TEXAS BOWL - TEXAS LONGHORNS (6-6) vs ARKANSAS RAZORBACKS (6-6)
Game Played in Houston, Texas
Monday, December 29th (9:00pm EST)
A battle of two teams who would love to finish the season above .500......it would be pretty disappointing for the loser of these big programs to finish up at 6-7. Both squads have gradually started to play significantly better from the mid way point, up until prior to their last game. Arkansas dropped a game at Missouri, struggling to move the ball, and Texas got blown away by TCU.
This is a matchup that boasts two top 20 defenses.....so the points might be hard to come by. In fact, Arkansas pitched goose eggs in two of its last three games. To go along with a top 20 defense, Arkansas also has a top 20 offenses (according to my rankings).......so its a question why they only finished .500. Sure playing in the SEC doesn't help matters.....but this tells me they have a tough time closing out the close games. Texas has a pretty nice run offense, but they struggled early at QB with Sophomore Tyrone Swoopes, but he has come on strong as of late, minus the TCU game. He gives you the dual threat, which is always nice to have in the back pocket.
I like Charlie Strong, and feel like he did a good job at preparing Louisville for Bowl games in the past. I can almost guarantee he has a number of trick plays up his sleeve to try and take advantage of the smash mouth Arkansas defense. Also, advantage Texas playing this game in Houston, only about 150 miles from campus......while Fayetteville is about 600 miles away. After a missing a Bowl game last year, I think the faithful come out in waves. Maybe this is more of a hunch, but I really feel like Texas can hang with Arkansas, and this game will go deep into the 4th.
MY PICK : Texas +7, +100 (Risk $250 to Win $250)