as Lombardi returned from injury in the team's win at Eastern Michigan, but then missed the following game at Ohio. With a bye week in between, it's unknown whether he'll be back in, or backups Ethan Hampton and Justin Lynch.

However, while quarterback play has been a revolving door, the run game has thrived, averaging nearly five yards per carry and ranking inside the top 40 nationally in explosive run rate. They will be going up against a strong CMU defensive line that is top 15 in both line yards and sack rate. The defensive line will keep the NIU offense at bay, especially if Lynch starts under center again, a non-factor as a thrower.

As for the Chippewas' offense, it's been tough to peg thus far with star running back Lew Nicholls battling injuries all season long. He has missed the last two games with an injury and the backup, Marion Lukes left the last game with an injury.

With so many question marks for both offenses, I'll side with the under. Central Michigan plays at a top 20 pace in terms of plays per minute, but NIU's defense rates nicely as a MAC unit, 35th in yards per carry allowed and 87th nationally in success rate.

You may want to wait for more injury news, Lombardi starting would be enough to sway me to the Huskies side at anything less than -6, but for now the under is the look with two strong defensive lines.

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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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