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Posted at 1:30 PM EST.

7:30 PM EST. Spotting this type of weight is rarely in our wheelhouse, especially in a midweek MAC game that looks to be much closer on paper but we have no reservations whatsoever about spotting this number. Ball State has some decent results this year that include a 24-16 loss to MAC power NIU and they also have an 8-point loss by the exact same 24-16 score at South Bend against the #3 team in the country, Notre Dame. Here’s a Cardinals’ team that held the Irish and Northern Illinois to just 24 points and now they’re being offered 18½-points against a 4-4 squad? Ball State also beat Kent St, 52-24 and Kent was seen last night on TV when they beat Bowling Green 35-28. It all looks good for the dog but unless you look very deep into the intangibles among other things, you may get tricked into taking this false treat.

Before we proceed, we should mention that Toledo quarterback Mitch Guadagni exited the Western Michigan game with an injury to his throwing shoulder and is a game-time decision for this game. Ball State quarterback Riley Neal injured his knee in the loss at Ohio and was forced from the game. According to a report by the Muncie Star Press, Neal is unlikely to play on Wednesday night. If Guadagni is unable to play, the Rockets will turn to sophomore Eli Peters, who has filled in at various times throughout the season, including leading Toledo to a win over rival Bowling Green and throwing for three touchdowns in the second half at Western Michigan. Peters shined in relief last week and has the team's confidence if he has to start against the Cardinals. Whoever starts will have the backing of a run game that's cracked 225 yards in three of the past four games after hitting that number just once in the first four.

In the seven years of the Matt Campbell-Jason Candle era, this is the first time the Rockets have found themselves with as many as four losses after eight games, or as many as two conference losses after four MAC games but last week was the best the team has looked and we don’t envision anything less this week.

A Toledo defense that hadn't been playing up to standard early in the year notched five sacks in each of the past two games, and that unit is starting to heat up. Only MAC powers Northern Illinois and Ohio have hung a regular-season loss on the Rockets in the second half of the season over the past five years, and the 2018 schedule sets up nicely for another November run that begins here. Finally, both teams will play their 3rd game in 12 days and that HUGELY favors the host and the superior team and it also prompts us to move in hard.

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