Sportsbook Betting – Two Struggling MAC Programs Fight For Respectability

Football betting odds makers know that the Ball State Cardinals and the Buffalo Bulls are both going nowhere in 2010. They’ll try to snatch a rare conference win when they face each other Friday night in Western New York.

Ball State Cardinals @ Buffalo Bulls

Friday, November 12th – 6:05 PM ET

UB Stadium, Buffalo

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Broadcast: ESPNU

Football Odds: Ball State +3, Buffalo -3

Sportsbook Total: 46.5

Ball State and Buffalo might share some stories about the good old days when they meet this Friday in Buffalo. The “good old days” means “two years ago” as far as these teams are concerned. Yes, in 2008, life was so different, and so much better, for both the Cardinals and the Bulls. Ball State went 12-0 in its regularly-scheduled games. Quarterback Nate Davis, with his swashbuckling style, teamed with running back MiQuale Lewis to give then-coach Brady Hoke (now working wonders with San Diego State’s football program) a dynamic offense. BSU won the MAC West and entered the league’s championship game against a surprising interloper from the East. In 2008, Turner Gill was a happier man. He wasn’t getting his backside beaten at Kansas, and he was instead coaching Buffalo to the MAC East championship. The Bulls were given the tough assignment of taking on Ball State at Ford Field in Detroit for the MAC title, but on one night, the boys in Buffalo blue were better.

A parade of Ball State turnovers, including two fumbles that Buffalo scooped up and returned for long-distance touchdowns covering 92 and 74 yards respectively, enabled the underdogs from New York state to stun the Cardinals, 42-24. The game propelled Buffalo to its first-ever bowl appearance, and it ruined Ball State’s dreams of a perfect season.

As these teams meet again, they could only wish they had a fraction of the success enjoyed by their 2008 predecessors. We’ll see what develops at UB Stadium.

Sportsbook Handicapping: What Ball State Has To Do To Win

The Cardinals, with only two MAC wins, have hemorrhaged on defense over the past four weeks. Coach Stan Parrish’s club has surrendered 140 points in that span of time, for an average of 35 points allowed per contest. Ball State ranks 89th in the nation in scoring defense, and that’s no source of comfort when one realizes that the Cardinals – out of the 120 teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision – rank in the bottom 10 in terms of passing yards per game. Poor on defense and even more limited in the realm of passing offense, the Cardinals simply have to make considerable improvements in both of those areas. BSU needs to shut down the big play and then, on the other side of the ball, throw short passes to set up manageable down-and-distance situations for its offense. Improvement is the only thing this team can reasonably hope to pursue as it seeks a conference win.

Sportsbook Handicapping: What Buffalo Has To Do To Win

The Bulls aren’t much different from Ball State. Buffalo is actually a bit worse – UB has just one MAC victory to point to this season under coach Jeff Quinn, who took the job when Gill went to Kansas. Buffalo’s particularly vulnerable spot is its scoring offense. The Bulls aren’t imbalanced, ironically enough; their running game and their passing game are both in the bottom third of the FBS in terms of yards per game. If Buffalo can establish one dimension of its offense in the first half, the Bulls will have a chance to put Ball State’s defense on a pendulum. It doesn’t matter too much which part of the UB offense roars into action; as long as something gets going in the early stages, Ball State’s struggling defense will begin to doubt itself, and Buffalo offensive coordinator Greg Frost might finally have a good game calling plays from the press box.

Sportsbook Handicapping: Outlook & Pick

Ball State isn’t great, but Buffalo appears even less convincing, if that’s possible. Expect the Cardinals to limit Buffalo’s chronically weak offense and win on the road.

Sportsbook Pick: Ball State +3