Eastern Michigan at Coastal Carolina

Both teams open the 2026-27 season tonight with little current evidence on either. Coastal Carolina went 19-13 and 11-7 in the Sun Belt, nine more wins than the year before and its most conference wins since joining the league. Justin Gray starts his third season at Coastal. Eastern Michigan opens with Billy Donlon coaching his first regular-season game as its head coach, so nothing about how his team plays has been tested against a live opponent. Coastal has turned over its roster, with three players back and 12 newcomers, eight of them transfers. That is why the board has this game around a coin-flip, and at that price we are not paying extra for the risk. Coastal at least has live game speed behind it: an exhibition against Columbia International on Wednesday, October 28. Gray also has two years of his own staff and system to hand the newcomers, while Donlon is installing his from scratch. When both rosters are largely unknown, the side with the established program and the live rep holds the edge, and I make Coastal Carolina the right side on the moneyline tonight.