Hyundai Sun Bowl Odds & Prediction

Hyundai Sun Bowl team capsules along with the pick against the spread!

Happy Holidays to all of you readers! You may be taking it easy, but there are bowl games to prepare for, so I am still at it! I still have nearly 30 picks to make to try and stay above .500. It could be a challenge with the way this bowl season has started!

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In case you missed how the point scale works, here is a brief rundown:

5. A lock. I am comfortable making a sizable wager on this game.

4. Very confident. Not quite a lock, but I am comfortable making a decent sized wager on it.

3. Middle of the road. Good enough that I would make a small wager on it.

2. Could go either way. So much so that I wouldn’t bet on it.

1. Stay away from these.

Just in case you missed any:

• Gildan New Mexico Bowl
• Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl
• Raycom Media Camellia Bowl
• Autonation Cure Bowl
• R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl
• Miami Beach Bowl
• Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
• Marmot Boca Raton Bowl
• San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl
• GoDaddy Bowl
• Popeyes Bahamas Bowl
• Sheraton Hawaii Bowl
• St. Petersburg Bowl

Now, on to the Hyundai Sun Bowl!

Miami(FL) vs. Washington State(-2.5) at El Paso, TX(4):

Miami(FL)(8-4, 5-3):

Wins: vs. Bethune-Cookman(45-0), at Florida Atlantic(44-20), vs. Nebraska(36-33), vs. Virginia Tech(30-20), at Duke(30-27), vs. Virginia(27-21), vs. Georgia Tech(38-21), at Pittsburgh(29-24)

Losses: at Cincinnati(23-34), at Florida State(24-29), vs. Clemson(0-58), at North Carolina(21-59)

Record vs. bowl teams: 4-4

Washington State(8-4, 6-3):

Wins: at Rutgers(37-34), vs. Wyoming(31-14), at Oregon(45-38), vs. Oregon State(52-31), at Arizona(45-42), vs. Arizona State(38-24), at UCLA(31-27), vs. Colorado(27-3)

Losses: vs. Portland State(17-24), at California(28-34), vs. Stanford(28-30), at Washington(10-45)

Record vs. bowl teams: 4-3

After the worst loss in school history to Clemson, the Hurricanes finally let lame-duck coach Al Golden go. I thought it was a bad decision at the time, but the team responded by closing the season 4-1, with the only loss being to North Carolina. Miami has talent, particularly on the offensive side of the field, but they struggled against the explosive offenses of Clemson and North Carolina. Is Washington State’s offense explosive enough?

The Cougars finally saw Mike Leach’s air raid come to fruition, though most of eastern Washington was calling for his head after an inexcusable loss to Portland State in the opener in which the Cougars ran more than they passed. That would never come close to happening again. Luke Falk showed how good his arm was in leading the Cougars to upsets of Oregon, Arizona, Arizona State, and UCLA. They nearly toppled Pac 12 champion Stanford in that stretch as well. They were blown out by rival Washington at the end of the year, but Falk was unable to play. All signs are that he is 100% for the bowl game.

This the likely the best defense that Mike Leach has ever had as a head coach. The Cougars will get after you. Brad Kaaya also seems to be back to full strength after playing hurt or not at all for most of November. Still, I think this comes down to which defense is better equipped to stop the other teams, and it seems to me that Washington State is.

My pick: Washington State

Next: The Picks For Every Bowl Game!

Stay tuned for the picks of every bowl game against the spread!