College Football Chick Fil A Bowl LSU Tigers versus Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (-4) (7:30PM ET) (ESPN)
Georgia Tech’s strength is their triple option running game and LSU has a solid front four and a defense that allows only 105 yards per game on the ground. Georgia Tech was able to beat rival Georgia from the SEC on the last regular season game of the season but Georgia’s defense was not very good this year. I feel LSU has an advantage playing Georgia Tech with enough time to prepare for the triple option. If this were a regular season game and only 1 week between opponents LSU might be in a bit tougher here. Even though many of the LSU players haven’t seen this style offense since their high school playing days they are good enough athletically to defend it. Georgia Tech gave up 29 points per game in their final 5 games and LSU has weapons offensively. The Tigers are led by running back Charles Scott had over 1100 yards rushing on the season. Teams beat up LSU through the air on the season and the Yellow Jackets aren’t very strong in that area passing for only an average of 95 yards per game. This matchup is favorable for the Tigers. Take LSU +4.
College Football Insight Bowl Minnesota Gophers versus Kansas Jayhawks (-9) December 31st (6PM ET) (NFL Network)
Minnesota has dropped 4 straight games to close the season. Minnesota really struggles offensively as they rank 92nd nationally in total offense. The Gophers were held to 20 points or less in 6 of their last 7 games. Kansas comes from the powerful Big 12 Conference and had a brutal schedule this season. 4 of the team’s losses came against Nebraska, Texas, Texas Tech and Oklahoma. Kansas finished the season with an impressive 40-37 victory over Missouri. Jayhawk quarterback Todd Ressing is a very capable passer throwing for over 3500 yards and completing 65% of his passes. He had 342 passing yards against BCS Championship bound Oklahoma this season. Play the favorite in this one over a team floundering late. Take Kansas –9.
College Football Music City Bowl Boston College Eagles versus Vanderbilt Commodores (+3.5) December 31st (3:30PM ET) (ESPN)
BC has won 9 straight bowl games. Vanderbilt will struggle for offense in this contest as the team only averages 260 yards per game on offense and will face a good rushing defense from BC that gives up only 92 rushing yards per game. Vanderbilt finished the year 1-6 to close the year. BC has impressive regular season victories over Florida St, Maryland, Virginia Tech and NC State. 10 of 12 Boston College opponents are bowl bound this season. BC has been challenged and fished with 9 wins on the season. Cant back a team losing 6 of 7 entering a bowl game even if the location is favorable. Take Boston College –3 ½.
College Football Armed Forces Bowl Air Force Falcons at Houston Cougars (-3 1/2) December 31st (12PM ET) (ESPN)
These teams met in September with Air Force winning 31-28 on a neutral field after Hurricane Ike forced the game to be moved to SMU. Air Force sports a strong running attack that goes up against the weak Cougar rush defense. Air Force averages 268 yards on the ground and Houston gives up 170 yards per game on the ground. The spot favors the Falcons here as they can keep the explosive Cougars passing offense iced on the sidelines by controlling time of possession. In their first meeting Air Force ran 71 times for 380 yards and ran out the clock for the 3-point victory. Houston is 102 out of 119 teams defensively and I cannot back them here against a Mountain West opponent. Take Air Force +3 ½.
College Football Alamo Bowl Northwestern Wildcats versus Missouri Tigers (O/U 65) December 29th (8PM ET) (ESPN)
Chase Daniel and the explosive Missouri Tigers offense face Northwestern in the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio. Missouri averaged 43 points per game this season and nearly 500 yards a game. Northwestern playing the Big 10 is not very familiar playing against teams running the spread offense. Northwestern likes to run the ball but to keep up with the Missouri scoring they will need to pass a lot more in this game. Missouri’s pass defense is extremely weak and we will be in for a shootout in San Antonio. This game is in a dome on a fast track. Play Northwestern and Missouri over 65.
College Football PapaJohns.com Bowl North Carolina St Wolfpack versus Rutgers Scarlet Knights (-7.5) Monday December 29th (3PM ET) (ESPN)
Rutgers has been a hot team to close the season. After a 1-5 start to the season the Scarlet Knights ran off 5 straight victories to close at 7-5. They have punished teams down the stretch led by explosive offensive output and solid defense. An impressive victory were the 54 points they put on Sun Bowl bound Pitt. QB Mike Teel has rebounded nicely after a very shaky beginning to the season to lead Rutgers to a 63-14 win against Louisville passing for 447 yards and 7 TD passes. NC State quarterback Russell Wilson completes about 55% of his passes but is a freshman starting in his first bowl game. Rutgers play on both the offensive and defensive lines improved dramatically and will be the reason to back them in this spot. Rutgers has averaged 40 points per game during their 6 game winning streak powered by the play of their O Line. Lets continue to ride Rutgers here against a Freshman starting at QB for the Wolfpack. Take Rutgers –7 ½.
