MAC Tournament Preview: Western Michigan vs Central Michigan

Central Michigan was #1 in the West division of the Mid-American Conference, which got them a bye into this quarterfinal round. But the Chips are a team with obvious flaws, hitting just 41% of their shots, and generating just 10.8 assists per game on the offensive end. CMU last played a week ago, defeating Eastern Michigan 56-55 in what was a lackluster effort, as they really struggled at the free throw line (hitting just six out of 14) although they hit ten three-pointers.

: WESTERN MICHIGAN -1.5

Here are some of the NCAA basketball sports betting trends as they relate to this matchup:

• WMU is 2-7-1 ATS in its last ten games
• WMU has won four of its last six games SU
• WMU has played 12 of its last 17 games OVER the total
• CMU has covered three of its last nine games
• CMU has won four of its last six games SU

The Chips use a three-guard offense, and backcourt men Jordan Blitzer and Robbie Harman combine for a shade under 30 points a game and are both better than 40% accurate from beyond the three-point arc. Central closed the season with wins over EMU and Western Michigan, and in that game they got 22 each from both Harman and Blitzer, while withstanding 31 points from WMU's top guard, David Kool. They did that by holding the rest of the WMU roster to twelve field goals in the 74-66 victory.

Here are some of the head-to-head college basketball betting trends for this game:

• The last five meetings have gone OVER the total
• WMU has had the shooting edge in four of the last six meetings
• CMU has made more three-pointers in four of the last five meetings

What Western Michigan would like to see is a repeat of the first meeting between these two, when the Broncos turned on the defense at home, limiting CMU to a little less than 30% shooting. Kool, who was named the MAC player of the year, combined with big man Donald Lawson to hit 12 of 15 shots. Western Michigan had to win their way into this round, beating Bowling Green 75-73 on Sunday, and they've been very sharp from the stripe lately, which is one big advantage they bring into this game.

WMU was considered by many to be the favorites in the West Division, but they were never able to get a head of steam, failing to win consecutive conference games until that first-round win over Bowling Green. What they're looking to do is jell, behind Kool, and play the way they figure they are capable of playing.

While CMU did take home the regular season title in its division, it may be kind of deceiving, in that they finished only a game ahead of Western, Eastern and Ball State. If there is real "class" in this conference, it is in the East with Kent State and Akron. I favor the upside of the guys from Kalamazoo, especially since Central Michigan isn't likely to do a good job on the big men. Can the Broncos get some balance going? If we knew they could, this would be a better play.

Let's go with WMU, the 1.5-point favorite in the WAC Tourney.

JAY'S PLAY: WESTERN MICHIGAN -1.5 **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)