Tuesday Night College Football Pick: Northern Illinois Huskies vs. Bowling Green Falcons

The Northern Illinois Huskies are looking for their 5th consecutive win Tuesday night as they travel to take on the Bowling Green Falcons.

NIU played last Tuesday night against Toledo, a game in which neither team could stop the other. The Huskies were a 9.5 point underdog, but won the game outright, 63-60.

Bowling Green comes in off a disappointing 27-15 loss at Kent State, a game in which they were favored by 3.5 points. The Falcons outgained the Golden Flashes 445 to 319 in total yards, but were done in by 4 costly turnovers.

NIU is the top team in the MAC West conference with a 4-1 record in conference play, 6-3 overall. Bowling Green is 4-5 overall, 2-3 in the MAC.

The Huskies are all about offense. They have scored an average of 41.2 points per game, good for 10th in the country. They are led by senior QB Chandler Harnish, who threw for 6 TD's in the win against Toledo.

The Falcons can also put up their share of points. They are led by Sophmore QB Matt Schlitz who is passing for 268.4 yards a game, 29th in the country.

Northern Illinois is understandably favored in this game. They have been the more consistent team, they have won 4 straight, and their offense has been unstoppable. They opened as the 7 point favorite, but the line has been bet down to -6.

It would be fairly easy to say that NIU is the better team, so lay the 6 and don't think twice about it.

But I don't think that would be the correct way to go in this one.

For NIU, this will be their 3rd consecutive road game. Two weeks ago, they played an extremely tough game at Buffalo, in which they prevailed 31-30.

They came right back with the emotionally charged shootout win against Toledo. That was a game between the two top teams in the conference, and most agreed the winner would take the division.

They now come right back for another road test, against a good team that has somewhat underachieved so far this season. Bowling Green has had 10 days to prepare for this game, to correct the mistakes they made against Kent State, and to get ready for this game against the class of the MAC West.

I will be looking for the home team Falcons to come out and play their best game of the season. They are a team that can play very good football. They had a good win this year at Miami (Ohio) and also a nice home win against Temple. They were underdogs in both of those games, and found a way to spring the upset.

I think they will pull off another mild upset Tuesday night, in a game that will probably be another MAC West shootout.

The Pick:

***** Take the home team plus the points, Bowling Green +6