AAA's BOCA RATON BOWL BLOWOUT (December 23rd!)
(NCAAF) Northern Illinois vs. Marshall,
Point Spread: 10.00 | -105.00 Northern Illinois (Away)
Result: Loss
This is an 8* BLOWOUT on Northern Illinois.

I believe that Northern Illinois will keep this one a lot more competitive than what the oddsmakers are leading us to believe. This is the only non-"New Years Six" matchup that actually features a pair of conference champions. Marshall would bounce back from a 67-66 OT loss to Western Kentucky on November 28th to beat Louisiana Tech 26-23 in the Conference USA championship game. Northern Illinois may be a lower-tier school on paper, but the team is obviously one of the most dominant in the nation, it's won 57 games in five years, three of the last four MAC championships and made a BCS Orange Bowl appearance two years ago; suffice it to say, Northern Illinois won't be fazed mentally in this one. And note that the Huskies are 3-0 vs. Big Ten schools since the start of the 2013/14 season. Obviously NIU faces a tough task in slowing down Marshall's high octane offense which ranked second in the nation in averaging 563.4 yards per game and fifth in scoring. But note that the Huskies have given up just 19 PPG in their last six and forced 10 turnovers total in the last two. In fact, Northern Illinois is coming off its absolute best game of the year, demolshing Bowling Green 51-17, holding the Falcons to just 287 yards of offense in the MAC title contest. NIU's run game will be a difference maker I think as well today, look for the Huskies to pound the ball as to control the clock while on offense to limit the Herd's time on the field; Northern Illinois has rushed for 3,288 yards this year, which ranks eigthth in the FBS. And note that Marshall has given up an average of 207.7 on the ground in the last three games. In my opinion, just a few too many points here, play on NORTHERN ILLINOIS.

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