Little Caesars Bowl. Detroit December 26th. Pitting the 6-6 Chippewas vs. the 7-5 Hilltoppers. First off, CMU is not really bowl worthy, but in this day and age, here they are. One quality win for the year over a very weak Iowa Hawkeye squad. 4-4 conference record with wins against akron, e.mich, miami (ohio), and umass. Those teams combined had 6 conference game wins(mostly against each other). They also lost to W.mich who were 2-6 in conference. When CMU played against the good teams from the MAC, they had double digit losses in all. My main point being, beside the anomaly of the Iowa game, this team got pasted from decent quality opponents(Toledo, N.ILL, Ball st, Navy, Mich st.). Ranked 98th in FBS points allowed. Their defense is a sieve. Run of the mill offense 56th rank FBS passing and a below average rushing attack (76th ranked).
The Hilltoppers also had a 4-4 conference record. 2 quality wins with upset of Kentucky and beating Sunbelt champion Arkansas st. They had some tough losses against good teams from their conference they could easily have won. Lost by 4 to a decent ragin cajuns team. By 5 to a solid Middle Tennessee St. squad, and by one point to LAMonroe in ot. One disappointing loss was to Florida Atlantic (which would have given them a 5-3 conference record and 8-4 overall). The team seemed to have a letdown after the Monroe OT loss. They did win their next game after that (Fla Int.) but seemed like they were deflated the rest of the yr. Losing 3 in a row down the stretch killed their chances of winning conference. They played well though against the best teams from their conference, whereas CMU got beat up by theres.
Other thoughts. Coaching change has brought Petrino back to W. Kentucky but the DC has assumed control of the coaching duties for this game. Willie Taggart left for South Florida. The man responsible for over 1/3 of the teams sacks (all conference Quanterus Smith)is out for the game, he will be missed. Antonio Andrews is the stud RB/KR who will probably have a huge day. He's looking to break the NCAA record for all purpose yds held by Barry Sanders. Wouldn't be surprised to see him run one back. Hilltoppers were a nice 8-4 ATS whereas CMU was 5-7. Hilltoppers 21-7 ATS their last 28 games while CMU is 8-24 in their last 32 games ATS. My prediction....Hilltoppers -5.5 and Over 57.5(line is dropping in someplaces). Lets say 44-31 final.