Free Holiday Bowl Prediction: Spartans vs Cougars Odds
Looking for Michigan State Spartans vs. Washington Cougars free picks? San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl betting sees the Spartans taking on the Cougars Thursday December 28th at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California. Cappers Picks provides complimentary handicapping picks all NCAA football bowl season long so stay tuned for more FREE college football predictions like this Michigan State Washington State free pick.
College Football Handicapping: San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl
(9-3) Michigan State Spartans vs. Washington State Cougars (9-3)
Date: Thursday December 28
Time: 9:00 pm EST
Venue: Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, California
NCAA Football Spread: Washington State -3
NCAA Betting Total: 45
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The Michigan State Spartans enjoyed a nice bounce back season after last years’s disaster. Not a great threat to Ohio State for Big Ten supremacy but they did beat Michigan this year and a win here will get them to double digits.
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It could have been a breakthrough season for the Washington State Cougars but they just couldn’t win on the road. Losing at Washington in the Apple Cup was not too much of a shock but losses at Cal and at Arizona kept them from the PAC 12 title game.
Michigan State Spartans
Michigan State was a disaster a year ago and now they appear to have stabilized. They did beat Michigan and Penn State this season and it will be interesting to see if they can keep up that supremacy because those programs have been building momentum while the Spartans were soaring. None of their losses are all that bad this season: @Northwestern, @Ohio State and home home against Notre Dame.
While the defense returned to expected levels the offense struggled and needs to be souped up. Brian Lewerke is a nice offensive piece at QB but what is going on with LJ Scott in the backfield? He is supposed to be am NFL calibre guy but the production isn’t there. Could be the offensive line but too many times he is a no show. Lewerke is not going to win throwing 30 plus times a game.
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This matchup could be a challenge for the Spartans defense. The reality is they do not seem very many pass happy teams like this in the Big Ten. Plus Mike Leach is a great offensive game planner. This will be a very interesting chess match between him and Mike Dantonio, one of the better defensive coaches around. Should be fun.
Washington State Cougars
When they beat USC at home it looked like this could be a special season but it appeared they just couldn’t handle that level of expectation. I wonder if that is part of the reason coach Mike Leach is still in Pullman instead of walking a different sideline. He was rumoured for a number of the available jobs because of his ability to get an offense going. There are few who are better at it schematically but he is still in Pullman.
This season they finished second in passing, not much of a surprise. What was interesting though was how Luke Falk had a midseason slide. The senior was supposed to be a sneaky Heisman sleeper because we were so confident he would put up huge numbers. Instead he had his worst season since taking the job and wast noticeable the reason the Cougars lost a couple of games, like those five picks against Cal. He regained the job but was not nearly as slick as a year ago.
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The offense naturally commands attention but it is the elevation of the defense over the years that has made this program more viable. This season they allowed just 24ppg and in Hercules Mata’afa they have a true impact player. He has 9.5 sacks and 21.5 tackles for a loss this season. If the Spartans are not prepared for him he can blow up their entire offensive scheme. He has done it before.
NCAA Football Handicapping Trends
- Spartans are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 Bowl games.
- Spartans are 6-1-1 ATS in their last 8 neutral site games.
- Over is 5-1 in Spartans last 6 Bowl games.
- Under is 4-0 in Cougars last 4 games after scoring less than 20 points in their previous game.
- Under is 7-0-1 in Cougars last 8 games following a straight up loss.
- Cougars are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 Thursday games.
Free San Diego Countty Credit Union Holiday Bowl NCAA Football Pick
Small spread here with the Cougars as the favourite. I was surprised by the low total as it says to me the Spartans are going to be able to keep the pace of this game where they want it. I am not expecting much movement on this line between now and kickoff unless there is some injury. It might be a baby Rose Bowl but there is not much juice to this one.
4* Free NCAA Betting Pick: Washington State -3
I am not sure I am sold on the pace being what the oddsmakers prediction. These are two good coaches but I think with good weather and essentially in a no lose environment we will see more offense than rugged defense.
You have to think that MSU especially will be looking to pick up the pace. Once Washington knows they are in a fight they will respond in turn. This one will go back and forth until the Cougars win it. The over looks like a winning ticket too. I am not seeing the 24-21 battle the oddsmakers are predicting.
San Diego Country Credit Union Holiday Bowl Free Score Prediction: Washington State 34 – Michigan State 24
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