The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers and UAB Blazers sqaure off Friday in C-USA Week 8 college football action from Houchens Industries-LT Smith Stadium. UAB is coming off a matchup versus Charlotte. In that one, the Blazers took a 14-point victory. As for the Hilltoppers, they played Middle Tennessee in their last game. Western Kentucky ended up winning by 18 points. Check back all season long for free college football picks at Sports Chat Place.

UAB’s year started off great with a 59-0 win over Alabama A&M, but game two was a 21-14 loss to Liberty. UAB would bounce back from that well with a 35-21 win over Georgia Southern, but couldn’t keep it going with a 28-24 loss to Rice before a blowout win over Middle Tennessee. 

In the Charlotte matchup Saturday UAB was down 14-10 coming out of the break but surged for 15 fourth-quarter points in a 34-20 win. QB Dylan Hopkins finished on 231 yards with a TD and a pick. DeWayne McBride added 137 yards and two scores rushing. 

Over on the Western Kentucky side, they won their first pair 38-27 over Austin Peay and 49-17 over Hawaii before a 33-30 OT loss to Indiana. The Hilltoppers would take out FIU 73-0 before falling to Troy 34-27 and UTSA 31-28 in their next pair of games. 

Matched up against Middle Tennessee, the Hilltoppers outscored the Raiders 14-0 in the third quarter and held on for a 35-17 victory. QB Austin Reed finished on 278 yards, two scores and a pick. Kye Robichaux led the rush with eight carries for 78 yards and a TD. 

The Blazers are 7-1 ATS versus a team with a winning record and 6-2 ATS in their last eight road games. UAB is 7-3-1 ATS in their last 11 overall. 

Meanwhile, the Hilltoppers are 8-1 ATS in their last nine conference games and 5-1 ATS in their last six overall. WKU is 7-2 ATS in their last nine after an ATS win. 

PICK: I’m going to try Western Kentucky. The Hilltoppers didn’t play particularly well versus Middle Tennessee, coughing up three turnovers, going just 6-of-17 on third downs and committing seven penalties. That said, Western Kentucky notched 443 total yards and did a pretty good job on defense to secure the victory over the weekend. 

As for UAB, they dominated Charlotte statistically in their last outing, but didn’t secure an extended lead until the third quarter. Western Kentucky will be a much more comparable opponent, and this should be a pretty fun matchup.