Northern Illinois Huskies vs Mississippi State Bulldogs Prediction, Odds and Picks for Saturday, 09/20/25

There is genuine excitement for football in Starkville right now as the Mississippi State Bulldogs welcome the Northern Illinois Huskies to town on Saturday afternoon. After finishing last in the SEC last season, the Bulldogs are already off to a great start. They opened with a win over a decent Southern Miss team, and then they manhandled Arizona State, a team that has a likely future NFL quarterback and receiver. Northern Illinois, on the other hand, struggled in their opener against Holy Cross, then covered in a loss to Maryland in a slow 20-9 grind. I think this is a spot where Mississippi State dominates early, then tries to sit some guys late, if they can, with conference play starting next week. Give me the cowbells and Miss St -21.

The Bulldogs have found an effective passing attack early with the return of Blake Shapen (formerly of Baylor, injured most of last year). They have also found some dogs on defense, and they might have enough on the defensive side to give them a shot in a great many SEC games. For NIU, things are not looking great. They were always going to be more defense than offense, but so far, they have generated precious little on the offensive side, and now they have to roll into a hostile SEC stadium. Honestly, -21 is my least favorite number, because there always seems to be one or two of these each year where the underdog wins outright. But no way it is this one. The Huskies just aren’t that good. I’m hoping we get enough love from the public who remember the Norte Dame game and back the Huskies, but I think the Bulldogs roll. I’ll lay the points.

Northern Illinois vs Mississippi State Prediction: Mississippi State -21 (-110) available at the time of publishing. Playable at that number.