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Week 1 •
Huskie Stadium

Holy Cross17 @FINAL 19Northern Illinois

0-0 Patriot Power rating: -20.8
0-0 MAC Power rating: -15.4

By · Last updated

How did the line hold up?

Market line
NIU -13.5
PM Implied
Not yet available
Blue Chip model
NIU -6.9
Edge
-6.6HC
See details
◂ favors HCfavors NIU ▸Market: NIU -13.5
NIU
The power ratings row was edited directly, please click reset to adjust by team
NIU
no impact
NIU
no impact
no impact
2 HC2 NIU4 HC4 NIU6 HC6 NIUModel: NIU -6.9

Betting information

Spread
NIU -13.5
Total
48.5
Odds implied score
HC 17.5 – 31.0 NIU

ESPN Bet · as of July 10, 2026

Northern Illinois defeated Holy Cross 19–17 in a nail-biter. Holy Cross covered by 11.5; Game went Under by 12.5. The market closed at Northern Illinois -13.5 and the Blue Chip model made it Northern Illinois -6.9 - a gap of 6.6 points toward Holy Cross, of which 5.6 points were beyond the model's measured factors. That was an information gap - the market pricing something the model does not carry - rather than a measured edge.

What were the weather conditions for Holy Cross vs Northern Illinois?

At kickoff, conditions at Huskie Stadium were Cloudy, 68°F with winds of 7 mph. Weather is not expected to be a meaningful factor in this game. Historical weather data for this game is preserved in the panel alongside. Weather data is sourced from WeatherAPI.com.

What happened in the game?

Holy Cross travels 871 miles to this game, a significant road trip.

Holy Cross arrives with a 1-hour westward body clock shift, short of the two-zone westward threshold where travel starts to price.

Northern Illinois won by 2 in a nail-biter.

Holy Cross covered the spread by a solid margin.

The total went Under by 12.5 points.

How do Holy Cross and Northern Illinois compare on power ratings?

Blue Chip Analytics power ratings favor Northern Illinois (-15.4) over Holy Cross (-20.8) by 5.4 points on a neutral field. After adding home field advantage, the rating-implied line may differ meaningfully from the market spread. Northern Illinois brings a modest home field advantage to this matchup (Blue Chip HFA: 1.1). Add this to the neutral-site differential to arrive at a venue-adjusted line.

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 Holy Cross and Northern Illinois?

Sources

Game & Team Data

Weather

Travel & Rest

Model & Methodology

Northern Illinois won and Holy Cross covered the spread.

Conditions

as of August 30, 2025 Game-time

Cloudy

68°F

Rain0%
Precip0.00"
Humidity71%
Wind7 mph ENE
Gusts13 mph
Wind map for Holy Cross at Northern Illinois: aerial view of Huskie Stadium, wind from the ENE at 7.4 mph, gusting to 13.4 mph

Quick facts

Week
Week 1
Kickoff (local)
02:30 PM CDT
Venue
Huskie Stadium
Capacity
28,211
Elevation
896 ft
Surface
Artificial Turf

Travel and rest

Holy CrossAway Northern IllinoisHome
This week871 miles0 miles
Last weekBye weekBye week
Season total871 miles0 miles
Body clock15:3014:30
RestSeason openerSeason opener

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