GMAC Bowl Betting - Central Michigan Chippewas vs. Troy Trojans
by Dave D
Central Michigan Chippewas vs. Troy Trojans
Wednesday, January 6th – Ladd Peebles Stadium (Mobile, AL) – 7:05 PM ET
GMAC Football Bowl Spread: Central Michigan -2.5
Central Michigan: The Week That Was
The Chippewas weren’t hitting on all cylinders, but they had enough to get past the Ohio Bobcats, 20-10, in the Mid-American Conference Championship Game on Friday, Dec. 4. The 10-point win at Ford Field in Detroit gave Central Michigan its third MAC title in the past four seasons, a terrific run for the program.
Central Michigan scored more than 45 points on five separate occasions during the 2009 regular season, so a 20-point outing was comparatively disappointing for star quarterback Dan LeFevour and the rest of the Chippewa offense. However, a stout defensive performance that limited Ohio to 275 total yards and just four third-down conversions was good enough to get Butch Jones to the winner’s circle in his last season as CMU’s head coach.
Troy: The Week That Was
The Trojans closed out their regular season schedule with a wild 48-31 win at Louisiana-Lafayette on Nov. 28 in Lafayette, La. A crazy Sun Belt Conference clash involved three distinct phases.
In the first phase, Troy took a 24-0 lead, as the Trojans’ high-powered offense scored on each of its first four possessions. In the game’s second phase, Louiaiana-Lafayette roared back with 25 straight points to take a 25-24 lead with 4:11 remaining in the third quarter. In the third and final phase, Troy outscored the Ragin’ Cajuns, 24-6, over the final 19 minutes to grab a 17-point triumph. The key play came when Troy quarterback Levi Brown threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to give the Trojans a 34-25 lead with 10:47 left in regulation.
The Week That Is:
There are two major storylines in the 2010 GMAC Bowl. The first is that Central Michigan won’t have Butch Jones on the sideline for this contest. After leading the Chippewas to yet another MAC title, Jones grabbed the head coaching gig at Cincinnati. The move had to wound CMU fans because the program’s previous coach, Brian Kelly, also took the Cincinnati job after coaching Central Michigan to the 2006 MAC championship. With associate coach Steve Stripling acting as the interim coach for this bowl game, the Chippewas will have to find their own source of motivation.
The second storyline in this game is that the Mid-American Conference hasn’t won a bowl game since Central Michigan defeated Middle Tennessee State in the 2006 Motor City Bowl. Other MAC teams – Bowling Green, Northern Illinois, Ohio, and Temple – all lost their bowl games. There’s a little pressure on CMU to break this nagging losing streak for the MAC.
In terms of picking a winner, this game figures to be high scoring and hugely entertaining. Ultimately, a Troy team that’s playing in its home state should have a small but meaningful advantage. The Trojans will win by a field goal.
