The Blogger Bowl: December 28th
By: Matt Rooney
Tags: Sports Betting, College Football

Matt Rooney of Betsperts and Phil Gough of SB Nation pick each and every Bowl game throughout the 2021–22 Bowl season

Throughout Bowl season, Matt Rooney of Betsperts and Phil Gough of Notre Dame’s SB Nation site One Foot Down will pick and preview every Bowl game and of course track our picks on Betsperts as well. Whoever has the most units gained after Bowl Season wins! Follow along with our picks at username 10Mrooney and PhilG_24.

Unit Count:

Matt: +3.14 Phil: -1.73

TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl: #20 Houston Cougars vs. Auburn Tigers (-1.5) O/U 51

Phil: This one seems simple, so I am going to stick with simple. Houston is a good football team, while Auburn is not. Auburn played great in the Iron Bowl, but managed to find a way to lose it. Houston has a lot to play for being a non power 5 team going against a traditional powerhouse. The game being in Alabama worries me a little bit, but still feeling Houston all the way. Pick: Houston +1.5

Matt: Auburn (and the SEC in general) seem to be prone to laying eggs in these early, lesser bowl games. Auburn is giving the points here because of their name, when in reality other than a two game win streak vs Ole Miss and Arkansas as well as a very tightly contested loss to Alabama they haven’t impressed much this year. Bo Nix (not that he was anything more than slightly above average) is gone. It appears Brian Harsin isn’t sticking too well there. On the other hand Houston has everything to play for here. They have a very good head coach who will know how to get them up for the opportunity against an SEC team, wich for a Group of 5 team will be a big deal. I like the Fighting Danas. Pick: Houston ML (+100)

SERVPRO First Responder Bowl: Air Force Falcons (-1) vs. Louisville Cardinals O/U 54.5

Phil: Which Louisville shows up today…..The high powered offense or a sloppy undisciplined team? I am leaning towards the undisciplined team. Do you know how hard it must be to prepared for the triple option FOR A MONTH in an average bowl game? The mundane nature of it coupled with a Christmas break makes me think Louisville will come out sleepy. Malik Cunningham is dynamic enough to take this game over himself, but I am not sure the rest of the team follows suit. Sticking with the service academy in this one. Pick: Air Force -1

Matt: Lack of discipline and being unprepared to play have been common themes in Louisville’s season this year. That seems like a problem when facing a service academy, not to mention a good one. I like Air Force to control the ball and control the game. Pick: Air Force -1

AutoZone Liberty Bowl: Mississippi State Bulldogs (-10) vs. Texas Tech Red Raiders O/U 58.5

Phil: Is Texas Tech any good? Is Mississippi State any good? Do either teams care about this game? All I know is that it is going to be a big time scoring affair. I trust Mike Leach to dial up some wild plays and for Texas Tech to spread the ball around. Staying far away from this spread but hammering the over. Pick: O 58.5

Matt: Similar to Phil, I kind of think Texas Tech stinks. They haven’t had the same offensive firepower as years past (like in the Mike Leach era). I do think we know a little more about Miss. State. They lost the Egg Bowl at home to a pretty darn good Ole Miss team (ok, offense). They have a QB in Will Rogers who’s been under the radar really good this year. They have some impressive wins over #12 Kentucky, at #15 Texas A&M and at #17 Auburn where they came from behind down 28–3 at half to win 43–34. Oh yea, and Mike Leach is a crazy person (and great football coach) who’s owed millions of dollars from Texas Tech still and wants them to suffer in every way. Pick: Mississippi State -10 (will likely hammer their team total on the side as well)

San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl: UCLA Bruins vs. #18 NC State Wolfpack (-2) O/U 60

Phil: This one comes down to player motivation. UCLA coach Chip Kelly was flirting with leaving for Oregon for a good chunk of December. Players read about that and I am sure he had to BS his way through a lot of team meetings. Now maybe Kelly put those rumors to bed and told his players he is, “all in” on them. Regardless, Kelly doesn’t strike me as a guy that players rally around. NC State is a very solid team with some brutally close losses. They put it together and finish the season with 10 wins, a huge motivator in and of itself. Pick: NC State -2, OV 60

Matt: Both these teams seemed to find something as the season went on. UCLA ripped off 3 in a row to close the year scoring 42+ points in all 3 wins. NC State won 2 of their last 3 with the only loss coming in a 45–42 shootout with #12 Wake Forest. Both teams are capable of winning this one with how explosive they are offensively. NC State was fine defensively, but neither team set the world on fire there either. So with that said, let’s go points! Pick: OV 60

Guaranteed Rate Bowl: West Virginia Mountaineers vs. Minnesota Golden Gophers (-5) O/U 44.5

Phil: Sometimes you need to keep it simple. Matt told me the Golden Gophers are rocking some incredible helmets today and that is all I needed to know. There is some serious power in the Bucky lids….Row that boat. Pick: Minnesota -5

Matt: Both teams roll into this one on two game winning streaks. After an up and down year, Minnesota picked up their best W of the season in the closing week against rival Wisconsin. Speaking of up and down years, West Va has been the definition of that. Mostly beating the teams they should and losing to the teams they should. Both teams have been hard to get a read on, so for me it comes down to which team will get up for this one, and I believe more in PJ Fleck to get his guys motivated. Pick: Minnesota -5, OV 44.5