Central Michigan Chippewas vs Northwestern Wildcats Prediction, Odds and Picks for Today, 12/26/25

The Central Michigan Chippewas of the Mid-American Conference make the short jaunt down from Mount Pleasant to Detroit to battle the Northwestern Wildcats in the GameAbove Sports Bowl at Ford Field. The Chips were hot against the number, but they ran into a defensive buzzsaw in the regular-season finale — falling 21-3 at Kelly/Shorts Stadium on November 29. That halted a 5-0 ATS run dating back to October 18. In CMU’s only other meeting with a Big Ten team in 2025, the Chips were hammered 63-3 at the Big House against Michigan on September 13 as a 28-point underdog.

The Wildcats were tripped up 20-13 in the snow in Champaign on November 29, pushing as a 7-point underdog. Northwestern limps in with 4 losses in the final 5 games, but all of those games were against bowl-bound teams. The defense allowed 24 or more points in 4 of those outings. If we’re looking at common opponents, the Wildcats lost just 24-22 to Michigan at home on November 15. While leading RB Caleb Komolafe missed the regular-season finale in Illinois, he is expected to play. That’s a big boost, as is the fact backup RB Joseph Himon II is also ready to go. He was Komolafe’s replacement, and he was hurt against the Illini. Still, double digits is a lot for the Wildcats to lay. CMU should be able to hang around.

Central Michigan vs Northwestern prediction: Central Michigan Chippewas +10.5 (-110) at time of publishing. Playable to +10.

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