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GameAbove Sports Bowl •
Ford FieldNeutral siteIndoor

Central Michigan7 @FINAL 34Northwestern

7-5 MAC Power rating: -8.1
6-6 Big Ten Power rating: 6.0

By · Last updated

How did the line hold up?

Market line
NU -13.5
PM Implied
NU -8.4
Blue Chip model
NU -14.1
Edge
+0.6NU
See details
◂ favors CMUfavors NU ▸Market: NU -13.5
14.1 › NU
The power ratings row was edited directly, please click reset to adjust by team
neutral
no impact
no impact
no impact
no impact
1 CMU1 NU2 CMU2 NUModel: NU -14.1

Betting information

Spread
NU -13.5
Total
43.5
Odds implied score
CMU 15.0 – 28.5 NU
Prediction markets
NU 80% win chance (Kalshi)

DraftKings · as of July 8, 2026

Northwestern defeated Central Michigan 34–7 to secure a comfortable win. Northwestern covered by 13.5; Game went Under by 2.5. The market closed at Northwestern -13.5 and the Blue Chip model made it Northwestern -14.1. The two were within a point of each other, so there was no meaningful edge in this line.

What were the weather conditions for Central Michigan vs Northwestern?

This game was played indoors at Ford Field in a climate-controlled environment. Weather was not a factor.

What happened in the game?

Central Michigan travels 122 miles to this game, a short road trip.

The trip crosses none of the distance or time-zone thresholds that have measured a price, so travel is not a factor here.

Northwestern won by 27 to secure a comfortable win.

Northwestern covered the spread by a solid margin.

The total went Under by 2.5 points.

How do Central Michigan and Northwestern compare on power ratings?

Blue Chip Analytics power ratings favor Northwestern (6.0) over Central Michigan (-8.1) by 14.1 points on a neutral field. After adding home field advantage, the rating-implied line may differ meaningfully from the market spread. Neither team has a home-field advantage here, so the neutral-field differential above is already the venue-adjusted read.

Blue Chip Analytics power ratings represent expected point margin against an average FBS opponent on a neutral field, calculated from game data sourced via CollegeFootballData.com (CFBD). They are one input: cross-reference with the travel, rest, and weather data above before drawing conclusions.

Where can I find more data on Central Michigan and Northwestern?

Sources

Game & Team Data

Weather

Travel & Rest

Model & Methodology

Northwestern won and Northwestern covered the spread.

Conditions

Indoor, climate controlled

~72°F

Ford Field is a domed venue. Wind, precipitation and temperature are not factors in this game.

Wind map for Central Michigan at Northwestern: aerial view of Ford Field

Quick facts

Week
Postseason
Kickoff (local)
01:00 PM EST
Venue
Ford Field
Capacity
65,000
Elevation
610 ft
Surface
Artificial Turf

Travel and rest

Central MichiganAway NorthwesternHome
This week122 miles238 miles
Last weekBye weekBye week
Season total6,446 miles7,722 miles
Body clock13:0012:00
Rest27 days26 days

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