College Football Bowl Games, Monday, December 28, 2015

Well that escalated quickly.  An 0-2 day on Saturday in bowl games brings the record to 4-3.  I hate it when that happens.  There are 2 bowl games today, the Military Bowl and the Quick Lane Bowl.  Where do they come up with these bowl names?  I’m going to break down both games for you and include a pick if I talk myself into it.

Pittsburgh vs Navy (-3)

Military Bowl, Annapolis, MD

This is a home game for Navy, and they also played a lot more recently than Pittsburgh in the annual Army/Navy game that is held the week after championship weekend.  This will be the second time Pittsburgh has faced the triple option, as they played Georgia Tech during the regular season.  In that game Georgia Tech rushed for 376 yards, which is a lot, but that game was on the road for Pitt, and they only had a week to prepare.  A team usually does a better job the second time they face the option, and Pitt has had a lot of time to prepare for the triple option, so I expect them to fare much better this time around.  On offense, Pittsburgh is very well balanced in the rush/pass yards department, with nearly a 50/50 split.  That means they run the ball very well, but not the best passing team.  That plays right into Navy’s hands as they are better at defending the run than they are the pass.  I’m not sure if Pittsburgh can rush for enough yards to keep this game close, so I’m not picking a side here, though if I had to I would probably take the points as Pittsburgh was  5-1 ATS on the road this season.

Central Michigan vs Minnesota (-4.5)

Quick Lane Bowl, Detroit, MI

This is an odd game.  It really is a very good matchup.  Central Michigan should have the crowd advantage as Detroit is just 155 miles from their campus.  Central has won 5 of their last 6 games, with only loss coming against Toledo.  They have been tested against Power 5 schools facing Oklahoma State, Syracuse and Michigan State to start the year.  The defense played really well in all 3 of those game, but the offense just couldn’t get going, especially against Oklahoma State and Michigan State.  Minnesota’s offense has been horrendous this year, rated #104 in the nation.  They have averaged 143, rushing yards and 214 passing yards per game.  CMU counters with 101 rushing and 313 passing.  While Minnesota is more balance, I believe CMU has the better offense.  The problem is that Minnesota has the #15 rated pass defense and only allow 182 passing yards per game.  They can’t stop the run to save their lives though allowing 172 rushing yards per game for the #71 rated rush defense.  CMU’s strength is on defense, which is rated #16 overall.  They allow 138 rush yards (#30) and 191 pass yards (#24).  This game is a coin flip, and because of that I’m passing.

So no picks for either game.  What I’m intrigued by though is a teaser play.  I’m going to do a 2 team 6.5 point teaser with both underdogs.  That will give me Pitt +9.5 and Central Michigan +11.  Good Luck today.