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NCAA Football

Spartans vs. Bulldogs Preview/Pick: Capital One Bowl

In retrospect, Georgia was overrated coming into the season, wouldn’t you agree? The Bulldogs were being counted on as the #1 or #2 team by many pundits, now they get Michigan State in the 2009 Capital One Bowl, oh well…that’s irony for you. We preview and pick this bowl matchup…

Capital One Bowl Michigan State Spartans vs. Georgia Bulldogs

In retrospect, Georgia was overrated coming into the season, wouldn’t you agree? The Bulldogs were being counted on as the #1 or #2 team by many pundits, on the strength of their resounding win over Hawai’i in last year’s Sugar Bowl and many starters returning. They just couldn’t live up to that hype, however.  

BetUS NCAA Football Betting Odds: GEORGIA -7.5, Total 54.5

Here are some of the NCAA college football betting trends as they relate to this matchup:

* MSU has won nine of its last 11 games SU
* MSU has played four of its last six games OVER the total
* GA is 1-6-1 ATS in its last eight games
* GA has won 16 of its last 19 games SU
* GA has played four of its last five games OVER the total

Like Clemson, another study in disappointment, albeit a more pronounced one, the Bulldogs did not get a big-league performance out of their offensive line for much of the season, and therefore couldn’t get everything they wanted out of the offense. Even so, Matthew Stafford was able to complete 61% of his passes and had a nice ratio of 22 TD’s to nine interceptions. And Knowshon Moreno, who was so impressive as a freshman, gained second-team All-America recognition from the Associated Press after gaining 1338 yards. He had five 100-yard games in his last seven outings.

What Georgia offers is balance in the offense, as Stafford has a chance to throw to a couple of outstanding receivers in A.J, Green (55 catches for 951 yards) and Mohamed Massaquoi (57 receptions, 910 yards). There were admittedly rough spots for the defense, which allowed 26 points a game, surrendering 49 to Florida, 41 to Alabama and 45 to Georgia Tech.

Michigan State was a team that was second-class in a second-class conference this season. When the Spartans had a chance to make a statement, they were blasted by Ohio State (45-7) and Penn State (49-18). You could argue that they have the most consistently potent weapon on the field in running back Javon Ringer, but a closer look at what Ringer did against better competition is a revelation:

* vs. California: 81 yards on 27 carries
* vs, Iowa: 91 yards on 25 carries
* vs. Northwestern: 124 yards on 35 carries
* vs. Ohio State: 67 yards on 16 carries
* vs. Penn State: 42 yards on 17 carries

In those games, against teams going to the post-season, Ringer averaged just 3.4 yards an attempt. That is not All-American stuff. If Georgia, which does indeed have athletes on defense, decides to sell out and stop him, we doubt Brian Hoyer, who hit just 51% of his passes with nine TD’s and eight interceptions, can carry this team for any length of time.

In this particular game, it’s a different class of team from a different class of conference. We’ll lay the points with Georgia, the 7.5-point favorite in the BetUS NCAA college football sports betting odds.

Our PLAY: GEORGIA -7.5 ***