The MAC Championship Game kicks off the Saturday slate as the Miami (OH) Redhawks take on the Western Michigan Broncos.
Western Michigan enters as a 2.5-point favorite with the total set at O/U 43.5 points. This is the best college football player prop bet to consider on DraftKings Sportsbook for the MAC Championship Game between Miami (OH) and Western Michigan.
Miami (OH) vs. Western Michigan Player Props
The MAC Championship Game is always one of the most fun games of conference championship weekend. Miami is in the MAC title game for the third straight season, after having won it in 2023 and lost to Ohio last season. Chuck Martin has turned the Redhawks into the most consistent program in the conference in recent seasons and would love to add another conference title. Meanwhile, Western Michigan is back in the conference title game for the first time since its incredible 2016 season, where it made the Cotton Bowl led by P.J. Fleck. It should be a great battle in Detroit between these two teams.
It has been a strange season for Miami. The Redhawks started the season with Dequan Finn at quarterback, one of the most experienced quarterbacks in the country. Finn was playing well for Miami, and they were in contention for the conference championship. However, Finn inexplicably left the program with three weeks left in the regular season to prepare for the NFL Draft. This move left Miami in a lurch, but the RedHawks bounced back with two wins in the final two games of the season to get to this title game. Besides losing Finn’s experience, Miami also had to retool its offense from having a run-heavy quarterback to more of a pocket passer.
My favorite prop bet for this game is for Jordan Brunson to score a touchdown for Miami. The Redhawks’ running back has been solid all season, but he has taken on a bigger role in the new offense. For most of the season, Dequan Finn took a lot of the carries himself, especially in the red zone. Now, Brunson is the featured runner in this offense. Through the first ten games of the season, he only had one game with over 100 rushing yards and two total touchdowns. In the final two games of the season, he rushed for 123 yards against Buffalo, then registered a touchdown in the finale against Ball State. Brunson is getting a bigger workload down the stretch and has more chances to score.
The way to attack Western Michigan is on the ground. The Broncos’ defense ranks 39th in EPA/dropback and 25th in dropback success rate. However, it ranks 77th in EPA/rush and 49th in rushing success rate. If Miami wants to control this game, it will have to feed Jordan Brunson and move the ball on the ground. The Redhawks should keep that rolling in goal-to-go situations as well, giving Jordan Brunson a great chance to score a touchdown for the second straight game.
