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SELECTION AND ANALYSIS THREAD
POPEYES BAHAMAS BOWL
CENTRAL MICHIGAN vs WESTERN KENTUCKY
Wednesday, Dec. 24, 12:00 p.m. ET
ESPN
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SELECTION AND ANALYSIS THREAD
POPEYES BAHAMAS BOWL
CENTRAL MICHIGAN vs WESTERN KENTUCKY
Wednesday, Dec. 24, 12:00 p.m. ET
ESPN
Welcome to the bowl action on Wednesday, December 24th, and the action will kick off on Christmas Eve at Noon with the Central Michigan Chippewas against the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. These two teams should be set for quite an interesting matchup, and while Western Kentucky comes in as the early favorite, the Chippewas have a talented defense that could slow down this Hilltoppers team. Let?s take a look at this matchup and give a prediction and pick on our first of two Christmas Eve bowl games.
Chippewas Excited for Bowl Opportunity
The Chippewas come into this one with a 7-5 record, while posting a 5-3 MAC record. They won three of their final four games to end up bowl bound, and a large key to their success has been the fact that they?ve allowed just 23.2 points per game on average through 2014. Central Michigan has given a warm welcome to the Michigan transfer, Thomas Rawls, who has run for 1,103 yards, and he even missed two games this year as well. He?s averaged 23.3 carries per game, so we should expect to see a whole lot of Rawls on Christmas Eve. Central Michigan has plenty to be excited about, as this is just their second bowl game in the past five years, but they did finish 6-6 last year. Look for the Chippewas to be hungry in this game.
Western Kentucky Loaded with Talent
For Western Kentucky, they finished the year up at 7-5 with a 4-4 Conference USA record, but no win was more impressive than their very last one. They knocked off then-ranked Marshall 67-66 in an overtime thriller, and this team reeled off four straight to finish the year. They have some serious talent on this roster, including quarterback Brandon Doughty, who has been absolutely ridiculous. The senior quarterback has thrown for 4,344 yards and 44 touchdowns, including an eight-touchdown performance against the Thundering Herd. We also can?t overlook Leon Allen, who has rushed for 1,490 yards and 12 touchdowns on the year, giving plenty of talent in the run game to work well with this passing game.
Pick for Popeyes Bahamas Bowl
This Hilltoppers team is seriously dangerous. They average 44 points per game on the year, which is sixth best in the country, while also averaging 365 passing yard per game, which is third best in the nation. The defense is the problem, as they give up 39.3 points per game, but I think the offense will be able to do more than enough to walk away with a win here, and I see it coming by around double-digits.
Western Kentucky Hilltoppers
Check back closer to game day for any changes to the spread and/or total prediction here and at the Spooky Express