Western Michigan at Illinois

It is always tough for MAC Conference teams to go in over their heads and take on a Big-10 opponent on the road. History shows a pretty bad result as these teams are just 32-223 SU. So where are they lacking? The biggest aspect of these games is them rendering ineffective the offenses of the MAC teams. They are facing faster and deper teams, and scoring has been very difficult. When you consider the sample size of 250+ games, and see the average points scored by the MAC teams in this spot is a meager 15.3 points per game, it is eyeopening why they have little success. Last year W. Michigan had a high powered experienced offense, went to Ohio State, and scored 12 points. They managed just 22 vs. Northwestern this year in their opener. Illinois got 23 vs North Carolina, but 14 came very early in the 1st quarter, and they managed just a single score from that point out. Illinois has not been a very strong team in the Big-10 over the years, but they are 9-1 SU vs. the MAC and have out-performed the Big-10 defenses vs. the MAC allowing a stingy 14.9 points per game. Make the play on the UNDER.