SBR.tv’s Peter Loshak and Justin7 present their first installment of 2009 college bowl game previews by looking at the Pre-Christmas games on tap.
No. 16 Oregon St has gotten a ton of public money as a small favorite in the Las Vegas Bowl on Tuesday against No. 15 BYU. The Cougars will be looking to atone for their loss to Arizona in last year’s Las Vegas Bowl, while the Beavers will have to regroup after a narrow loss in their season finale to Oregon dashed their Rose Bowl hopes. BYU had a relatively easy schedule this year, and played only so-so the few times they did go up against elite competition. Oregon St of course comes in well-tested, having faced a regular season full of Pac-10 opponents. Justin7 senses an overreaction to this strength of schedule disparity.
Central Florida and Rutgers in the St Petersburg Bowl on Saturday presents a similar scenario, albeit on a lesser scale. Rutgers comes from a conference with a better reputation than Central Florida, and the Scarlet Knights have also attracted one-sided action as a small fave, although their backing has come from sharper money than that of Oregon St. Loshak notes an interesting thread on SBRForum.com concerning this game, and gets Justin7’s number on it.
No. 23 Utah and California present one of the most intriguing bowl matchups in the Poinsettia Bowl on Wednesday. Cal was one of the most up-and-down teams in college football this year, often frustrating bettors who found them unpredictable. Utah comes into this game having won their last 8 bowl games in a row, including a win last year over this year’s top-ranked team, Alabama. But Utah, like their Mountain West conference-mates BYU, played a relatively unimpressive regular season schedule, featuring a lot of wins over sub-par teams, and so-so performances the few times they went up against top teams.
Keeping an eye out for double-digit dogs with possible value in pre-New Year’s bowls, as well as games with posted totals that may be on the low side as a result of expecting increased scoring in bowl games were two topics Justin7 and Loshak discussed in a previous video. Fresno St/Wyoming in the New Mexico Bowl on Saturday and Nevada/SMU in the Hawaii Bowl on Thursday present betting lines relevant to these topics.
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