Never, Ever Gamble on the MAC: BGSU vs. NIU is now the 'Blue Collar Bowl'
Take my advice and just don't do anything I'd do.
Welcome to “Never, Ever Gamble on the MAC”! This is a weekly gambling/non-gambling series where I make five picks against the spread and you do the following:
Don’t listen to my advice,
Follow your heart instead,
And just be wise enough to remember that you’re putting real money down on gambling what the outcomes of Mid-American Conference football games could be.
All odds used below are from various sportsbooks, visible through VegasInsider.
Previous picks: Conference win totals | Week 1 (3-2 record) | Week 2 (3-2) | Week 3 (4-1) | Week 4 (3-2) | Week 5 (3-2) | Week 6 (3-1)
LAST WEEK: POSTED 3-1 RECORD
OVERALL ATS RECORD: 19-10
People contribute to the economy in different ways. Me? Well, I’m basically working as an ATM for the people, so long as they push the right buttons after they read this. Just goes to show that gambling is easy and they should lower the addiction’s age of entry to 12.
5 ATS PICKS (WEEK 7)
Eastern Michigan +2.5 vs. Miami
This game will be like watching those two kids play bloody knuckles at recess. I thought EMU would’ve started the Kent State game off more physical with its rushing attack, but that game showed EMU still has some work to do there. As a ‘Run the dang ball!’ casual, it’d be nice to see if EMU can push Miami’s defense back a little bit in the first quarter.
Bowling Green -2.5 vs. Northern Illinois
I’m officially naming this the Blue Collar Bowl, a phrase I most certainly did not think about only five seconds before writing it. The Blue Collar Bowl goes to the game that’s between two “popular” underdog or darkhorse picks in the MAC to win the league. Both BG and NIU were tied for third in the preseason coaches poll, and neither received first-place picks to win the league among the 12 head coaches either.
Ohio -2.5 at Central Michigan
I don’t know if there’s a more MACtion-sounding matchup possible than Ohio at the center of Michigan. For as much attention as Toledo + NIU have gotten for their success over the years plus its recent invite to be a football-only member to the Mountain West, Ohio-CMU, to me, is very seriously one of those non-annual, non-rivalry series that’s actually been very entertaining to peek in on, even if CMU overwhelmingly owns the series (27-6-2; 2-0 in 2006 and 2009 MAC Championship games). Bobcats are looking for their first win in Mt. Pleasant since 2011 after having already thumped CMU last year at home (34-20).
Toledo -10.5 at Buffalo
Toledo’s defense might not get enough credit sometimes. By SP+, Toledo’s defense is ranked 39th in the nation, leads the MAC with 10 takeaways (4 fumbles, 6 interceptions), and is 48th nationally in tackles for loss rate (9.65%). I still think Toledo’s offensive run game could use some work, but otherwise hard to pick against them at this point.
Western Michigan -9.5 vs. Akron
I picked against Akron last week as a road dog and the Zips ended up covering (+16 at BG). But that was last week’s problem though.
MAC GAME NOT PLAYING
Kent State +4.5 vs. Ball State