For the next seven weeks, you can enjoy football on your television every single night, but to truly make this glorious stretch last as long as possible, you need to begin with the first game in these 49 days: The Missouri State Bears heading to face the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders.
My Missouri State vs. Middle Tennessee State predictions expect a more entertaining game than perhaps the casual fan expects from these two teams, with the slight road favorites coming out on top.
Let's get into my college football picks before kickoff comes at 7:30 ET on Wednesday, October 8.
Missouri State vs Middle Tennessee prediction
Missouri State vs Middle Tennessee best bet: Missouri State moneyline (-126 at FanDuel)
It is hard to envision too many fans piling into Floyd Stadium on Wednesday night. The gorgeous 31,000-seat building has seen encouraging attendance to start this season, 18,505 as the announced attendance in the season opener and then 15,168 claimed in Middle Tennessee State’s other home game so far this season.
But after both those losses, Blue Raiders fans may be expecting last year to repeat itself, and if so, those numbers will plummet just as they did last year. It was Middle Tennessee State’s third home game in 2024 that saw attendance fall to 10,200 from 15,209 a few weeks earlier.
Related: That was also when Middle Tennessee State started playing on weeknights last season.
These weeknight games bring Conference USA a national audience, but they damage homefield advantage. And once realizing that, it becomes harder to justify Missouri State being such a short favorite. Neither the Bears nor the Raiders can claim to do much well, but both Missouri State’s passing offense and passing defense are better than Middle Tennessee State’s.
Given both teams prefer to pass the ball — ranking No. 19 and 20 in pass rate over expected, per cfb-graphs.com — that simple edge should be enough to believe in the Bears as short favorites in an empty-ish stadium on Wednesday night.
Missouri State vs Middle Tennessee same-game parlay
Both these offenses prefer to throw the ball, which could lead to a longer game, both literally and figuratively.
But Middle Tennessee State's passing defense is notably the worst of the two.
Bet on Dash Luke to clear this prop for his fourth straight game.
Missouri State vs Middle Tennessee SGP
- Missouri State moneyline
- Over 49.5
- Dash Luke Over 62.5 receiving yards
Our deep-ball SGP: Keep Relying on Middlebrook
Middle Tennessee State prefers to throw the ball, but leaning on Jekail Middlebrook in the Raiders' first C-USA game of the year was nearly the right choice two weeks ago, Middlebrook taking 20 carries for 109 yards and two touchdowns against Kennesaw State.
He has cleared this yardage prop in three straight games, and perhaps his workload is going to increase in conference play.
Missouri State vs Middle Tennessee SGP
- Missouri State moneyline
- Over 49.5
- Dash Luke Over 62.5 receiving yards
- Jekail Middlebrook Over 64.5 rushing yards
- Jekail Middlebrook touchdown
Missouri State vs Middle Tennessee odds
- Spread: Missouri State -2.5 | Middle Tennessee +2.5
- Moneyline: Missouri State -126 | Middle Tennessee +108
- Over/Under: Over 49.5 | Under 49.5
Missouri State vs Middle Tennessee trend to know
Missouri State has covered the spread in three of its last four games, the exception coming in a five-point loss as a four-point underdog against Western Kentucky, though it warrants noting that the spread in that game opened at +5.5. Find more college football betting trends for Missouri State vs Middle Tennessee.
How to watch Missouri State vs Middle Tennessee
| Location | Johnny Floyd Stadium, Murfreesboro, TN |
| Date | Wednesday, October 8, 2025 |
| Kickoff | 7:30 p.m. ET |
| TV | ESPN2 |
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Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change.
Not intended for use in MA.
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