Russell Athletic Bowl Odds & Prediction

Here are the odds and prediction for the Russell Athletic Bowl!

The bowls are more than half over, and though I haven’t watched all of them between holiday festivities and work, I don’t think I am off to that great of a start. My bowl mania picks were doing okay until Nebraska beat UCLA. I still have the against the spread picks to go, and from the looks of it, it will be a struggle to stay at .500 in bowl season.

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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
• Hyundai Sun Bowl
• Zaxby’s Heart Of Dallas Bowl
• New Era Pinstripe Bowl
• Camping World Independence Bowl
• Foster Farms Bowl
• Northrop Grumman Military Bowl
• Quick Lane Bowl
• Lockheed Martin Military Bowl

Now, on to the Russell Athletic Bowl!

(10)North Carolina(-3.5) vs. (17)Baylor at Orlando, FL(4):

North Carolina(11-2, 8-1):

Wins: vs. North Carolina A&T(53-14), vs. Illinois(48-14), vs. Delaware(41-14), at Georgia Tech(38-31), vs. Wake Forest(50-14), vs. Virginia(26-13), at Pittsburgh(26-19), vs. Duke(66-31), vs. Miami(FL)(59-21), at Virginia Tech(30-27), at North Carolina State(45-34)

Losses: vs. South Carolina(13-17), vs. Clemson(37-45)

Record vs. bowl teams: 6-1

Baylor(9-3, 6-3):

Wins: at SMU(56-21), vs. Lamar(66-31), vs. Rice(70-17), vs. Texas Tech(63-35), at Kansas(66-7), vs. West Virginia(62-38), vs. Iowa State(45-27), at Kansas State(31-24), at Oklahoma State(45-35)

Losses: vs. Oklahoma(34-44), at TCU(21-28), vs. Texas(17-23)

Record vs. bowl teams: 4-2

North Carolina faced not one, but TWO FCS schools. If you wonder why they wouldn’t have made the playoff even with a win over Clemson, that would be why. There really isn’t any excuse for that in this day and age. The Tarheel offense was an unstoppable force in nearly every game this year. The only teams to hold them under 30 were South Carolina and Pitt. That said, The Tarheel defense gave up at least two touchdowns to everyone except Virginia, and yes, that include the two FCS schools.

Baylor is no stranger to bad defense either. The Bears gave up 31 to Lamar, and everyone but Kansas scored at least 17 on the Bears. The offense was world class until QB Seth Russell got hurt in the middle of the season. Then backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham was lost along with star wideout Corey Coleman and running back Shock Linwood. In the game against Texas, Baylor had WR Lynx Hawthorne at quarterback because they lost third stringer Chris Johnson in that game. Only Johnson will be back for the bowl game. He struggled in his two starts, but was that because of the deluge in Fort Worth? He led them to victory after Stidham went out against then number 6 Oklahoma State.

I still think Johnson will get his yards against this defense. Look for WRs KD Cannon and Jay Lee to pick up some of the slack with Coleman out. The Bears are also deep at RB, so the loss of Linwood wont hurt that bad. They still have the horses to get some points here. This will likely still be a high scoring game, but with the way Baylor has played in their last few bowl games, I have no confidence in them right now.

My pick: North Carolina

Next: The Picks For Every Bowl Game!

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