How and what to watch for Western Michigan vs. Akron

The MAC football season will kick off its season on Wednesday night with the Western Michigan Broncos taking on the Akron Zips at home.

Western Michigan heads into the 2020 season after a 7-6 overall record last year including 5-3 in the MAC West division. The Broncos season ended with a 23-20 loss to Western Kentucky in the First Responder Bowl. He redshirted last year, but Kaleb Eleby will take over at the quarterback position behind a very experienced offensive line. Western Michigan did a great job of keeping its opponents out of the end zone in 2019, finishing second among the MAC teams in scoring defense.

Akron finds itself in Year 2 of a massive rebuild under head coach Tom Arth, and last year was a major struggle for the Zips. Akron lost all 12 games it played and struggled to be competitive, losing 10 games by double digits. This roster is filled with freshmen and unproven players, which will make it difficult against more experienced teams. A starting quarterback has yet to be announced for this game, but Kato Nelson is a three-year starter and has 5,138 career passing yards with 34 touchdowns and 16 interceptions.

These two teams have not played each other since 2017, a 14-13 victory for Akron on the road.

Game Time/TV Channel/Streaming

You can watch Western Michigan vs. Akron on Wednesday, November 4th at 6:00 p.m. ET on ESPN3, or you can stream it via the ESPN app with a cable or streaming service login.

Point Spread, Totals, Odds, Trends

Point spread: Western Michigan (-18) vs. Akron
Point Total: 54
Money line: Western Michigan (-1116), Akron (+650)

• Western Michigan is 6-2 against the spread in its last eight games against Akron.
• Western Michigan is 1-6 against the spread in its last seven games on the road.
• Akron is 0-8 against the spread in its last eight home games.
• Akron is 1-11 against the spread in its last 12 games.

Betting splits

Western Michigan: (78% of handle, 61% percent of bets)
Akron: (22% of handle, 39% percent of bets)

The Best Bet

The Zips were probably the worst FBS program in 2019, and they were not helped by a shortened offseason that led to less practice reps. There are not a whole lot of areas to point to in discussing why Akron would be able to cover this spread even if it’s a home game. The Zips lost nine games by more than this point spread, and they’re going to do it again on Wednesday night.

Pick: Western Kentucky -16.5

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