So, how did you find Saturday’s bowl game slate? Did it sate your pigskin craving just enough, or are you still hungry for more?
Don’t fret; there’s still plenty more college football bowling action to come. Although there’s just one bowl game slated on December 21st , that match should still help you get over your “Case of the Mondays” and rev you up all the same before even more hard-hitting contests take place in the days ahead.
And just because there’s a lone, less-than appealing bowl game on tap that day, that didn’t stop several experts from weighing-in on the South Florida vs. Western Kentucky match, which should actually turn out to be an exciting shootout. Let’s take a look below at what some of the online pundits have predicted for the Miami Beach Bowl.
Afterwards, go on and check out our complete preview and projections for the entire bowl season to assist you with your college football betting needs right before the CFP National Championship game takes center stage.
[sc:NCAAFArticles ]Bowl Season Expert Predictions for December 21
Sports Illustrated
| Bowl / Game | Chris Johnson |
|---|---|
| Miami Beach Bowl – South Florida vs. Western Kentucky | South Florida, 44-41 |
[sc:NCAA240banner ]Sports Illustrated’s resident collegiate connoisseur, Chris Johnson, sees the South Florida Bulls barely winning a high-scoring affair. The SI analyst praised the work that head coach Willie Taggart has done for USF’s program, having increased the team’s win total in each of the past two seasons.
Johnson also gave a lot of props for constantly overlooked Bulls workhorse Marlon Mack. He mentioned that Mack’s rushing yards for the season ranks 11th in the nation amongst running backs with a hundred or more carries this season, and with a 272-yard, three-TD outing in a win over Temple and its vaunted defense being Mack’s main highlight of the year.
If the sophomore from Sarasota can replicate his stellar game against the Owls, expect the Hilltoppers’ time of possession to dip significantly on Monday as Mack’s ground attack controls the game’s flow and ultimately powers his Bulls for the upset.
Bleacher Report
| Game | Brian Mazique |
|---|---|
| South Florida vs. Western Kentucky | Western Kentucky, 45-24 |
Over at Bleacher Report, featured columnist Brian Mazique sees the game’s favorites in the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (+2.5) blowing out South Florida.
Although the Bulls finished the season by winning seven of their last eight games behind a strong defense and a sound running game, Mazique stated that WKU’s aerial assault – led by phenomenal quarterback Brandon Doughty – will be too much to handle. Doughty’s stats this season have been mind-boggling: 4,594 passing yards, a whopping 45 TDs thrown, and just seven picks given up.
The senior QB is also fortunate to have a talented wideout in Taywan Taylor to haul in his passes. 17 of Doughty’s TDs through the air went to Taylor, and the junior receiver finished the season with 79 receptions for 1,363 yards. Mazique believes that this prolific tandem will earn the Hilltoppers a bowl victory and the team’s sixth-consecutive win to close out the season.
SB Nation
| Game | Underdog Dynasty |
|---|---|
| South Florida vs. Western Kentucky | South Florida, 43-37 |
True to their site’s name, the three-man panel of Ben Tankersley, Nicolas Lewis and Chris Hondros at Underdog Dynasty – SB Nation’s affiliate that’s dedicated to Division I of the NCAA’s unheralded conferences – sided with the (+2.5) underdogs, USF.
Apart from from being carried by Marlon Mack in the running game, the Bulls also have a superb multi-faceted play-caller at the helm in Quinton Flowers. Though Flowers tends to run the ball a little more than he should considering that he’s the team’s QB (175 carries, 883 rushing yards, 10 TDs), he’s no slouch when it comes to the passing game at all. He connected on over 61 percent of his throws for a respectable 2,023 yards through the air along with 21 touchdowns and just eight interceptions.
The Underdog Dynasty team sees this game going well over the 67.0 line total set for this game, with South Florida’s one-two punch of Flowers and Mack dictating the pace much better than Western Kentucky, and be able to put up enough points for the Bulls to secure its first bowl victory since 2010.
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