Heart of Dallas Bowl, Army vs North Texas: Preview and predictions
The 2016 Heart of Dallas Bowl will feature a matchup between the Army Black Knights (7-5) and the North Texas Mean Green (5-7) on Tuesday, December 27 at the Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas, Texas.
This is the second meeting between Army and North Texas in the 2016 season. Both teams met on Oct. 22 at Army, where North Texas had a decisive 35-18 victory over the Black Knights.
Despite the loss to North Texas earlier in the year, Army had a solid season, netting the most season wins in six years. This trip to the Heart of Dallas Bowl is their first bowl game since 2010, and just their sixth bowl game in program history. (Their first trip was at the Cherry Bowl back in 1984.)
Army started the 2016 season on a 3-0 win streak, knocking off Temple (28-13), Rice (31-14), and the season’s biggest blowout at UTEP (66-14). They suffered a 6-44 loss at Notre Dame and a 12-31 loss vs Air Force, but they ended the season on a high note with a 21-17 over Navy.
North Texas may be riding a 5-7, making it impossible for the Mean Green to finish with a winning record in 2016, but they’re actually celebrating some major accomplishments. The 5-7 record is a four-game improvement over their 2015 campaign, a testament to the work of first-year head coach Seth Littrell.
This trip to the Heart of Dallas Bowl is the Mean Green’s first bowl appearance in three years and their second trip since 2005. However, North Texas is the first team to appear in the Heart of Dallas Bowl twice. Their appearance comes courtesy of their program’s APR score, which ranks as No. 10 of the 128 FBS schools. They rank No. 2 among non-eligible bowl teams.
The Mean Green also had a key win against Rice (42-35) but they struggled in the middle of the season, losing the final game of the season at UTEP with a 24-52 decision.
Date: Tuesday, December 27
Start Time: 12 p.m. ET
Location: Dallas, Texas
Stadium: Cotton Bowl Stadium
TV Info: ESPN
Live Stream: ESPN.com or the WatchESPN App
Keys to Victory
The North Texas defense dominated Army’s offense in their Oct. 22 game. Army’s quarterback Ahmed Bradshaw threw four interceptions in that game, which was his worst performance of the year. Mean Green running back Jeffrey Wilson had his best game of the season against Army, where he has 160 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
Give the history between these two teams, all bets are off on predictions. What matters is which team shows up to play. While Army has a better record, North Texas knows it can beat the Black Knights.
The key is to get on the board early and maintain the lead. Either team can take this game, but a come from behind win really isn’t that likely in this scenario.
Betting Odds
Point Spread: North Texas +10.5
Moneyline: Army -316, North Texas +274
O/U: 49
The Heart of Dallas Bowl is known for having a lot of excitement and action, and no team has ever won that has scored fewer than 30 points. With Army being a -10.5 favorite, it’s likely that they will break that 30-point threshold with no problem.
Army is 7-5 against the spread and North Texas is 6-5-1 against the spread.
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Predictions
The Heart of Dallas Bowl is known for excitement, and there’s no question that these two teams are going to be fighting for an early lead. While the betting lines have Army as the champions, there is a very good chance that North Texas will show up and be the team that Army faced on Oct. 22. If that’s the case, look for the predicted final score to be reversed, which falls in line with the Mean Green’s victory earlier in the season.
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Army was an almost 18-point favorite for their first matchup, and they lost by almost the same number of points. What this means is that victory will come to the team that shows up on Tuesday, plain and simple.