Bowl Season Week II A Day at a Time
Season to date (72-26) Straight Up (52-38)* Against the Spread
Thursday December, 26th
The Independence Bowl
#83 Louisiana Tech (9-3) vs. #67 Miami (6-6)
4:00am PT, ESPN
Line: Miami -7.0
Beta_Rank Win Prob: Miami 64%
Beta_Rank Line: Miami -4.06 (DO NOT GAMBLE)
Rob: Miami's offense isn't very good at #86 and they flat out stink at special teams at #130 so you can't expect the Hurricanes to blow the doors off this game offensively without some help from their defense. La Tech doesn't have a great defense at #71. The Bulldogs have a #73/#75 run/pass split and they'll mostly have to contain the Hurricane's passing attack since the Canes have a #95/#56 run pass split. The other side of the ball the Hurricanes should be able to contain the Bulldogs. Their offense comes in at #87 and with a #90/#60 run/pass split. The Canes defense is only at #38, but their run/pass split is favorable with #55/#27. I like the Canes in this game, but just not by a full touchdown; given how bad the special teams are though it could be touchdowns only for the Canes.
Miami 21 La Tech 17
The Something Bowl
#75 Pitt (7-5) vs. #96 Eastern Michigan (6-6)
8:00am PT, ESPN
Line: Pitt -13.0
Beta_Rank Win Prob: Pitt 73%
Beta_Rank Line: Pitt -6.78 (DO NOT GAMBLE)
Rob: Pitt's terrible offense, #116, against EMU's terrible defense! Who is not excited? In the era of offense it means Pitt's likely going to be able to put up some points in this game. Pitt has a #120/#74 run/pass split and they should be able to throw the ball against the Eagles who have a #113/#114 run/pass split, but the Panthers had better get touchdowns because their #113 special teams are not going to reliably put up points. The other side of the ball is a decent matchup of EMU's pass attack against Pitt's solid defense. The Eagles come in at #55 with a #108/#25 run/pass split, but the Panther's are #22 with a #28/#26 split. They also better not try settling for field goals given their #87 special teams. I like the Panthers, but not by nearly two touchdowns.
Pitt 24 EMU 17