Welcome back sports fans! Yesterday was the last of the FCS game in 2024 (championship in January) and the beginning of the 24-25 bowl season. Let’s take a quick review, starting with the FCS.
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Congratulations to Florida A&M (12-1/124) who won the Celebration Bowl by defeating Howard (6-6/181) thus becoming the de facto HBCU 2024 Football Champions! Behind most of the game before gaining the lead in the 4th quarter only to have a pick six take it away, the Rattlers found the end zone with a 38-yard reception with under 6:00 to go and held on for the one-score victory.
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In the semifinals, South Dakota St (14-0/94) and the highest ranked FCS team left no doubt as they Jackrabbited (see what I did there?) to a 35-0 half-time lead and coasted from there, beating Albany (11-4/138) by a final score of 59-0. The Great Danes were held to under 300 yards of offense and suffered 4 turnovers. That means South Dakota St will face….
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Montana (13-1/126) who beat defending FCS champion North Dakota St (11-4/138) 31-29 in double overtime. The Grizzlies got the ball first that round, scored a touchdown, and used a trick play wide-receiver pass (that was truly hideous to see) that deflected off of a North Dakota St defender into some offensive arms and 2 points. When the Bison responded with a TD of their own, they went deep in the play book for a similar play, but the receiver fell in the end zone and the pass was easily intercepted. Congratulations to both the Jackrabbits and the Grizzlies. We will see you on January 7th.
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In the Myrtle Beach Bowl, Ohio (10-3/49) jumped to a 20-0 halftime lead and never looked back as they defeated Ga Southern (6-7/110) 41-21. The Eagles didn’t help themselves with 5 turnovers during the game.
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Jacksonville St (9-4/64) won their first ever bowl game by defeating Louisiana (6-7/125) to become the New Orleans Bowl champions, 34-31 in a walk-off field goal in overtime. This season the Gamecocks promoted from FCS to FBS and had a season to remember.
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In the Cure Bowl, App St (9-5/59) held on in a defensive battle against Miami OH (11-3/34) 13-9. The Mountaineers held MIAO to just 227 yards of offense for the game and forced 4 turnovers. There were a combined 13 fumbles (5 lost) in the game between the two teams.
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New Mexico St’s (10-5/78) magical season came to an end in the New Mexico Bowl with a loss to Fresno St (9-4/79) 37-10. The Bulldogs won the 1st and 4th quarters by a combined 27-0 which made the difference in the game.
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Boise St (8-6/67) had a great first-half of the LA Bowl taking a 16-7 lead over UCLA (8-5/53) before the Bruins roared back with 21 in the 3rd for an eventual 35-22 win.
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In the Independence Bowl, Texas Tech (7-6/42) scored 27 unanswered to beat California (6-7/50) 34-14. Three interceptions thrown by the Bears sealed their fate.
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The GCR was 3-3 straight up for the bowl games and 4-2 ATS. A perfect FCS prediction made the GCR 6-3 for the weekend. Overall FBS (571-206/.735), ATS (347-308/.530), FCS (384-199/.659), Featured straight up (69-22/.758), and featured ATS (36-19/.655).
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There are no bowl games today, but there is one tomorrow with an early kickoff (2:30 Eastern). This game was supposed to be the Bahamas Bowl and played yesterday, but the stadium there is under renovation so the location, name, and date were all changed. Now we have the Famous Toastery Bowl in Charlotte on a Monday following an NFL game instead of a Saturday before that game. Whew! Anyway, the W Kentucky Hilltoppers (7-5/82) will take on the Old Dominion Monarchs (6-6/98). Here’s the breakdown (note: OER is Offensive Efficiency Rating and DER is Defensive Efficiency Rating):
| TEAM | OER/PPG | DER/PPG | Opp’s Record – Rank | Vs Bowl Teams | Best Win | Worst Loss |
| WKY | 117 (58th)/29.8 | 97 (139th)/28.2 | 82-66 (.554) – 74 | 1-5 (.167) | Middle Tennessee (4-8/99) | New Mexico St (10-5/78) |
| OD | 83 (181st)/22.9 | 107 (91st)/26.3 | 78-69 (.531) – 87 | 4-5 (.444) | App St (7-5/59) | Marshall (6-6/100) |
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Vegas likes Old Dominion -5.0 and the GCR just doesn’t agree (the numbers show the opposite WKY-5.0), so the Hilltoppers with the upset and to cover.
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That’s it for today. Enjoy the NFL today and the Toastery Bowl tomorrow. I’ll be back on Tuesday to report on this game and predict the next. Thank you for reading and for sharing, G
