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Belk Bowl Odds & Prediction

By Mike Marteny

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Here are the odds and the pick against the spread for the Belk 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. I still will finish in the black in the points system though.

More from College Football Odds

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:

On to the Belk Bowl!

North Carolina State vs. Mississippi State(-5.5) at Charlotte, NC(5):

North Carolina State(7-5, 3-5):

Wins: vs. Troy(49-21), vs. Eastern Kentucky(35-0), at Old Dominion(38-14), at South Alabama(63-13), at Wake Forest(35-17), at Boston College(24-8), vs. Syracuse(42-29)

Losses: vs. Louisville(13-20), at Virginia Tech(13-28), vs. Clemson(41-56), vs. Florida State(17-34), vs. North Carolina(34-45)

Record vs. bowl teams: 0-5

Mississippi State(8-4, 4-4):

Wins: at Southern Mississippi(34-16), vs. Northwestern State(62-13), at Auburn(17-9), vs. Troy(45-17), vs. Louisiana Tech(45-20), vs. Kentucky(42-16), at Missouri(31-13), at Arkansas(51-50)

Losses: vs. LSU(19-21), at Texas A&M(17-30), vs. Alabama(6-31), vs. Mississippi(27-38)

Record vs. bowl teams: 4-4

North Carolina State carries a dubious distinction of not beating a bowl team. Not one of those 67 other postseason teams besides themselves. They showed the ability to put points on the board against Troy, South Alabama, Syracuse, and Clemson, but they need running back Matt Dayes at full speed. He wasn’t towards the end of the year, but he should be good to go for this one. Does that give them a puncher’s chance against Mississippi State? Probably not, but quarterback Jacoby Brissett does.

Dak Prescott will be playing his final game in a Bulldogs uniform tomorrow afternoon. You can bet that the Bulldogs are motivated. Especially after getting manhandled by Ole Miss in the Egg Bowl (the score is closer than the game was). Prescott has some good receivers to throw to, and the defense was solid for most of the year.

I have questions about whether the Wolfpack offense is explosive enough to hang in this one. Mississippi State doesn’t have the offense that Clemson and North Carolina do, but they will still be able to pick up plenty of yards on this defense. This game might not be close if the Wolfpack defense doesn’t step up. The Bulldogs aren’t going to let Prescott go out with a loss.

My pick: Mississippi State

Next: The Picks For Every Bowl Game!

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