GoMiddle.com picks 'em

It's time to renew that 100 miles of hate.

Coming off of back-to-back wins and on the cusp of bowl eligibility again, the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders (5-5, 3-3) will take to the road Friday night to do battle with their biggest rival, the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers.

Whereas the Blue Raiders' season has taken a turn for the better, WKU (5-5, 3-3) has seen their season take a sharp turn in the negative trend. The Hilltoppers have lost three straight contests - two of which were double digit defeats.

Football is often a game of confidence and depending on where you look, the Blue Raiders are actually favorites in this road contest despite their lack of success against WKU in recent years.

Can the Blue Raiders buck the trend and secure that bowl opportunity?

Let's see what the guys think!

It's the match up fans have been waiting for all season. Western Kentucky vs Middle Tennessee.

There are a thousand reasons why WKU will win this game, but I'll give you just a few.

First of all - the quarterback. Mike White is head and shoulders above Brent Stockstill this season. White has a 65 completion percentage to Stock's 55 percent. White also has a better QB rating. Many times the team with the better QB wins.

Second - look for WKU to erase Ty Lee from the game. If WKU shuts down Lee, MTSU will struggle to move the ball, which is going to results in more opportunities for White and the Hilltoppers to pick MT apart.

Third - WKU is averaging almost 10 points more this season than MT. In fact, that's what my score for the game is what it is because those figures are almost exactly what each team is averaging.

Middle must commit to running the ball to give themselves a chance here. I mean, pound it over and over again. Three and out? Fine. As long as each down was a run play. Own the possession clock. That's the only way the Blue Raiders win. A shootout is a recipe for disaster.

Sorry, MTSU. Better luck next season.

At the beginning of the year I absolutely predicted a loss here for Middle Tennessee. I just didn't see them being able to get over this hump.

Times have changed, though. MT is riding high after pulling off a couple of wins in a row (they're first such streak of the season). Even if those games were layups on the schedule, you can't discount the confidence factor coming into this one.

And it's a major swing between each program.

Middle is riding high while Western Kentucky is reeling. That makes WKU very dangerous in this game, but in the end, I think the Blue Raiders have found a recipe here that can propel them through the finish line.

And that recipe is a steady dose of Tavares Thomas. I don't see WKU, or anybody else for that matter, being able to stop this bowling ball throughout four quarters. Tavares gives MT that complete look and keeps a defense honest, which now affords Brent Stockstill the time in the pocket he needs to be productive.

And that's the difference here to me. MT can run the ball and WKU cannot. The Blue Raiders will own the time of possession game, which will ultimately help them sneak out of Bowling Green with the victory.

Friends and families will briefly divide this weekend as Middle Tennessee (5-5) travels to Western Kentucky (5-5) for the annual gridiron edition of their 100 Miles of Hate rivalry.

The hatred is real. And raw. For this reason, it’s difficult to predict the outcome of the game and I fully expect to to get a lot of grief for my prediction. So I’lI get straight to the point - I don't think the Blue Raiders will pull out the win in Bowling Green for one simple reason, the Hilltoppers have more weapons on the offensive perimeter.

The Blue Raiders have a shot to steal one in Bowling Green. To do so, they will need a big day from running back Taveres Thomas and a turnover from Scott Shafer’s defense. The same defense is also tasked with slowing down Hilltopper quarterback Mike White, who has put up solid numbers in his final year and traditionally wrecked the Blue Raiders.

In the end, the Hilltoppers will score late and defeat the Blue Raiders by a score of 31-24

The Blue Raiders have righted the ship the last couple of weeks and have got the train back on the tracks. No, MT was not facing the 1985 Bears, but they handled their business and notched two more in the win column.

Western Kentucky will host MT in a Friday night special. If you would have told me prior to the season that both teams would be 3-3 in conference and 5-5 overall, I would have called you crazy; especially when it comes to WKU. I expected them to be a juggernaut in Conference USA and a team that would win the league. While MT has won two in a row, the Hilltoppers have dropped three in a row.

This contest just has the feel of an up and down, high scoring, seesaw battle. You know when these two squads square off anything and everything could happen. It is a bitter rivalry for a reason.

Again, I expect it to be a barn burner. WKU will dish the rock around to Deon Yelder, Nacarius Fant, and Lucky Jackson. WKU is only averaging 2.2 yards per carry. Look for them to rely on the aerial attack. I believe MT will put points up on the board too.

In the end I think this will be a whacky chapter in the rivalry. MT wins.

Thirty-plus points in back-to-back wins has been a nice bounce back for MT after a disappointing beginning of the season, however, outscoring Mike White and the WKU offense will be no easy task.

White has thrown for 300 or more yards in five straight games, and the Blue Raider defense will surely have its hands full with the Hilltoppers. An interesting note: MTSU’s defense is surrendering just 193.3 pass yards per game. On the flip side, having a healthy Brent Stockstill under center has been just what the doctor ordered for MTSU.

Stockstill has had back-to-back three-touchdown games, and although he has yet to break the 300-yard plateau this season, a shootout with White could be what the junior needs to fully get back on track.

Although MTSU only averages 21 points per game, and WKU only 25 per, I expect a shootout in this one.

In the end though, MT pulls it out.