Betting news, trends, odds and predictions from various handicappers and websites for Tuesday 11/13/18
Western Michigan won its last four games with Ball State, scoring 52+ points in last three- they hammered the Cardinals 55-3 (-14) at home LY. WMU lost its last two games after a 6-2 start, allowing 51-59 points; Broncos are 4-1 on road, 2-2 as AF- they’re 8-5-1 in last 14 games as road favorites. Ball State lost its last three games, allowing 42-52-45 points; under Neu, Ball is 1-7 as home underdogs, 0-3 this year. Cardinals are 2-3 at home TY, with losses by 8-8-22 points. Over is 3-1 in last four Western games, under is 6-3 in Cardinal games.
Western Michigan Broncos vs Ball State Cardinals Preview
For the Western Michigan Broncos, this season has quickly turned into a disaster. Fortunately, there is some time to get things headed back in the right direction, and head coach Tim Lester is really digging deep, looking for signs of encouragement.
The Ball State Cardinals won't be going bowling this year, but it looks like things didn't fall apart with their new quarterback last week, perhaps giving them something to build on.
These teams will get together on Tuesday night at Scheumann Stadium in Muncie, IN.
TV: ESPN2, 6 PM ET. LINE: Western Michigan -7.5
ABOUT WESTERN MICHIGAN: These last two losses have been hard to take for WMU (6-4 SU, 3-7 ATS), especially as it looks like the Broncos were on something of a roll, having won six straight games going into their October 25 date against Toledo. But then disaster struck, as starting quarterback Jon Wassink injured his foot and had to be replaced by a raw freshman, Kaleb Eleby, who did a credible enough job, throwing for 293 yards. But the defense looked like it was standing still, letting the Rockets run up and down the field in a 51-24 loss. With Eleby having one game under his belt, the feeling was that the offense might run a little smoother the next time around, but Western Michigan never got out of the gate at all, turning the ball over five times in the first half against Ohio and going to the locker room down 45-0. With the 59-14 final, it was the first time the Broncos have ever allowed conference opponents to score 50 points or more against them in consecutive weeks. Head coach Tim Lester almost had no choice but to point toward the second-half performance against the Bobcats, in which WMU outgained them 151-147, as a situation where "I felt we started to turn the page." That may sound desperate, but this is a bowl-eligible team that still has a chance to win its last two games and close out the regular season with eight victories. Lester calls this Tuesday night's contest "the most game of the year for us." They have the ability to take some pressure off Eleby; the Broncos have a solid ground game with LeVante Bellamy and Jamauri Bogan and get pretty good work from the offensive line, which is in the top 25 in both sacks allowed and Tackles for Loss allowed.
ABOUT BALL STATE: You would think a team that intercepted five of its opponent’s passes would have a clear path to victory. But that wasn't the case for Ball State (3-7 SU, 4-6 ATS) last time out, as Toledo beat them by a 45-13 count. The other part of the story is that the Cardinals also turned the ball over five times, and had to play without running backs James Gilbert and Caleb Huntley, who may or may not be available this week. Most significantly, however, quarterback Riley Neal was absent due to injury, but perhaps Mike Neu's team is not helpless at that position, as Drew Plitt came in and threw for 340 yards. There were a lot of opportunities in this game; in fact, Ball State had the ball in its hands six different times before the first quarter was over. But in many respects, it's the same old story for the Cardinals – they gain a respectable amount of yards (56th nationally in Total Offense) but don't light up the board a lot (114th in Scoring Offense). They are 128th among the nation's 130 FBS teams as far as the "Yards Per Point" statistic is concerned. So we will see how Plitt can help improve upon that. And we'll also see how Brandon Martin, who intercepted a pass and had fourteen tackles against Toledo, more than any other Cardinal player this season, continues to lead the defense, which has had problems stopping the run (allowing 215.3 yards per game and 4.9 yards per attempt).
EXTRA POINTS
1. This week it was announced that Western Michigan quarterback Jon Wassink, 33rd in the nation in Passing Efficiency, who injured his foot against Toledo, won't likely be able to return for any bowl game in December. He underwent surgery on November 2.
2. The five interceptions Ball State had against Toledo were their most in any game since they picked off six passes against Evansville in 1970.
3. Western Michigan ranks #37 nationally in both Total Offense and Scoring Offense. Oddly, Ball State has converted 42.6% of its third-down situations, ranking in the top 40 in the nation, though they have very few points to show for it.
PREDICTION: Western Michigan 35, Ball State 23
NCAAF
Long Sheet
Tuesday, November 13
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W MICHIGAN (6 - 4) at BALL ST (3 - 7) - 11/13/2018, 6:00 PM
There are no Top Trends with records of significance that apply to this game.
Head-to-Head Series History
W MICHIGAN is 2-0 against the spread versus BALL ST over the last 3 seasons
W MICHIGAN is 2-0 straight up against BALL ST over the last 3 seasons
2 of 2 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons
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NCAAF
Week 12
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Trend Report
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Tuesday, November 13
Western Michigan @ Ball State
Western Michigan
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Western Michigan's last 7 games when playing on the road against Ball State
Western Michigan is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Ball State
Ball State
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Ball State's last 7 games when playing at home against Western Michigan
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Ball State's last 9 games
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