Miami, FL
Northern Illinois vs. Miami (Ohio) Prediction, Odds and Key Players to Watch for College Football Week 13
Northern Illinois wasn’t able to follow up on its upset of Notre Dame early in the season, falling behind in the MAC conference race, but has a chance to play spoiler in the league.
The Huskies will take on Miami (Ohio) in Tuesday night MACtion with the RedHawks looking to make a bid at a second straight league title. However, NIU has been elite on the defensive side of the ball all season and winners of two in a row. Can the Huskies snap Miami’s five-game winning streak and soil its hopes of a repeat?
Here’s how to bet the marquee matchup of the Week 13 opening slate.
Spread
Moneyline
Total: 41.5 (Over -110/Under -110)
Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook
Northern Illinois
Telly Johnson Jr.: With Antario Brown out last week, Johnson was the leadback for the Huskies in the team’s win against Arkon. Brown is not on the depth chart this week, so it appears he won’t go, meaning Johnson will likely be called on to lead the run-first Huskies offense against Miami’s stingy defense.
Miami (Ohio)
Brett Gabbert: The senior quarterback continues to show out as MAC play continues, tallying 15 passing touchdowns with only one interception in league games. Since the loss to Toledo, the RedHawks have won all but one game by double digits and are starting to look like the MAC Champion from a year ago.
This game is likely going to be dictated by both team’s defense, among the best in the MAC.
Both units are top 40 nationally in EPA/Play, but there are some stylistic differences that make for an advantageous matchup for the road underdog.
NIU is focused on keeping the ball on the ground with its stable of running backs in addition to quarterback Ethan Hampton. While the RedHawks have an elite defense, it’s far better against the pass than the run, ranking outside the top half of the country in EPA/Rush this season. The defensive line isn’t getting a similar push to last season, outside the top 90 in defensive line yards, and may struggle to keep Northern Illinois out of favorable down and distances.
Meanwhile, Miami does lean on its passing game. Despite the emergence of running back Keyon Mozee, who is averaging nearly seven yards per carry, the RedHawks throw at a top-40 rate nationally.
However, the Huskies defense is elite against the pass, top 20 in the country in EPA/Pass, and among the best down-to-down defenses, ranking top 25 in success rate.
NIU has lost three MAC games by a total of 12 points, one of which in overtime and the other on a last season field goal, which stunted its ability to contend for a MAC title, but not from having betting value.
I’ll take the underdog to throw some chaos into the title race.
PICK: Northern Illinois ML +116
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
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The Miami Dolphins are releasing quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, the team said Monday morning.
The Miami Dolphins said Tagovailoa will be released after the start of the new league year.
“I recently informed Tua and his representation that we are going to move in a new direction at the quarterback position and I will be releasing him after the start of the new league year,” Miami Dolphins General Manager Jon-Eric Sullivan said in a statement posted to X.
Sullivan went on to say that he has “great respect” for Tagovailoa as a person and player.
“On behalf of the Miami Dolphins, I expressed our gratitude for his many contributions, both on the field and in the community, during his six seasons in Miami,” Sullivan said.
Sullivan also said that moving forward, the Miami Dolphins will be focused on “infusing competition across the roster and establishing a strong foundation for this team as we work towards building a sustained winner.”
Is Detroit Pistons’ Cade Cunningham the NBA’s most valuable player?
Omari and Bryce analyze the merits of Cade Cunningham as an MVP and which players may have a stronger case than the Pistons’ star player.
The Detroit Pistons’ slide continues.
They fell to the Miami Heat on the road, 121-110, on Sunday, March 8. It’s their fourth-consecutive loss – their first time dropping four in a row since opening the 2024-25 season 0-4. The Pistons (45-18) looked a step slow in the second half of a back-to-back, less than 24 hours after hosting the Brooklyn Nets at home Saturday.
Cade Cunningham returned from a one-game absence and carried the offense with 26 points and 10 assists. Jalen Duren also had a strong line, with 24 points and five rebounds. It was a poor night for the rest of the roster, as the Pistons shot 11-for-37 (29.7%) from 3. It also was a poor defensive night, as Detroit allowed Miami to shoot 47.3% overall and score 103 points through the first three quarters.
Ausar Thompson (right ankle sprain) missed his second straight game. The Miami Heat were led by Tyler Herro (25 points) and Bam Adebayo (24 points, nine rebounds, six assists).
The loss drops the Pistons (47-18) to just 2½ games up on the Boston Celtics – who have gotten a big boost from the return of Jayson Tatum – in the East. Still, even with the skid, the Pistons have a 6½ game lead on the Cleveland Cavaliers as they go for their first Central Division title since 2007-08.
