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2018 Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl Odds And Prediction

By Mike Marteny

MURFREESBORO, TN - OCTOBER 20: Tyre Brady #8 of the Marshall Thundering Herd draws a pass interference penalty from Charvarius Ward #2 of the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders in the first quarter of a game at Floyd Stadium on October 20, 2017 in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
MURFREESBORO, TN - OCTOBER 20: Tyre Brady #8 of the Marshall Thundering Herd draws a pass interference penalty from Charvarius Ward #2 of the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders in the first quarter of a game at Floyd Stadium on October 20, 2017 in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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bad boy mowers gasparilla bowl
ST. PETERSBURG, FL – DECEMBER 21: Quarterback Frank Nutile #18 of the Temple Owls hoists his MVP trophy following the Owls’ 28-3 win over Fiu Golden Panthers at the Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl on December 21, 2017 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Brian Blanco/Getty Images) /

2018 Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl Odds And Prediction

Bowl season is finally upon us! We had six bowl games to kick us off on Saturday. Now we have at least one bowl game per day until January 2nd with the exception of Christmas. This is going to be a fun ride!

More from College Football Odds

What exactly is gasparilla? Well, Jose Gaspar was a pirate that was supposedly based around Tampa in the early 1800’s. There is no hard evidence of this, but it still spawned a pirate festival called Gasparilla in Tampa every winter for the last hundred years or so. Now they have a bowl game! And now you know the origin of Gasparilla.

I did pretty well to open bowl season on Saturday with my against the spread picks. We can make some money on these games. Are you with me?

For the rest of the bowls, you will get my picks against the spread and point wagers just like I did all season long. I had a solid regular season, but I can make it look a whole lot better with a strong bowl season!

Just in case you missed any:
Autonation Cure Bowl
Progressive New Mexico Bowl
Mitsubishi Motors Las Vegas Bowl
Raycom Media Camellia Bowl
R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl
Cheribundi Boca Raton Bowl
DXL Frisco Bowl

bad boy mowers gasparilla bowl
TAMPA, FL SEPTEMBER 22: Running back Jordan Cronkrite #2 of the South Florida Bulls talks with teammates wide receiver Zion Roland #82 and safety JaJuan Cherry #13 after scoring a touchdown in the third quarter of the game against the East Carolina Pirates at Raymond James Stadium on September 22, 2018 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Joseph Garnett Jr./Getty Images) /

Marshall(-2.5) at South Florida(4):

Marshall 8-4, 6-2 (2nd CUSA East):

Wins: at Miami(OH)(35-28), vs. Eastern Kentucky(32-16), at Western Kentucky(20-17), at Old Dominion(42-20), vs. Florida Atlantic(31-7), vs Charlotte(30-13), vs. UTSA(23-0), at Florida International(28-25)

Losses: vs. North Carolina State(20-37), vs. Middle Tennessee State(24-34), st Southern Mississippi(24-26), at Virginia Tech(20-41)

Record vs. bowl teams: 3-4

South Florida is going to have a lot of problems with Tyre Brady. Isaiah Green has had some big games against teams that don’t defend the pass well. South Florida is one of those teams. The USF defense has been gouged this year, and the Marshall offense is plenty good enough to do it again.

South Florida 7-5, 3-5(4th AAC East):

Wins: vs. Elon(34-14), vs. Georgia Tech(49-38), vs. Illinois(25-19), vs. East Carolina(20-13), at Massachusetts(58-42), at Tulsa(25-24), vs. Connecticut(38-30)

Losses: at Houston(36-57), vs. Tulane(15-41), at Cincinnati(23-35), at Temple(17-21), vs. Central Florida(10-38)

Record vs. bowl teams: 1-5

USF had a bunch of holes early on, but no one was able to exploit them. That all changed when they started playing bowl teams. USF lost the last five games by an average of 19.8 points. That’s not just losing. That’s getting blown out.

USF is probably a team that least belongs on a bowl. They lost five straight and had a losing record in their conference. Personally, I would have rather seen a 6-6 and feisty Miami of Ohio team here instead. That said, It’s going to be fun watching Jordan Cronkrite trying to run on this defense.

Prediction:

This is a home game for South Florida. And I’m not just talking about playing in the same town. This is in the same Stadium that USF plays in during the season. It’s going to make a Gasparilla Festival even better having the home team play during it. That said, USF got blown out by Tulane and Central Florida at home down the stretch, losing by a combined 54 points. Marshall is the better team. Where it’s played doesn’t really matter in this case because I think Marshall is a lot better in this case.

Pick: Marshall

dark. Next. ESPN Capital One Bowl Mania picks

Stay tuned for the rest of the bowl picks against the spread, and our DFS picks for the NBA, NFL, and even some NHL action! We have something for everyone!