From the booth

The model favored NU to win, and the call landed.

Northwestern comes in as a significant favorite here, and the model agrees, giving the Wildcats an 86 percent win probability at home. The Vegas line's got them by 12 and a half, the betting markets are aligned, and when you add in Northwestern's Elo rating advantage and a defense that's been stingy over their last five games, you're looking at a Wildcats team that's got all the angles working in their favor. South Dakota State's got their 14 percent shot, but they're gonna need to play nearly perfect football to pull off the upset in Evanston today.