James Madison does have some statistical advantages, but Marshall has played the more difficult schedule. These are the top two teams in the nation in rushing defense, and both offense rely heavily on running the ball.
#WKU QUICKLINKS MAC#
The Dukes return home Saturday for another stiff challenge against one of the first teams to make an immediate splash in a transition from a lower division in Marshall, which won the DI-AA championship in 1996, moved up and won four straight MAC titles in the late 1990s.Īll signs here point to a very close game. Then came last week, when JMU returned to Earth with a 45-38 loss at Georgia Southern. ET, ESPN+: What an unbelievable first season in the Football Bowl Subdivision for the Dukes, who did in just seven weeks what some programs wait decades to do by cracking the top 25. MARSHALL (+12½) at JAMES MADISON, 3:30 p.m. The Knights have a feisty defense, particularly against the run, where their 2.89 yards allowed per carry is No. Rutgers, meanwhile, is not as bad as recent history suggests. In short, the Hoosiers are very lucky not to be 1-6, and even the win against lowly Idaho was in doubt well into the second half. But according to Bill Connelly’s excellent SP+ system at ESPN, Indiana’s postgame win expectancy in those games combined was 36.1%. The Hoosiers beat Illinois back on the opening Thursday of the season, yes, and they also have a decent win against Western Kentucky on their ledger.
#WKU QUICKLINKS PLUS#
INDIANA at RUTGERS (-3), Noon ET, BTN: My favorite pick of the week, because you can see people looking at this and thinking the Scarlet Knights stink and that Indiana has a couple of good wins, and hey, I’ll take the Hoosiers plus 3 points! SMU has some things in its favor: A difficult schedule that includes games against Maryland, TCU and Central Florida an offense that has put up at least 27 points in five of six games and, of course, home-field advantage.īut the Bearcats have owned the Mustangs of late, going 4-1 in their past five both straight up and ATS, and Cincy has a big edge on the defensive side of the ball. The winner here will remain with Tulane (isn’t that crazy?!) atop the AAC standings. The American Athletic Conference in general, and Cincinnati specifically, are no stranger to that race, of course, and this is a huge game to that end. The biggest of those is probably to be the top-ranked Group of Five champion and thus earn an automatic berth into the New Year’s Six games. 21 CINCINNATI (-3) AT SMU, Noon ET, ESPN: One of the great things about college football (and one of the few real casualties we’d have in my book if we went to an expanded playoff) is that there are all sorts of meaningful goals for teams that aren’t necessarily in the national championship picture.
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