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Central Michigan finished its regular season on a strong note with five straight-up victories in its last six games, but when it came to betting on this team it was just 2-3 against the spread over its last five contests. The total went OVER 58.5 in the Chippewas' 35-28 win against rival Eastern Michigan on Nov. 27 as heavy 24-point home favorites and it has gone OVER in four of their last seven games.
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The passing game fueled CMU's offense this season with an average of 313.3 yards a game. Junior quarterback Cooper Rush led the aerial assault with 3,703 passing yards and 25 touchdown throws while completing 67.2 percent of his 460 attempts. He did an excellent job at spreading the ball around with five different player posting at least 500 receiving yards this year. For the most part, the defense did its part by holding opponents to 22.1 points a game.
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Minnesota made some early noise this season in a 4-2 SU start, but it was just 2-4 ATS. Things went downhill from there with just one more SU win over its last six games. The one bright spot for bettors was a 4-1 record ATS in its last five outings. The Golden Gophers closed things out with a 31-21 loss to Wisconsin as one-point home underdogs with the total going OVER for the sixth time in their last seven games.
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You can pin most of Minnesota's collapse on a defense that fell to 59th in the nation in points-allowed (26.1) after giving-up an average of just 19 points through the first six games. It also did not help that the team's head coach Jerry Kill had to walk away from the job in late October due to health reasons. You would have to question just how motivated a 5-7 team that basically backed into a bowl game will be in this matchup.
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Central Michigan Chippewas vs. Minnesota Golden Gophers Game Betting Trends
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The Chippewas are 4-1-1 ATS in their last six bowl games and they have gone 8-3 ATS in their last 11 games against the Big Ten. The total has gone OVER in seven of their last nine games against a team from Big Ten.
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The Golden Gophers have failed to cover in four of their last five bowl games, but they have gone 5-0 ATS in their last five games following a SU loss. The total has gone OVER in seven of their last nine games against a team from the MAC.
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The last time these two teams met was all the way back in 1987 with Minnesota cruising to a 30-10 win after the game closed as a PICK.
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