Pro Football Sunday Miami Dolphins at NY Jets (-3) (4:15PM ET) (CBS)
The Miami defense surrendered nearly 500 yards to the Chiefs last week. Tyler Thigpen threw for 312 yards last week as the Dolphins survived. That’s now 5 opponents who have passed for over 300 yards against Miami with 4 of those games being on the road. Bret Favre and company should be licking their chops to get at this Dolphin secondary. The Jets are taking a lot of heat in the media over the poor performance last week at Seattle and look for adjustments. Favre will have a much better game at home passing against the weak Dolphin’s secondary. The crowd will be electric and it will be a playoff atmosphere making it tough for the Dolphins on offense. The Jets know Miami quarterback Chad Pennington very well and know how to defend him. The Jets allow only 92 yards rushing on defense and after all this drama last week still only gave up 13 to Seattle. The Jets have ran the ball well this season and are averaging 5.1 yards per attempt over the past 4 games. The Jets will go back to power football with success on the ground and it will open up things for Favre against the Dolphin secondary. Your Best Bet for Sunday NFL is taking the NY Jets –3 against the Miami Dolphins.
The winner of this game will win the AFC West and host Indy next week in the wildcard playoff round. When San Diego brings their A game performance they can beat anyone. But will they? They have been inconsistent all season and their secondary has been torched. San Diego benefited by Jeff Garcia’s lack of arm strength last week. Jay Cutler’s arm can stretch the field and he can give the Chargers fits on defense. LT has had a poor year on the season and may not be able to exploit the weak Broncos’ run defense. Denver has won 3 of their past 4 road games with victories over the Jets and Falcons. In a divisional game 9 points is too much to lay. Denver is not a dead playoff eliminated team here. Denver is now in a win or lose situation and we will get a close game decided by a touchdown or less. Take Denver +9.
Pro Football Best Bet Sunday Dallas Cowboys at Philadelphia Eagles (-2) (4:15PM ET) (FOX)
There is a pretty good chance that Philadelphia will be eliminated from playoff contention when this game kicks off. When Tampa Bay beats Oakland in the early game the Eagles season is over. It was a deflating loss by the Eagles scoring only 3 points against Washington last week and the effects will be felt in this contest. As I said last week the Eagles wide receivers are not top tier and we saw horrid play from that unit. The team paid the price for not acquiring a top-flight wide receiver during the offseason. The Eagles did not run Westbrook much the past 2 weeks and it wouldn’t surprise me if he sits should this game becomes meaningless by kickoff. Westbrook has a bum knee and has been listed as questionable. In the past 2 weeks Westbrook has carried the ball 28 times for only 98 yards. Westbrook is the workhorse for this team and it makes no sense in putting that knee at risk in a meaningless game. Westbrook is too important to this franchise. Philadelphia doesn’t care about Tampa Bay missing the playoffs and should rather protect their star running back from further damage to his is knee. The Cowboys gave up 265 yards to Baltimore last week and 200 to the Giants back on November 2nd. With Westbrook not 100% Philadelphia will not put up these numbers on the Cowboys. The Eagles were just 3 of 14 on third downs last week. With the Tampa Bay scenario playing out in the early game the Cowboys win and they make the playoffs. So we have a live team getting 2 points facing a dead one. The Cowboys are explosive enough to put
points on the board and the Eagles offense is not the same with Westbrook hampered by his sore knee plus factor in the scenario playing out in Tampa that most likely will kick him to the bench. Take Dallas +2.
Pro Football Sunday New England Patriots at Buffalo Bills (+6.5) (1PM ET) (CBS)
There is no quit in these Buffalo Bills. It was an impressive offensive performance at Denver last week and Trent Edwards played mistake free football. Edwards did lift the Bills returning to the lineup from a sore groin. New England pounded Arizona last week because they ran all over them. Buffalo is tough to run against and things will be a lot tougher for Matt Cassell in Buffalo facing passing situations on third down. 6 ½ points too much to give Buffalo here in a divisional game with Buffalo still playing hard. Take Buffalo +6 ½.
