This bowl is another example of a solid Mid Major team taking on a very average team from a major conference. It is easy to see why the Bulls are double-digit favorites in this matchup and the only reason why the spread is not higher is because they are playing a team from the SEC.

The betting line for this game opened at 11 and it has moved a half point in favor of the Gamecocks. Do not take the bait and go with a South Carolina team that had to scratch and claw its way to six wins. Go big on South Florida to win and cover in his one.

While it has been quite some time since these former rivals have met on the football field, it should not take all that long for the intensity to pick right back up. West Virginia gets the slight edge in overall talent on offense, but Miami comes in with a slight edge on defense. No matter how you add things up this should be a close, hard-fought battle that lasts all four quarters.

I am going to take the Mountaineers and the three points on the current spread as my ‘best bet’ pick in a game that is too close to call straight up.

Once again playing on favorites is not typically a conducive move, especially when there is a little more juice required to lay those points. When you factor in the team we are giving those points to, it seems like a very dicey roll. However, Baylor has not won a game in six weeks. This is a team that started off 6-0, getting as high as #6 in the polls before collapsing down the back-stretch. Baylor’s once pyrolytic offense has struggled to break the 35 point mark in their six-game skid. While 35 points may seem like a lot to most, the Bears are used to scoring an average of 50 points per game. Boise State will treat this bowl like any other and pulverize this Baylor outfit in complete disarray. The Broncos with these points is a value play as they are poised to absolutely squash the Bears.

This matchup is a classic case of a solid Mid-Major team going up against a marginal team from a major conference. Temple has the personnel on both sides of the ball to make a statement in this game and coming off a conference championship run it will look to close out a very productive season on a high note.

Lay the 13 points on the current betting line for this game and take the Owls to win big against an ACC team to further prove the point that there are too many bowls games.

Louisiana Tech opened as a slight underdog before Navy’s loss of Worth at quarterback coupled with its recent loss to Army. The fact that the spread only swung 3.5 points in the Bulldogs’ favor opens up a golden opportunity to take advantage of the Midshipmen’s recent woes with a big unit play on Louisiana Tech.

I just cannot see Navy staying close on the scoreboard against the potent Bulldogs for all four quarters with its best player out of the lineup.

Playing chalk is never a favorite cup of tea especially when you are spotting a fair amount of points. However, to see the public smother the Cowboys on the Money Line suggests that the underdog here may actually be overemphasized. Typically, when the public likes a pooch that signals that there is often too many points being spotted to the public by their perception which means that the favorite may actually be in a short-sell. The Cougars have made an example out of every team they have come across since starting off 1-3. Let us also remind everyone that those three losses to start off the regular season were fostered in the most gut-wrenching and uncanny manners imaginable. BYU could have easily been playing a New Year’s Six Bowl game had they caught a few breaks along the way and they will look to finish with a bold point against a struggling Wyoming Cowboys team that have hit their peak this season.

These two teams matchup pretty well with each having an offense that knows how to put points on the board complementing a defense that has had its trouble keeping opposing teams from doing the same. While I would be tempted to go with the OVER in this game depending on the opening line, my “best bet” pick is the Golden Hurricane covering the current 11.5-point spread.

Tulsa has just too much firepower on offense for the Chippewas to keep things closer than a couple of scores over the course of all four quarters.

Defense usually trumps offense and Appalachian State will aim and endeavor to reinforce that notion in this bowl game. As mentioned, the Mountaineers are committed to playing football at a superior level and alas they have always been eager to schedule tough opponents in out-of-conference contests. In the 2016, the Mountaineers set dates with two Power Five opponents, while Toledo’s most formidable tests were against BYU and Arkansas State. The Mountaineers will look at Toledo as another day at the office and given the fact this team nearly defeated Tennessee in Knoxville on opening night, you know this outfit is looking to end their successful campaign with an exclamation point. A year ago, the Mountaineers were in this bowl game against Ohio and they went forth and emerged victorious on the heels of a thrilling comeback. While we get a premium team at a quality price we will go ahead and call for App State in outright in a defense-oriented affair dictated to their liking, which will likely favor a Under wager.

Houston may have a few bigger wins on its 2016 resume, but I have the Aztecs as the better all-around team in this matchup. I am also not all that sure just how motivated the Cougars will be with the departure of their head coach to the Big 12.

Even though this is one of the first games on a very crowded college bowl game schedule, I would go big with the Aztecs getting three points in this matchup. I just cannot help by feel that Houston’s defense is going to have a very hard time containing San Diego State’s power running game for all four quarters.

The Roadrunners have been a solid play when they are a pooch with little appeal to the public. The Roadrunners covering against the spread at Texas A&M and Arizona State and their outright triumphs against Southern Mississippi and Middle Tennessee State, showcase their upside and propensity to be overlooked. New Mexico is entering this bowl game with a vulnerability to be overvalued. In what will be a barnburner, taking back over a touchdown is always a prudent play. Factoring in the narrative that New Mexico's defense is surrendering 32 points per game, the Roadrunners have an excellent chance of going toe-to-toe with the Lobos. If New Mexico comes in uninspired by virtue of the fact they may be irked at playing yet another New Mexico Bowl, the Roadrunners can easily take the Lobos to the pound.

