The 2012 Little Caesars Pizza Bowl will take place On Wednesday and we will see the Central Michigan Chippewas take on the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan. The game is scheduled for a 7:30 PM (Eastern) start time and it will be televised live on ESPN. Currently the odds for the game have Western Kentucky favored by 6 points, while the total sits at 57.5. Check out Sportsbook Spy to find out what side the Public is taking on all today's games.
Free Analysis: On Dec. 10 it was announced that Petrino, the former Arkansas head coach, would be taking over for Western Kentucky following this season. Petrino is 75-26 all-time as a head coach but was fired from Arkansas last summer after a scandal involving an Arkansas staff member. However in this game it will be defensive coordinator Lance Guidry who will serve as interim head coach for the departing Willie Taggart. Under Taggart, Western Kentucky posted a record of 7-5, which gave the Hilltoppers their second straight seven-win season after the team managed only four total wins in the previous three years. The Hilltoppers stumbled down the stretch to get there with losses in three straight before a 25-24 win over North Texas in the regular-season finale. Even more importantly, Western Kentucky is playing in its first bowl game ever since moving to the FBS level in 2007. Despite being a mediocre offensive team this season, Western Kentucky did have one of the best offensive weapons in the country in running back Antonio Andrews. The All-Sun Belt First Team member had a spectacular season both on the ground and through the air. Andrews finished the regular season with 2,977 all-purpose yards which is the third best single-season mark in Division I history and only 273 yards behind the all-time mark set by Barry Sanders in 1988. Even with Andrews the Hilltoppers still ranked near the middle of the Sun Belt in scoring (28.8 ppg, fifth) and total offense (392.3 ypg, sixth). Kawaun Jakes is the man under center. Jakes was efficient this season, completing 64.6 percent of his passes, while throwing for 21 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Western Kentucky had much more star power on defense and was markedly better on that side of the ball in 2012. The Hilltoppers were the best team in their conference in terms of total yards allowed (342.8 ypg), while ranking second in scoring defense (25.6 ppg). The key was how well Western Kentucky got upfield and made plays, leading the Sun Belt in tackles for loss (90) and sacks (31).
As for Central Michigan, the Chippewas needed to wait until the final game of the season to earn their bowl bid. The Chippewas were just 3-6 with three games remaining but managed to pull out three straight wins, two coming on the road, to earn the six victories necessary for bowl eligibility. With the win at UMass to end the regular season, the Chippewas earned their first bowl bid since 2009 and seventh overall. This is also the fifth bowl game in the last seven seasons for Central Michigan. In those previous contests the Chippewas have a 2-4 record with the most recent decision a 44-41 win over Troy in the GMAC Bowl, which is now the GoDaddy.com Bowl. Like Western Kentucky, Central Michigan wasn't anything special when it came to overall offensive numbers. The Hilltoppers ranked seventh in the Mid- American Conference in total yards (394.1 ypg) and tied for sixth in scoring offense (29.3 ppg). Central Michigan did excel when it managed to get drives into the red zone, converting on a MAC-leading 88.89 percent of its attempts. Ryan Radcliff is the signal caller for the Chippewas. Radcliff didn't complete an extremely high percentage of his pass attempts (59.0), but did throw for 2,905 yards and 20 touchdowns with only nine interceptions. Radcliff threw for the fifth most yards per game in the MAC (242.1) and was the fourth highest rated passer (136.3). In the running game, Zurlon Tipton has been the workhorse for the Chippewas. Tipton has piled up 1,391 yards on 229 carries. No other player on the team has more than 53 carries for 235 yards. On defense Central Michigan was rather pedestrian in comparison to the rest of the conference. The Chippewas were the seventh best team in the MAC in yards allowed (441.2 ypg) and ninth in scoring defense (33.3 ppg). While the offense constantly found success in the red zone the defense was almost always giving up scores, with the 11th best opponent conversion rate (86.8 percent) in the conference. Central Michigan also failed to get much in terms of negative plays with the fewest tackles for loss (47.0) in the MAC.
Free Pick: I am going with the Hilltoppers in this one. The Chippewas took this bowl game to hopefully sell seats, but let’s note that in their final home game vs Akron just 7200 fans showed up, while 35000 showed up for an earlier game vs Michigan State. No real home field edge here. The Chipps did go 4-1 down the stretch, but a closer look shows that their 4 wins were vs teams with a combined 9-41 record. Not very impressive at all. Overall this year the Chippewas have played 5 bow teams and have gone 0-5 SU & ATS vs them, while getting outgained by 126 ypg in those games. Another not-so-impressive number. CMU has played the 118th tough schedule in the nation, yet they are still 67th in total offense (393.3 ypg) and 65th in scoring (29.3 ppg), while also checking in at 94th in total defense (441 ypg) and 98th in points allowed (33.3 pg) vs that weak schedule. WKU hasn’t faced that tough of a schedule either and they are 1-3 SU (3-1 ATS) vs Bowl teams, while being outgained by 45 ypg vs them. Their overall strength of schedule is pretty low, and their offense is about the same as the Chipps vs that schedule, but defense is where this Hilltopper team gets a big edge as they check in at 23rd overall (344.4 ypg) and 51st in points allowed (25.6 ppg). Yes possible distractions are in store for the Hilltoppers, with the departure of their head coach, but let’s also note that Interim coach Lance Guidry has experience in these unique, coach-bailing situations, having led Miami-OH to a bowl win two seasons ago against Middle Tennessee after that Miami team’s head coach flew the coop to Pitt. Finial nails in the coffin for CMU is the fact that sub .600 MAC bowlers are 1-7 SU & ATS, while WKU is 21-5-1 ATS in their last 27 games vs sub .600 opponents. WKU is the better team here and behind their tough defense they should win by DD.
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College Football Free Picks: Central Michigan vs Western Kentucky
What college football bettors need to know about Central Michigan Chippewas vs Western Kentucky Hilltoppers on Wednesday (12/26/12) - a free pick from Pregame.com's Marco D'Angelo, with Bryan Leonard and host Scott Spreitzer.