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Boca Raton Bowl 2018: 5 Bold Predictions for UAB vs. Northern Illinois

By John Mitchell

COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS - NOVEMBER 17: Head coach Bill Clark of the UAB Blazers reacts to pass interference called on his defense against the Texas A&M Aggies in the second quarter at Kyle Field on November 17, 2018 in College Station, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)
COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS - NOVEMBER 17: Head coach Bill Clark of the UAB Blazers reacts to pass interference called on his defense against the Texas A&M Aggies in the second quarter at Kyle Field on November 17, 2018 in College Station, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images) /
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The Boca Raton Bowl pits UAB vs. Northern Illinois in a battle between the champions of the C-USA and the champions of the MAC on Tuesday night.

More: Picks and predictions for every college football bowl game with confidence points

The first bowl game to pit a pair of conference champions against one another takes place in the utopia of Boca Raton on Tuesday night.

UAB is one of the best stories of the college football season, with Bill Clark resurrecting the program from the dead after a two year absence due to a forced shutdown. Clark led the Blazers to eight wins in their first season back in 2017, and then delivered a 10-win season accompanied by the program’s first conference title at the FBS level in 2018.

UAB bounced back from a season-ending loss to Middle Tennessee State to knock off the Blue Raiders in the C-USA Championship Game. The next step for Clark is to lead the Blazers to their first ever bowl victory as they play in just the third ever bowl in the history of the program.

Northern Illinois bounced back from a 1-3 start to win six games in a row before stumbling in the final two regular season games, losing to Miami-Ohio and Western Michigan. They still clinched the MAC West and a spot opposite Buffalo in the conference championship game, but not many people gave them much of a shot against the Bulls.

In true Huskies fashion though, they rallied from a 19-point deficit over the game’s final 16-minutes, with Marcus Childers hitting D.J. Brown for a 35-yard touchdown pass with a little over a minute to go to shock Buffalo and capture the MAC crown.

Both teams enter the game battle tested, with Northern Illinois facing off against eight bowl teams and UAB playing six.

Defense should reign supreme in Boca as both teams enter with defensive units ranked in the Top 25 in yards-per-play allowed. Motivation, as is the case for most bowl games, will be a factor, particularly in a game played in a location that can provide plenty of distractions.

Here are five bold predictions for the Boca Raton Bowl:

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