The Miami (Ohio) Redhawks take on the Toledo Rockets. Check out our college basketball odds series for our Miami Toledo prediction and pick. Find how to watch Miami Toledo.

The Toledo Rockets have a 7-6 record and the Miami Redhawks have a 6-7 record. Are these teams relatively evenly-matched? The betting odds would tell you they aren't. Why is this the case? Look at the schedules. Toledo has taken on some tougher nonconference assignments, recently losing at West Virginia and also losing to Vermont, one of the better mid-major teams in the country.

It is often the case that a mid-major team will get knocked around in nonconference play by a tough schedule. A mid-major will want to challenge itself, hoping for great results but knowing that even if it doesn't win as many games as it hopes for, it will be sufficiently prepared and toughened for its conference season. That mid-major team will expect to win its conference, be the No. 1 seed in its conference tournament, and put itself in very good position to get the automatic bid from its conference to the NCAA Tournament. This is the plan for Toledo this season. The at-large resume is cooked. It's done. There's no way Toledo can get an at-large bid, but the plan is to set up the Rockets for MAC success and dominance. So, even though Toledo's record isn't particularly good, the Rockets are expected to do well in the MAC and are therefore a heavy favorite over Miami of Ohio on Friday night.

Here are the Miami-Toledo College Basketball odds, courtesy of FanDuel.

College Basketball Odds: Miami-Toledo Odds

Miami (Ohio) Redhawks: +11.5 (-104)

Toledo Rockets: -11.5 (-118)

Over: 158.5 (-110)

Under: 158.5 (-110)

How To Watch Miami vs Toledo

Time: 7:00 pm ET / 4:00 pm PT

TV: CBS Sports Network

Stream: fuboTV (click for a free trial)*

Why Miami (Ohio) Could Cover the Spread

The Toledo Rockets are not a consistent team. They might have talent and upside, but they have not delivered regularly strong results. Miami can take the fight to the Rockets and cover what is a large spread. Does Toledo deserve to be favored over anyone by 11.5 points? It's hard to say yes. We need to see Toledo stack some good results and act like a truly strong team at the top of the Mid-American Conference until the Rockets deserve to be favored by such large margins over the competitors in their conference. Bettors shouldn't put forth a large amount of money on a team they can't fully trust at this point.

Also keep in mind that at the start of the conference season across the country in men's college basketball, the weaker teams are physically and mentally fresher. They are coming off the holiday break having not overextended themselves. They have not gone through several weeks of conference play. They are eager to get at it. Early-season conference games can be tricky in ways late-season conference games are not. A really good example of this from Thursday night was Pacific, a bad team, taking San Francisco to overtime as a 19.5-point underdog. Miami will have a full tank of energy for this game, and Toledo might not yet be ready to answer everything Miami does.

Why Toledo Could Cover the Spread

The Rockets know they got roughed up in nonconference games and will be ready, at home, to play their best against an average-at-best Miami team. Forget about the past two months. MAC season is starting, and this is where Toledo will make a move and play well.

Final Miami-Toledo Prediction & Pick

This is a hard game to assess, for all the reasons mentioned above. Toledo is clearly better, but 12 points better? We're not sure. Maybe wait for a live-betting play here.

Final Miami-Toledo Prediction & Pick: Toledo -11.5