The Linemakers on Sporting News wish you a happy holiday season, as well as a few winning bets amid the festivities. We’ll take Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off from publishing this newsletter, but all the information you’ll need to make your wagers over the next few days can be found right here on our website.
We leave you with two college football bowl games set for today:
Marshall and Northern Illinois, winners of their respective conferences, meet in the Boca Raton Bowl (6 p.m. ET, ESPN).
Line: Marshall -10, Total: 66.5
Marshall opened as an 11-point favorite at The Wynn, but the line has declined steadily. In fact, as of 12:30 p.m. ET today, it’s down to -8.5 at many spots, although there are still some 10s hanging around.
Both teams trot out exciting quarterbacks worth watching. The Herd’s Rakeem Cato finished 2014 with 3,622 passing yards and 37 touchdown passes to 13 interceptions. He added 457 yards and six more touchdowns on the ground. Cato will be playing in his final game for the Thundering Herd. Sophomore Drew Hare runs the show for NIU, using both his arm (2.097 passing yards, 17 TDs) and legs (850 yards, eight TDs).
The Linemakers’ lean: We wonder how motivated Marshall will be in this spot. Up until their last regular-season game, the Herd were undefeated with an eye on a New Year’s Day bowl game. Northern Illinois figures to be a tough out here, and getting this many points with the Huskies is too good an offer to pass up. NIU +10, if you can still find that number, is the play.
Our complete Boca Raton Bowl betting preview is right here.
San Diego State and Navy will both be in a familiar location when they meet in the Poinsettia Bowl (9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN). This game is being played at the Aztecs’ home Qualcomm Stadium, where they are 6-0 straight-up and 3-2-1 against the spread this year. The Midshipmen have played in this bowl three times since 2005. In their most recent appearance, in 2010, they lost to San Diego 35-14 as 3-point dogs.
The Line: San Diego State -3 (-120), Total: 53
The Aztecs rank 83rd nationally in scoring offense (25.8 PPG) and 14th in scoring defense (20.1 PPG) – they are the biggest UNDER team in the nation at 11-1.
Navy (7-5 SU and 5-7 ATS) became bowl eligible by getting hot down the stretch, winning five of its final six games. The offense was the catalyst at 40.3 PPG, helping the OVER go 5-1. The only loss in this run was 49-39 to Notre Dame as 14-point dogs, a game even closer than the final score indicates.
The Linemakers’ lean: The Aztecs do two things very well: run the ball effectively (218 YPG) and play good defense (338 YPG allowed). San Diego State played an option attack last month against Air Force and allowed only 189 rushing yards in a 30-14 win, and we think the Aztecs will be able to slow Navy’s running game. We’re going with the most common combination in San Diego State games this season: Aztecs and UNDER.
Read our full Poinsettia Bowl preview here.
