Central Michigan Chippewas Odds

Central Michigan Chippewas 2024 Season Preview

Jim McElwain enters his sixth season as head coach at Central Michigan looking to make a bowl game for the first time since 2021. With a win total of 5.5 that's heavily juiced to the over, that's very possible.

After going 4-8 and 5-7 in 2022 and 2023, respectively, the Chippewas will lean on veteran experience to make a run.

Although leading passer Jase Bauer transferred to Sam Houston, Central Michigan returns an experienced quarterback in Bert Emanuel Jr., who ran for nearly 500 yards and seven touchdowns in 2022. The Chips also bring back their top three pass-catchers and top two running backs.

Central Michigan sits in the middle of the MAC with +1200 odds to win the conference. 

However, the Chippewas sit at 117th in Action Network's betting power ratings, putting it ahead of five other teams in the conference. CMU's power rating is 2.5 points higher than Akron's, which means we'd project the Chips as 2.5-point favorites against the Zips on a neutral field.

For more information on the Central Michigan Chippewas: Official Central Michigan Chippewas Website | Schedule | Roster

Betting on Central Michigan

There are plenty of ways to bet Central Michigan football this season, including futures — like college football win totals and MAC Championship odds. Then, there are game-by-game markets, like moneylines, spreads and totals (also known as the over/under).

Betting Central Michigan's Moneyline

How does a moneyline work? Here’s how it might look at a sportsbook like DraftKings or FanDuel:

• Central Michigan -300
• Buffalo +300

The minus sign (-) means a team is favored, while the plus (+) sign means a team is the underdog. In this scenario, Central Michigan would be a favorite of -300.

Odds can be understood more clearly if you think in terms of betting $10 or $100. A wager on the Chippewas' side means every $300 bet nets $100 in profit (plus the $300 stake back). It's similar for the underdog. A $100 wager on the Buffalo moneyline of +300 would profit $300 (plus the $100 stake back).

Most bettors won't bet a team's moneyline when it's heavily juiced (think anywhere from -400 and greater), but many people create parlays using the moneylines of favorites. Use our parlay calculator to get an understanding of what the payouts will look like when building a parlay. You can also add bets to your betslip on our college football odds page to automatically get the best parlay price.

Betting Central Michigan's Spread

Betting a spread is kind of similar to betting a moneyline. The exception, though, is that the spread takes points into account. The spread is the great equalizer when it comes to sports betting because even elite teams — the Ohio State Buckeyes and Texas Longhorns of the world — are expected to go around .500 against the spread because the spread is based on each team's ability, injuries and recent form.

• Central Michigan -5.5 (-110)
• Ball State +5.5 ( -110)

If a bettor placed a wager on Central Michigan -5.5, that means the Chippewas would have to win by six points or more. On the other side, if they bet Ball State +5.5, they would need the Cardinals to lose by five points or fewer or win the game outright.

In this instance, you would also be paying -110 juice, meaning you must wager $1.10 for every $1 you want to win. If you’re unfamiliar with calculating odds, read up on how to use American odds or use our odds calculator.

Betting Central Michigan's Totals

The third big way to bet Central Michigan in a single game would be the total — also known as the over/under. The total is simply how many points both teams score in a given game.

• Over: 50.5 (-115)
• Under: 50.5 (-105)

A bet on the over would need both teams to score a combined 51 points or more. However, an under bet would need the final score to add up to 50 points or less.

There’s a difference in payout with the over and under in this game as well. In this game, you must wager $1.15 for every $1 you want to win if you bet the over and $1.05 for every $1 you want to win if you bet the under.

Central Michigan Player Props & More

College football player props aren't available in every state — and the list of states that do have college player props continues to shrink as more college betting scandals unfold.

If college player props are available in your state, you may find markets like touchdown props or over/unders for passing, rushing or receiving yards. However, U.S. sportsbooks will offer far fewer markets for college players than they will for the NFL for a variety of reasons. The markets for player props also tend to be more limited for smaller games, like a typical MAC matchup.

If sports betting isn’t legal in your state or college props aren’t offered, platforms like PrizePicks exist. It’s regulated like DFS and allows you to pick multiple player statistics to be more or less than the listed number.