The College Football Playoff semifinals are over, but bowl season is just heating up with the First Responder Bowl between the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers and Western Michigan Broncos.
If you recall last season, we were robbed of the First Responder Bowl when the game between Boston College and Boise State was canceled due to bad weather. Hate to see the rare canceled bowl game.
What a turnaround season it has been for Western Kentucky. The Hilltoppers went from 3-9 last season to 8-4 in Tyson Helton’s first year as the head coach. Western Kentucky is going for its fourth win in its last five bowl games.
Western Michigan finished 7-5 this season and is 5-6-1 against the spread in 2019. The Broncos finished second place in the Mid-American West Division.
Game Time/TV Channel/Streaming
The ServPro First Responder Bowl will begin at 12:30 p.m. ET in Dallas, Texas on Monday, Dec. 30 and can be seen on ESPN and WatchESPN.
Point Spread, Totals, Odds, Trends
Spread: Western Kentucky (-3.5) vs. Western Michigan
Point Total: O/U 55 (-110)
Money line: Western Kentucky (-162), Western Michigan (+133)
- Western Kentucky is 7-2 against the spread in its last nine games.
- The total has gone over in four of Western Kentucky’s last five games.
The Best Bet
The MAC has had a strong start to the bowl season, but I think it stops here. Western Kentucky is riding high this year, and the Hilltoppers have the offensive and defensive lines to make do some damage against Western Michigan. I would prefer to get this number at a field goal obviously, but I still think Western Kentucky covers the number to complete a nine-win season in year 1 for Tyson Helton.
Pick: Western Kentucky -3.5
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Odds and lines subject to change. See website for details.