The college football continues Friday in the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl that will see the BYU Cougars and the Tulsa Golden Hurricane. The game is scheduled for a noon kickoff and will be televised nationally on ESPN. Currently the odds have Tulsa favored anywhere from 1 to 1.5 points depending on the book while the total is sitting at 57 points across the board.
Free Analysis: BYU really came on strong toward the end of the season, winning eight of its last nine games and scoring at least 40 points in three straight contests in wins over Idaho, New Mexio State and Hawai'i. All three of the games had an average win of over 30 points, holding Idaho and New Mexico State to a touchdown apiece. BYU really played well in the second half of the season, beating everyone except a 10-point loss to TCU. Tulsa finished with a pretty good season, going 8-4. Not exactly a great season by any means, but all four of their losses were pretty decent. Those losses came to No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 8 Oklahoma State, No. 4 Boise State and No. 8 Houston. Pretty tough playing four teams ranked in the Top 10. So here Tulsa is, playing in a decent bowl game against a decent team. The teams seem pretty even as each averaged more then 30 points per game offensively. I think BYU being an independent this season will help in this contest because overall I think they played tougher competition. Quick breakdown for this — Bronco Mendenhall gets nearly a month to prepare for this contest. A balanced offense for BYU will be huge in this game. Tulsa really likes to pitch it around the yard, averaging over 450 yards per game. The Cougars defense, however, will be ready for the task. Mendenhall's team ranks seventh in the country in pass efficiency, which could very well pose problems for the Tulsa offense and quarterback G.J. Kinne, who rushed for more than 400 yards, threw for 25 touchdowns and passed for 300 or more yards five times this season. Tulsa can also run the rock as backs Ja'Terian Douglas and Trey Watts, each have run for more than 800 yards, with Douglas leading the FBS with 8.2 yards per carry. Not bad. With both offenses being fairly similar, I think the better defense, which sides with BYU, is the best option here.
Free Pick: BYU's defense is 23rd nationally in points per game allowed (20.3) and should matchup well against Tulsa. It's the seventh straight bowl appearance for the Cougs under Mendenhall and they've won four of those six games to date. Even better? A win in this game will give BYU a 10th win for the fifth time in Mendenhall's seven years. I like the motivation for the Cougars here today and I think with the better defense between the two clubs, they win this game. It's essentially a pick'em game which is where the line opened, but has since moved toward Tulsa. This game could possibly warrant a bet on the OVER as well.
Iowa vs Oklahoma Betting
Lack of motivation for Oklahoma and Coach Ferentz of Iowa is 6-1 as bowl dog plus other factors college football bettors need to know about Iowa vs Oklahoma (Friday, December 30, 2011) from Pregame.com - Including predictions from Bryan Leonard and analysis from host Marco D'Angelo.