The Conference USA Championship Game will feature two teams that will get together for the second time in six days. This will begin the action for Championship Week on Friday night.

• Who: Western Kentucky vs. Jacksonville State
• What: Conference USA Championship Game
• When: Friday, Dec. 6 at 7pm ET
• Where: AmFirst Stadium in Jacksonville, FL
• Spread: Jacksonville State -5
• ML: Western Kentucky +170, Jacksonville State -205

Jacksonville State enters as a five-point favorite after winning the regular-season title in Conference USA. Quarterback Tyler Huff has been the biggest difference-maker on the team, totaling over 2,000 passing yards and 1,000 on the ground. He has rushed for 13 touchdowns this season but is still not the team’s leading rusher.

The rushing attack has been led by Tre Stewart. The senior back has 1,403 yards and has logged 5.9 yards per carry. Jacksonville State is a team that can control the action on the ground.

On the other side, sophomore Caden Veltkamp has taken major steps forward for the Hilltoppers. He completed 67.2% of his passes this season and finished with 2,665 yards and 22 touchdowns. Veltkamp has 10 interceptions on the season as well.

Last week, Western Kentucky defeated Jacksonville State, 19-17. Veltkamp threw for 301 yards to lead the team to victory. This solidified the team’s spot in the conference title game but Jacksonville State still won the regular-season title with a record of 7-1.

If this game is anything like it was on Saturday, the ground game could be a major factor. This favors Jacksonville State and the line certainly mimics that notion. It will be a hard-fought contest between two evenly-matched teams to begin bowl season.