Eastern Michigan vs. Akron Picks, Predictions College Football Week 11: Can Zips Cover at Home?
Midweek MACtion resumes on Tuesday night with a tripleheader. Among the three matchups is a battle between the Eastern Michigan Eagles and the Akron Zips. Read on for our top Eastern Michigan-Akron picks and predictions.
After nearly pulling off an outright upset over Toledo two weeks ago, Eastern Michigan (4-5 ATS, 4-5 O/U) will make its second attempt at achieving bowl eligibility Tuesday. While the Eagles have yet to win a conference game at home, they are perfect on the road against MAC opponents.
Meanwhile, Akron (4-5 ATS, 3-5-1 O/U) is still seeking its first conference win of the season overall. The Zips’ only victory to date was all the way back in Week 1 over an FCS opponent. Akron has lost eight straight games since then with three of its five losses in league play coming by seven or fewer points.
Here are our college football picks for the Week 11 matchup between Eastern Michigan and Akron (odds via DraftKings Sportsbook, BetRivers, and PointsBet; pick confidence based on a 1-to-5 star scale).
Check out our Week 11 college football picks roundup.
Eastern Michigan vs. Akron Game Info
Date: Tuesday, Nov. 8, 7 p.m. ET
TV: CBSSN
Location: InfoCision Stadium, Akron, OH
Weather: 43 degrees, 0% chance of precipitation, 5-6 mph winds NE
Eastern Michigan vs. Akron Odds
Eastern Michigan vs. Akron Odds Analysis
Oddsmakers first opened Eastern Michigan as a 9-point road favorite. Since then, the betting market has gradually moved the spread down in Akron’s favor. EMU is laying a consensus line of 7 points as of Tuesday morning.
As far as betting action is concerned, nearly 75% of all ATS bets at DraftKings have elected to lay the points with Eastern Michigan. However, it’s worth noting that the 25% of bets on Akron have accounted for 40% of the total handle wagered.
While the spread has gotten a bit smaller, the opposite is true with regard to the total. An opening line of 54.5 has since ticked up to reach the current market consensus of 57. At DraftKings, the Under has taken both a 65% majority of tickets and an overwhelming 86% majority of the handle.
Eastern Michigan vs. Akron Picks
Eastern Michigan vs. Akron ATS Pick
Akron +7.5 (-110) ★
To say that Akron football has fallen on hard times recently would be an understatement. The Zips have won a grand total of four games since 2018. Two of those victories are against FCS competition, including a win over St. Francis (PA) to begin this season. The other two wins both came against Bowling Green.
One thing that first-year head coach Joe Moorhead can hang his hat on is the fact that the Zips have been more competitive than expected in several games this season. Conference losses to Bowling Green, Central Michigan and Kent State all were decided by a single score.
The Zips' offense predictably struggled two weeks ago in a home loss to Miami (Ohio), which boasts one of the top defenses in the MAC. The same cannot be said of Eastern Michigan which ranks 117th in adjusted defensive efficiency. That is one spot lower than Ohio and one higher than Kent State, two teams that Akron managed to score 34 and 27 points against.
With a veteran quarterback in DJ Irons, the Zips should be able to be much more effective offensively than the last couple of times they have faced Eastern Michigan. Meanwhile, Akron’s defense has displayed consistent improvement throughout the season.
Given how inconsistent the Eagles have been in their own right offensively, taking the home underdog catching this many points seems to be the best ATS play to make.
Eastern Michigan vs. Akron O/U Pick
Over 55.5 (-109) ★★★
In terms of adjusted efficiency, there is not a lot of great defense being played in the MAC this year. Neither of these teams are an exception to that. For as bad as Eastern Michigan has been defensively, Akron has been even worse. The Zips rank 127th in adjusted efficiency out of 131 FBS teams.
Eastern Michigan will counter Brins with an upperclassmen QB of its own in Taylor Powell. The focal point of the Eagles’ offense is the ground game, led by sophomore Samson Evans. He had three rushing touchdowns last week against Toledo and figures to be in line for even more success against an Akron defense allowing 186.4 rushing yards per game.
With both teams returning the majority of their offensive starters from a year ago, experience won’t be lacking. As such, one has to give both offenses the edge over two defenses that simply lack talent and strong fundamentals.
Aside from BetRivers, all other major sportsbooks are listing the game total between 56 and 57 points. Targeting the best available value could ultimately be the difference between a winning and losing ticket.
Eastern Michigan vs. Akron Prop Pick
Akron team total between 21-30 (+185) ★★★
Our ATS and game total picks above are both reliant on Akron being able to move the football and score points. Based on how Eastern Michigan’s defense stacks up statistically to other teams in the MAC, one has to believe that the Zips will find some offensive success.
As far as this team total prop, betting on the Zips to finish between 21 and 30 points feels like the perfect sweet spot. Even in games where Akron has been competitive this season, it has only scored more than 30 points once.
All three of Zips’ one-score losses have seen them score between 21 and 30 points. Thus, it seems reasonable to expect a similar scoring output on Tuesday night.
Where to Bet on Eastern Michigan vs. Akron
Here are our top-rated sportsbooks:
Eastern Michigan vs. Akron picks made 11/7/2022 at 4:15 p.m. ET
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