Next up for the Pistons
The Pistons will get a chance to avenge Saturday night’s 23-point collapse as they visit the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday (7:30 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network Detroit Extra). The Nets are contenders only for a top lottery pick. After that, the Pistons return home for a pair of games, against the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday and the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday.
Pistons’ defensive slide continues
Defense has been the biggest driver of the Pistons’ success this season. But they’ve slipped since the All-Star break, and their losing streak reflects it.
The Heat’ century mark through the first three quarters marked an uncharacteristically poor showing for a team that’s held the second-best defensive rating for most of the season. The Heat did so while shooting 48.6% overall, and committing just four turnovers against a Pistons team that leads the league in steals.
Entering Sunday, the Pistons were a mere ninth in defensive rating in nine games since All-Star weekend. Their backslide started before Thompson’s injury, but his absence has accelerated it. They have given up at least 30 points in five consecutive quarters, dating back to Saturday’s fourth quarter against Brooklyn in which they surrendered 34 points.
Cunningham takes over after slow start
The Pistons took the floor roughly 20 hours after they wrapped up Saturday’s loss to the Nets, with a cross-country flight sandwiched in-between. In the first quarter, they came out flat and endured one of their worst starts of the season.
They trailed the Heat 34-16 by the end of the period, after knocking down just six of 22 field goal attempts (27.3%) and one of nine 3-pointers. Duren opened the game with a dunk at the 11:28 mark. More than five minutes passed before the next bucket – an alley-oop dunk for Duren from Cunningham – with 7:07 to go.
Cunningham was aggressive and responsible for the bulk of the Pistons’ offensive production by halftime. He scored 13 points and dished out five assists on 5-for-7 shooting in the second quarter, and scored or assisted 23 of their first 30 points.
He led a 10-2 Pistons run to open the second quarter and cut an 18-point deficit to 10, the closest they got the rest of the way. It included a pair of 3-pointers, the second a stepback over Adebayo. Cunningham powered a second run at the end of the second, finishing an off-balance euro step hook and another stepback 3-pointer over Adebayo, and two assists to Duren for two dunks, within the final 2:17.
The two-man game between Cunningham and Duren was the only consistent production the Pistons could generate. They combined for nearly half of their total offense — 50 points on 19-for-30 overall shooting. The rest of the roster combined shot 19-for-60 (31.7%).
Contact Omari Sankofa II at osankofa@freepress.com. Follow him on Bluesky and/or X @omarisankofa.
[ MUST WATCH: Make “The Pistons Pulse” your go-to Pistons podcast, listen available anywhere you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify) or watch live on YouTube. ]
Detroit Pistons (45-17, first in the Eastern Conference) vs. Miami Heat (35-29, seventh in the Eastern Conference)
Miami; Sunday, 6 p.m. EDT
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Pistons -1.5; over/under is 229.5
BOTTOM LINE: Detroit enters the matchup with Miami as losers of three straight games.
The Heat are 19-18 against Eastern Conference opponents. Miami is second in the NBA averaging 120.1 points and is shooting 46.5% from the field.
The Pistons have gone 30-9 against Eastern Conference opponents. Detroit ranks third in the league with 13.3 offensive rebounds per game led by Jalen Duren averaging 3.9.
The 120.1 points per game the Heat average are 10.5 more points than the Pistons give up (109.6). The Pistons average 10.8 made 3-pointers per game this season, 3.0 fewer made shots on average than the 13.8 per game the Heat allow.
The teams meet for the third time this season. The Heat won 118-112 in the last matchup on Jan. 2. Norman Powell led the Heat with 36 points, and Cade Cunningham led the Pistons with 31 points.
TOP PERFORMERS: Andrew Wiggins is scoring 15.9 points per game and averaging 5.1 rebounds for the Heat. Bam Adebayo is averaging 21.9 points and 10.1 rebounds over the last 10 games.
Cunningham is averaging 25.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, 9.8 assists and 1.5 steals for the Pistons. Duncan Robinson is averaging 2.5 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Heat: 7-3, averaging 122.5 points, 49.2 rebounds, 28.3 assists, 8.2 steals and 5.3 blocks per game while shooting 47.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 112.8 points per game.
Pistons: 6-4, averaging 114.0 points, 48.5 rebounds, 25.8 assists, 10.2 steals and 7.1 blocks per game while shooting 46.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 109.8 points.
INJURIES: Heat: Nikola Jovic: out (back), Andrew Wiggins: day to day (toe), Norman Powell: out (groin), Simone Fontecchio: out (groin).
Pistons: Ausar Thompson: day to day (ankle), Cade Cunningham: day to day (quadriceps).
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
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