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Eastern Michigan vs. San Jose State Odds, Picks, Predictions College Football: Spartans Favored in Potato Bowl

Philip Wood

Last Updated: December 20, 2022 8:27 AM EST • 2 min 37 sec read.

Quarterback Chevan Cordeiro #2 of the San Jose State Spartans looks the hand the ball off to running back Shamar Garrett #24 of the San Jose State Spartans during the first half of their game against the Auburn Tigers at Jordan-Hare Stadium on Sept. 10.
Quarterback Chevan Cordeiro #2 of the San Jose State Spartans looks the hand the ball off to running back Shamar Garrett #24 of the San Jose State Spartans during the first half of their game against the Auburn Tigers at Jordan-Hare Stadium on Sept. 10. Michael Chang/Getty Images/AFP

Tuesday's Famous Idaho Potato Bowl features two surprise teams as Eastern Michigan takes on San Jose State. Check out below for our top Eastern Michigan-San Jose State college football picks based on the best odds.

The Famous Idaho Potato Bowl features an interesting MAC-versus-Mountain West matchup. The Eastern Michigan Eagles come into the game at 8-4 and winners of their last three games. The San Jose State Spartans are 7-4, but they have won just one of their last three.

Both teams average about 28 points per game, but the Spartans have been better defensively this season, allowing fewer than three touchdowns per contest. 

Here is our best Eastern Michigan vs. San Jose State college football pick for the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl (odds via BetMGM; pick confidence based on a 1-to-5-star scale).

Check out our college football best bets.

Eastern Michigan vs. San Jose State Game Info

  • Date: Tuesday, Dec. 20, 3:30 p.m.
  • TV: ESPN
  • Location: Albertsons Stadium, Boise, ID
  • Weather: 34 degrees, 73% chance of precipitations, 6-mph wind

Eastern Michigan vs. San Jose State Odds

Eastern Michigan vs. San Jose State Odds Analysis

The Spartans opened as 4.5-point favorites and after a temporary drop to 4, it's back up to 4.5. There has been overwhelming support for the Eagles on Pregame.com, as 79% of the cash and 71% of tickets are backing them to cover in this one.

The line opened at 53 and moved slightly to 53.5. Much of the action was on the Under as there was concern about weather. But now the Over is getting 69% of the cash and 62% of the tickets.

Eastern Michigan vs. San Jose State Pick

San Jose State -3.5 ⭐⭐⭐

The story of this season for the Eagles has been beating up on teams they should beat, and getting beaten badly by teams they shouldn’t. They don’t have a single win this season over a team with at least six wins, and three of their four losses have come by at least 19 points.

Yet, the Spartans haven’t played well down the stretch. In their final regular season game, they picked up a less-than-convincing home win over the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors. That game was preceded by back-to-back losses where they allowed 35 or more points.

While these two teams look even on paper, one area where the Spartans have a huge advantage is in turnover margin. They were seventh-best in the NCAA this season, posting a +0.9 turnover rate. The Eagles finished tied for 67th with a margin of 0.0.

The Mountain West was a better conference this season than the MAC. Between that, and the fact that the Spartans won’t give away possessions but will be able to steal a few from the Eagles, look for the Spartans to cover. If they had played better down the stretch, this would be a lock.

Eastern Michigan vs. San Jose State Best Odds

BetMGM (-110)

DraftKingsFanDuelBetMGMCaesarsPointsBet
SJSU -4SJSU -3.5SJSU -3.5SJSU -4SJSU -4
-105-115-110-110-110

As kickoff approaches, this line continues to shrink. This is not surprising, since these two teams look evenly matched and neither is very public. The Spartans' two most recent losses were ugly to two teams that didn’t play great football this season.

Yet, it would be surprising to see this number drop to the key number. FanDuel’s price of -115 proves that, as it signals that this will likely move back to -4 before kickoff. The best place to bet right now is BetMGM, and with it unlikely that this line will get better for the Spartans, get in before it gets worse for them.

Eastern Michigan-San Jose State pick made 12/19/2022 at 8:35 a.m. ET

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Written By:
Philip Wood
Phil is a Sports Betting Analyst for Sportsbook Review and BettingPros.com, specializing in NFL and college football. He previously covered college football and college basketball for CanesInsight.com, where he also hosted the College Football Pick 'Em podcast. Phil is always looking for value, especially on lines that just seem too good to be true. His belief is if a line doesn't make sense, just assume that Vegas knows something you don't. An alumnus of The U, Phil always holds out hope that the next head coach will be the one who turns the football program around. Some would call him a frontrunner for his love of the Yankees and the Celtics, but he's also a diehard Detroit Lions fan and will never forgive the refs for the blown pass interference call against the Cowboys in 2015.