Dec. 16 College Bowl Predictions

New Orleans Bowl: Troy Trojans (10-2) vs North Texas Mean Green (9-4) 1pm EST

The line has now climbed to Troy -7, but I made this pick on Dec. 5 when Troy still only -5.5 favorite to my subscribers. The Troy Trojans have faced better competition this season and have a much better defense than North Texas. The Trojans defense ranks 11th in the nation in points allowed, giving up less than 18 points per game, while North Texas ranks 105th in the nation allowing almost 34 points per game.

The Trojans were 3-1 in non-conference games overall this season including a 24-21 win over LSU on September 30.

Get Sports Strong Predictions: Troy 38 North Texas 24

Pick: Troy -5.5 

Cure Bowl: Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (6-6) vs Georgia State Panthers(6-5) 2:30pm EST

This is not one of the match-ups that I am looking forward to actually watching but I definitely think there is a good play here.Georgia State has not beaten a team with a winning record all season. Georgia State’s six wins came against teams with a combined overall record of 16-56. The Panthers have also dropped their last four games against the spread.

Western Kentucky’s best win came against 6-6 Middle Tennessee State and ll their six wins have come against opponents with a combined record of only 18-53. The Hilltoppers are only 1-7 against the spread in their last eight games as a favorite, which makes them a risky play on paper. The Hilltoppers have also dropped four of their last five games straight up, however all to teams who are better than Georgia State.
Both of these teams have been poor against the spread this season, but I feel that the Western Kentucky passing game will be the difference in this game. If the Western Kentucky offense can get going, the Panthers could have a hard time keeping up.

Get Sports Strong Predictions: Western Kentucky 34 Georgia State 20

Pick: Western Kentucky -5

Las Vegas Bowl: Boise State Broncos (10-3) vs Oregon Ducks (7-5) 3:30pm EST

The Oregon Ducks have been a different team with Justin Herbert under center this season. Oregon is 6-1 overall and 5-2 against the spread when Justin Herbert has started for them at quarterback this season. The Ducks have scored at least 35 points in all of those games averaging just over 52 points per game in his starts.However Oregon will be without their head coach Willie Taggart, who has taken the Florida State head coaching job, and I think there maybe some distractions due to the coaching turnover.

Boise State faced one Pac-12 team this season, week two Boise State lost to Washington State 47-44. Oregon lost to Washington State 33-10, however quarterback Justin Herbert was injured in that game.

Oregon did defeated Mountain West opponent Wyoming 49-13 this season. Boise State defeated Wyoming 24-14.

The Broncos are 4-1 against in their last 5 bowl games as an underdog.

Get Sports Strong Predictions: Oregon 35 Boise State 34

Picks: OVER 61 and Boise State +7