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College Football: Sheraton Hawai’i Bowl Odds And Prediction

By Mike Marteny

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We have made it to bowl season! I have picked every single college football game against the spread for you this season. There is no way I’m going to abandon you now!

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I am back to give you all of the bowl picks against the spread. This year, I am going to do each bowl individually so you have all of the information you need to make your wager or pick, whatever the case may be.

Just in case you missed anything:

Hawai’i Bowl at Honolulu, HI:

Fresno State:

Wins: vs. Southern Utah(56-16), at New Mexico(35-24), vs. San Diego State(24-13), vs. San Jose State(38-24), at Nevada(40-20), vs. Hawaii(28-21)

Losses: at USC(13-52), at Utah(27-59), vs. Nebraska(19-55), at UNLV(27-30 OT), at Boise State(27-37), vs. Wyoming(17-45), at Boise State(14-28)

Record vs. Bowl Teams: 2-5

Rice(-2.5):

Wins: at Southern Mississippi(41-23), vs. Hawaii(28-14), at Army(41-21), vs. North Texas(41-21), at Florida International(31-17), vs. UTSA(17-7), vs. UTEP(31-13)

Losses: at Notre Dame(17-48), at Texas A&M(10-38), vs. Old Dominion(42-45), at Marshall(14-41), at Louisiana Tech(31-76)

Record vs. Bowl Teams: 1-4

Common Opponents:

Hawaii: Fresno won by 7 at home. Rice won by 14 at home. ADVANTAGE: Rice

Prediction:

Fresno State is the only bowl team with a losing record this season. Sure, they have had their ups and downs, but they had a brutal start to the season. They played three straight ranked teams in USC, Utah, and Nebraska to start off 2014. You can’t say that they shied away from competition. They do have a couple of ugly losses, however. Losing to a below average UNLV and a retooling Wyoming team don’t look good. They did play Boise close not once, but twice on the Smurf Turf.

Rice was not the same team that ran off with the Conference USA crown last year. The loss of QB Taylor McHargue was tough early on, as were the games against Notre Dame and Texas A&M. They did win six straight games in the middle of the season, but got trounced by Louisiana Tech to end the regular season.

On paper, Rice has a slight advantage. I went back and forth on this game for a two reasons. One, Fresno is not an easy team to pick. I mentioned their bad losses, but they managed to beat a good Nevada team on the road, and a very good San Diego State team. Those wins are better than anything Rice has. Two, the Bulldogs are maddeningly inconsistent. They have had trouble against the run, but looked good against a running team in SDSU. Which Fresno team shows up?

Pick: Rice

Next: Check Out The Picks For All Of The Bowls Here

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