With all due respect to the Jan. 2 TicketCity Bowl at the Cotton Bowl in
Dallas, but neither Houston nor Penn State probably is that thrilled with
playing in the game. The Cougars opened as 6-point favorites on Bovada’s NCAA
football betting odds.
Get all your college football odds at Bovada’s online
sportsbook.
No. 17 Houston (12-1) entered the Dec. 3
Conference USA Championship Game as one of only two unbeatens in the nation and
poised to play in not only the school’s first BCS bowl game but also the first
for C-USA. However, Houston ran into a good Southern Miss team and was pummeled
at home 49-28, thus dropping the Cougars all the way here. UH has the nation’s
top total offense, passing offense and scoring offense thanks to QB Case
Keenum, who holds pretty much every major NCAA passing record. The
sixth-year senior has thrown for 5.099 yards and a career-best 45 scores this
season.
Houston also will play this game without former head coach
Kevin Sumlin. He took the Texas A&M job and has been
replaced full-time by one of his former UH assistants, Tony
Levine, who gets his first head coaching gig.
No. 23 Penn State
(9-3) normally would go to a bigger-tier bowl after finish tied for first in the
Big Ten’s Leaders Division: UW went to the Big Ten title game ahead of Penn
State thanks to the Badgers’ 45-7 win over PSU in the regular-season finale. But
other bowls took Big Ten teams with worse records – and ones beaten by Penn
State – in the wake of the sex scandal involving former Penn State defensive
coordinator Jerry Sandusky. That led to the late-season firing
of Joe Paterno, with current coach Tom Bradley
coaching the team for the final three games.
Penn State had
another off-field issue recently when starting QB Matt McGloin
and WR Curtis Drake had a fight in the locker room,
which lead to a seizure and concussion for McGloin when he hit his head on the
floor of the locker room during the skirmish. Drake didn’t travel with the team
to Dallas and won’t play; he has five catches for 102 yards and also played a
key role as quarterback in the Wildcat formation during a Nov. 19 win at Ohio
State. McGloin is unlikely to as he recovers, meaning former starter Rob
Bolden will get his job back. Penn State will rely as always on RB
Silas Redd and a defense that finished fifth nationally in
scoring and 10th in yards allowed.
This game will be the third meeting
between the two schools and first since 1977. They didn’t face a common opponent
this season. Houston only played one ranked team all season: that loss to
Southern Miss. The Cougars, who are 1-4 ATS in their past five bowl games, also
only played once BCS school all year, a close win over UCLA in the opener. PSU,
though, is 0-5 ATS in its past five non-conference games.
THE STAGE IS SET: Bet the bowls now at
Bovada!
| Kyle Hunter | |
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