College Football: Autozone Liberty Bowl Odds And Prediction

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!

Autozone Liberty Bowl at Memphis, TN:

Texas A&M:

Wins: at South Carolina (52-28), vs. Lamar(73-3), vs. Rice(38-10), at SMU(58-6), vs. Arkansas(35-28 OT), vs. Louisiana-Monroe(21-16), at Auburn(41-38)

Losses: at Mississippi State(31-48), vs. Mississippi(20-35), at Alabama(0-59), vs. Missouri(27-34), vs. LSU(17-23)

Record vs. Bowl Teams: 4-5

West Virginia(-1.5):

Wins: vs. Towson(54-0), at Maryland(40-37), vs. Kansas(33-14), at Texas Tech(37-34), vs. Baylor(41-27), at Oklahoma State(34-10), at Iowa State(37-24)

Losses: vs. Alabama(23-33), vs. Oklahoma(33-45), vs. TCU(30-31), at Texas(16-33), vs. Kansas State(20-26)

Record vs. Bowl Teams: 3-5

Common Opponents:

Alabama: The Mountaineers lost by ten in the opener in Atlanta. A&M got shut out in Tuscaloosa in embarrassing fashion. Advantage: WEST VIRGINIA

Prediction:

Kyle Allen took over for Kenny Hill after the Alabama game. The true freshman led them to a win at Auburn, but they also lost to Missouri and LSU after that. So what it boils down to is that the Aggies don’t really have a great option at QB.

That is where West Virginia has made the biggest jump from this year compared to last year. Clint Trickett was often confused and/or overmatched last season. This year, he led the Mountaineers to some unlikely victories. All of their losses were to ranked teams at the time, and they are all playing in the post season.

Texas A&M’s defense has been torched at times this year, most notably by Alabama. Then again, they looked decent against LSU and Missouri, but both of them have had serious issues moving the ball at times this year. I know that the results of both of these teams against Alabama lends some fuel to West Virginia’s fire, but don’t look too far into that. The Mounties got Blake Sims in his first start, and when back QB Jake Coker still looked like a threat to steal snaps and/or his job. All of that was gone by the time the Tide played A&M.

On paper, this looks like a win for West Virginia, but I’m not sure I buy it. Is Baylor really a top five team? They weren’t tested out of conference, and the Big 12 was weaker than nearly everyone predicted top to bottom. The SEC, particularly the west division, is much tougher. I’m thinking that A&M’s win at Auburn is far more impressive that WVU’s win over Baylor in Morgantown.

Pick: Texas A&M

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