There's no board up for this one yet, so the picks are on hold. The schedule says plenty on its own, though. UMass played at Buffalo on Saturday and gets 6 days to turn around for a Friday road game. UConn's last game was at Temple on October 10, so it gets 2 weeks of rest and prep.
Stonehill36-14
Look at the form card and it's two different seasons. UMass opened 4-3 by beating Stonehill and Sacramento State by a combined 71-20. Then MAC play started, and the Minutemen have lost 3 straight: blown out by Eastern Michigan, beaten by a point by Miami (OH), and beaten 25-18 at Buffalo. UConn's results have been all over the place. It got hammered by Maryland, scored 48 at Southern Miss and 41 against Syracuse, and has gone 2-3 in its last 5.
Miami (OH) is the one opponent these teams share, and it beat both by a field goal or less. The RedHawks won 20-19 in Amherst and 24-21 in Oxford. Those two results look a lot alike, but UMass needed its 3rd-string quarterback to finish that game, while UConn had its full offense and still came up short.
The early forecast for East Hartford is mid-50s, clear skies and barely any wind, though that's 6 days out and can change. This game comes down to whether UMass can find enough offense with a backup quarterback and no lead back against a UConn team that has scored 34 or more in 3 of its last 4. If the Minutemen keep it close late, they've already shown they can play 1-score games with this conference. They just haven't won one.