College Football Saturday and we will see the Cincinnati Bearcats take on the Virginai Tech Hokies in the Military Bowl at Navy Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland. The game has a start time of 4:30 pm (Eastern) and will be televised on ESPN. Current Vegas odds have the Eagles listed as 2.5 point favorites, while the total is set at 40.
Analysis: The Cincinnati Bearcats started the year at 2-3, which raised questions about this team that was expected to challenge for the AAC Title. In the end the Bearcats finished the year on a 7 game win streak which puts their record at 9-3 for the year. The Bearcats are 6-0-1 ATS in their last 7 games overall and 5-0-1 ATS in their last 6 games following a S.U. win, but just 1-5 ATS in their last 6 non-conference games. The Bearcats have been a very good offensive team this year, ranking 29th in total yards, 13th in passing, 70th in rushing and 26th in scoring (35.4 ppg). The Bearcat defense has been solid down the stretch, but is still ranked 105th in yards allowed, 112th vs the pass, 85th vs the run and 66th in points allowed (26.8 ppg).
The Virginia Tech Hokies started the year with a 42 record that included a huge 14 point win at Ohio State. The 2nd half of the season was not as kind as they won just 2 of their last 6 games, but still at 6-6 on the year they did enough to get a bowl invite. Virginia Tech is 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games in December, but just 4-13-2 ATS in their last 19 non-conference games and 3-13 ATS in their last 16 games following a ATS win. The Hokies have not been a very good offensive team this year, ranking 96th in total offense, 71st in passing, 97th in rushing and 98th in scoring (23.3 ppg). The defense for Virginia Tech has been very solid, ranking 16th in yards allowed, 15th vs the pass, 41st vs the run and 18th in points allowed (20.4 ppg)
Pick: I am looking at the Under in this game. I just don't feel that Virginia Tech has enough offense to put this game over the total and I don't feel that this Cincinnati offense will score enough vs a tough Hokies defense with extra time to prepare, to put this game over the total. The Bearcats have had their struggles on defense this year, but they did play much better down the stretch, holding 5 of their last 7 opponents to 17 points or less. Granted they have faced some bad offenses in that stretch, but that's exactly what the Hokies have, a bad offense. Virginia Tech is 96th in total offense and they have scored just 23.3 ppg on the year, while in their last 3 games away from home they have averaged just 12 ppg. The Bearcats offense is very good, but the Hokies defense is well and has allowed just 20.4 ppg for the year. This one should be played in the lower 40s.
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