Get ready for some MACtion, college football fans. We're still in the heart of a stretch with football on every day for seven consecutive weeks and, as the calendar has turned to November, that means Tuesday night college football from the Mid-American Conference, one of the most entertaining leagues in the country.
Sure, we've only seen one team from the MAC ever make it into the BCS/New Year's Six bowl games, but Tuesday and Wednesday nights are magical as we get to watch these teams battle it out in the Great Lakes region. Which, of course, often means we get some incredible snow action on the gridiron.
We're already a week into the MACtion as we come into Tuesday and the first games of Week 11.
So which college football games are tonight, Tuesday, Nov. 7? Let's check out the slate and then make some picks for the games as well!
College football schedule for Tuesday, Nov. 7
- Ball State vs. Northern Illinois - 7:00 p.m. ET (CBSSN)
- Central Michigan vs. Western Michigan - 7:00 p.m. ET (ESPNU)
- Ohio vs. Buffalo - 7:30 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
Outside of Ohio, none of the teams in action on Tuesday night are truly competing to get to the MAC Championship Game in Detroit in early December, though Central Michigan still has an outside shot if some chaos ensues over the final weeks of the regular season.
With that being said, these should be some hotly contested matchups. Ball State has picked it up of late in conference play, upsetting CMU and narrowly falling to Bowling Green of late. Could they now give Northern Illinois a scare.
Meanwhile, the CMU Chippewas playing at Western Michigan is a big in-state rivalry within the conference as they battle, along with Eastern Michigan, for the Michigan MAC Trophy.
Then we have Ohio, a team that was one of the preseason favorites in the MAC but has started to tail off behind Kurtis Rourke and a talented Bobcats roster recently, losing to Miami (OH) two weeks ago in a heartbreaker. After a short bye, can they bounce back to upend a Buffalo team that's quietly gotten all three wins this season in conference play, or will they get clipped?
College football picks and predictions for Nov. 7 games
Make no mistake, Ball State has been one of the worst FBS tems this season basically across the board. However, they have come on a bit and Northern Illinois hasn't been anything better than average in regards to anything except their pass defense. The Huskies should get the win, but there could be some scoring to get a little wild in Dekalb.
Fireworks in Kalamazoo on a Tuesday? Don't mind if we do! Both the Chippewas and Broncos don't have much to speak of on the defensive side of the ball and, while the offenses don't measure out spectacularly either, we've seen pop weeks from each. Ultimately, bad defense will be the predominant narrative in this game but the Chippewas will get it done on the field despite being road underdogs.
Buffalo ranks 70th or worse in success rate in both the run and passing games while Ohio ranks 14th overall in defensive success rate. The Bulls will likely have a hard time moving the ball, especially with their rushing attack being the only functional aspect of the offense. Ohio needs to find a spark offensively but a Buffalo pass defense that ranks 121st in EPA per dropback should be the recipe the Bobcats need for an emphatic bounce-back win.