ATLANTA, GA - DECEMBER 07: Quarterback Jake Fromm (11) of the Georgia Bulldogs hands off the ... [+]
The College Football Bowl Season is set to get underway, and professional handicapper Drew Martin helps us breakdown three matchups worth a look for those shopping the early odds offerings.
Louisiana Tech +6.5 vs Miami
Owning a 6-6 record on the season and against the spread, no bowl team is stumbling into bowl season more than Miami. The Canes dropped their final two games of the regular season to FIU and Duke where they were favored by more than a touchdowns in each matchup.
When basing their recent performance off of the point spread alone, the Canes have fallen 45 points under the oddsmakers estimations, suggesting that the Canes have been drastically overpriced.
Louisiana Tech, however, is poised to make franchise history with their first ten-win season.
“Manny Diaz has his work cut out for him, having to prepare a bunch of South Florida kids to be motivated throughout bowl practices to prepare for a Conference USA opponent in Shreveport Louisiana,” shared Martin. “Louisiana Tech is in Ruston, Louisiana, which is an easy straight trip down I-20 for the Bulldog faithful.”
Martin recommends taking the points with La Tech, also encouraged bettors to sprinkle a little on the money line for La Tech to win outright.
To further defend his prediction, Martin provided a coaching trend that strongly favors his wagers. “Skip Holtz is 6-0 his last six bowl games as a head coach and Manny Diaz is a first year HC. La Tech +6.5 is the play.”
Georgia -7.5 vs Baylor Odds Via MyBookie
Georgia stands as the 11-2 SEC East champions and now makes the journey to New Orleans to face the Baylor Bears. With both teams coming up short in their respective conference championship games, each will be eager to finish off the season with a victory.
The Big 12 has gotten the best of their SEC counterparts in the two Sugar Bowl meetings between the conferences, but the Bulldogs enter this matchup favored by more than a touchdown and look to toss that trend to the wayside.
“Each team is going to have to deal with a little bit of uncertainty when it comes to which players are going to be on the field,” added Martin. “This is something that makes it a bit tricky for sports bettors looking to get down on early lines for bowl games.”
Baylor’s Charlie Brewer, who leads the team with 10 rushing scores on the season, suffered a concussion in the Big 12 Championship game, but all signs point to him making a return to the field for the finale.
“Although, I do believe there is some value with Georgia. Strength of schedule alone, heavily favors the Bulldogs,” added Martin, pointing out that Baylor enters the event only having played one top 20 team.
A deeper look at the Bears’ season record reveals that the team found themselves in many tightly contested matchups, where the team proved their ability to grind out wins in difficult scenarios, but also reveals that this team’s record could look very different if not for a few critical plays. This resilient Bears team now faces a battle tested 11 win SEC team.
“Taking into account that starting QB Brewer should be able to suit up, I am going to lay the number with Kirby Smart who is 3-1 in bowl games, compared toMatt Rhule is 1-2 in bowls. Georgia -7.5 is the play.”
Lousiana -14 vs Miami OH
“Fade the MAC is in full effect for the last bowl game of the year,”adds Martin before jumping into his thoughts on the battle between the MAC Champion Miami OH Redhawks and the Sunbelt Conference runner up Louisiana Ragin Cajuns.
The 10 win Cajuns fell only to SEC West foe Mississippi St and SunBelt Champion App St this season, and this might be the most impressive resume from any non Sunbelt champion that the conference has produced.
“This Rajun Cajuns team is very talented and when given the opportunity covered some big spreads, including smashing the point spread by 23 points in the only game vs a MAC opponent this year. Miami OH is a nice story, being crowned MAC Champions, but lets face it, half of their wins are over the likes of Bowling Green, Akron, Kent St, Tennessee Tech. This is a power ratings nightmare, 1 unit bet on Louisiana by more than two touchdowns for me.”