Alabama is probably playing its best ball of the season, while the Gators' offense was completely exposed in that loss to Florida State. Laying 17 points in any conference title game comes with some risk, but I think the Tide will try and make a strong statement that they belong in this season's College Football Playoff with a convincing victory this Saturday that covers the large spread.

I have been impressed with the consistent play of Virginia Tech this season under the new regime. The Hokies may not have the same level of overall talent that Clemson has, but they have enough playmakers to make this game interesting.

I went against Clemson last week in a lopsided rout of rival South Carolina and paid the price, but I still think it will have its hands full this Saturday night in Orlando. The Tigers hang on to win, but the final score will be closer than the current 10-point spread.

If it isn’t broke don’t try to attempt to fix it is the motto for this play. Wyoming beat this team at home, two weeks ago and even then they are still taking back a touchdown. San Diego State was absolutely obliterated on the road last week, much like Wyoming was in New Mexico. Despite all of this, the market will only afford San Diego State a field goal in the re-match. It is safe to conclude that beating the same team twice is a very difficult task to carry out in the same season. However, San Diego State may retain their Mountain West title but may only do so by incremental margins. Let us recall how the Aztecs lost in Wyoming. San Diego State landed a Hail Mary but failed to convert the two-point conversion that would have won the game for them outright. Had this occurred, we would be having an entirely different discussion right now but for what it’s worth the Cowboys would likely not be sitting in the position they are to capture a Mountain West title. Look for this one to be a twelve-round bout.

The Frogs are going to look to wrap up their season strong and potentially finish off with eight wins, finishing a few notches below what they had hoped for. Nevertheless, Texas Christian will love to conclude their 2016 campaign with a bang at home against a Kansas State opponent looking to hit the nine-win plateau. Very simply we are playing this from the angle of home field advantage and the public being enamored with the Cannonballs after their smashing of the Rock Chalk Jayhawks last week. While beating up on a weaker foe does not constitute an overreaction generally, the ideology here is that Kansas State can hang around by virtue of the fact they are getting more points which sometimes intrigues players. It is very rare to say the public hop on the dog at this level which suggests to us the favorite may actually be undervalued by virtue of failing to live up to expectations. Nevertheless, Gary Patterson knows how to finish strong and thus TCU here at a cheap price is a great play.

This game features a classic matchup between a shutdown defense trying to contain a high-scoring offense. Temple has played with better consistency down the stretch, but it is hard to ignore just how many points the Midshipmen have hung on their last four opponents.

I might be a bit old school with this pick, but I still believe that defenses win championships and that is why the Owls will be the champs of the AAC this season.

Regardless of the difficulties in beating the same team twice in a season, the number here seems a bit astronomical given the fact this one will likely be an offensive shootout where the defenses might as well watch this one from home. WKU making it back to the Conference USA’s Championship Game has already caught a lot of attention of the general public. This trend has a tendency to happen with teams that make it back to their conference title game as the current sitting champion. Look no further than the Clemson vs. Virginia Tech ACC Championship Game to quantify this hypothesis. In addition, the Hilltoppers have a hot hand and likely the line movements are reflection and a reaction to the loss the Dogs suffered against Southern Miss. A loss for LA Tech against Southern Miss should not denigrate any of their achievements, the Golden Eagles are a good team. Given the fact we can take back points with an underdog that has a proven track record of success against the team giving away the points combined with a double-digit allotment in an impending shootout, there is a lot of equity here in playing on LA Tech and fading the consensus.

In a showdown between two bitter rivals that have been known for explosive offenses over the years, this season's clash is going to come down to which defense plays closest to its ability. I think both units will get the job done on Saturday in a game that stays UNDER the current 43.5-point total line.

Here's where I'm at on this game. The TCU offensive line is banged up missing their starting center Joey Hunt and starting LG Jamelle Naff and they'll be facing a Baylor defense that has been stepping it up in the pass rush with nine sacks in their last two games. If TCU QB is available for this game, it would very unlikely that he'd be anywhere near 100% on that ankle making him one dimensional. If Boykin doesn't go Bram Kohlhausen is likely to get the start and while he rallied the troops to get within one, but I believe it was Sooners falling asleep at the wheel after taking a 30-13 lead in the third quarter. The Bears have their own issues on offense with their first and second string QBs out. Third stringer Chris Johnson will get the start at QB and while he did okay in relief last week going 5 of 10 for two TD's and one INT I expect Baylor to heavily weighted to the run this week. With the status of Boykin up in the air I'm going to pass on a spread play and lay down on the total.

This is one of the more fierce rivalries on Saturday’s slate so I do not expect Clemson to rollover the Gamecocks this time around despite a spread of more than three touchdowns. It was not all that long ago that South Carolina would walk away with state bragging rights on a regular basis so there is quite a bit of history between these two teams.

While I do not expect the Tigers to have all that much trouble pulling off the SU win, the Gamecocks have enough talent on the defensive side of the ball to keep things closer than 24 points.

Texas has gotten the best of it in this rivalry over the past few years, but the Red Raiders are in perfect position to reverse their losing trend in this series. This game could turn into a wild one with a possible play on the OVER depending on how high it is set, but as far as picking a side, stick with the Red Raiders this time round with a SU win.