Welcome back for a double dip today. We are not sure we could get the post out tomorrow before the first game was over, so we decided to post the Birmingham Bowl score of 29-10 (Ga Southern with the season sweep of App St) and get ahead of the curve.
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Our first game will have us traveling to, what we are sure is, scenic Shreveport, Louisiana, for the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl. With a 2:00 (all times Eastern) kickoff and aired on ESPN, we have the Sun Belt’s Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (6-6/103), 3rd in the Sun Belt East, facing C-USA’s LA Tech Bulldogs (7-5/70) who tied for 4th. CCAR faced six bowl teams (counting now 5-8 App St) and was just 1-5 (including a victory over now 5-8 App St). They lost to the only playoff team they faced, James Madison. Their best win was against Marshall (5-7/99) while their worst defeat was against now 7-6/90 Ga Southern. Starting 6-3, they dropped their last 3, then lost their head coach (which does not factor in the GCR). LATC faced 7 bowl teams going 2-5 during the season but faced no playoff team. They did beat Southern Miss (7-6/88) but lost to first year FBS team Delaware (7-6/91). They finished the season with 2 straight wins. Vegas sees that streak continuing LATC-9.5 and the GCR agrees at 62.5% and for the Bulldogs to cover.
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At 5:30, also on ESPN, we head Northeast to Nashville to watch the Liberty Music City Bowl between the SEC’s tied for 8th Tennessee Volunteers (8-4/31) and the Big Ten’s tie for 7th Illinois Illini (8-4/26). Similar to Coastal, TENN won just one game out of the 5 versus bowl teams – and that win was against 5-win Mississippi St. The other 4 losses were against 3 playoff teams (Alabama, Georgia, and Oklahoma), and 10-win Vanderbilt – they were a combined 43-9 on the season. The best team Tennessee actually beat was Kentucky (5-7/62) and the worst team they lost to was Alabama (11-3/13). Somewhere between 13 and 62 is the line between winning and losing. Illinois was 4-3 against bowl teams but 0-2 against the top two teams in the Big Ten, Indiana and Ohio St – they are a combined 25-1 with that loss coming in a head-to-head meeting. They beat a good Southern Cal team (9-3/15) but lost to Wisconsin (4-8/79). Not nearly as consistent, or predictable, as Tennessee. Vegas favors TENN-3.5 and the GCR agrees 54.0% meaning that win/loss line is around 22 or 23. The Vols cover.
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Our nightcap, at 9:00 and on ESPN, we head west to San Antonio for the Valero Alamo Bowl. This game features the Big Ten’s tied for 4th Southern Cal Trojans (9-3/15) against the Big 12’s tied for 7th TCU Horned Frogs (8-4/23). SCAL played 9 bowl teams including Notre Dame, who declined, going 6-3. That includes a loss to playoff team Oregon. Their best win was against Michigan (9-3/18) and their worst loss was to Illinois (8-4/26) – see above paragraph. TCU was 3-4 versus bowl teams including Kansas St and Iowa St, who declined. Beating a SMU (8-4/22) was a highlight but a loss to Kansas St (6-6/48) was their worst defeat. Vegas has SCAL-6.5 and while the GCR agrees on the victory at 53.5%, TCU should cover.
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Thank you for your understanding while the GCR is cruising the Caribbean. We thank you for your readership as well. We also humbly thank you for your sharing with others to help us grow. Based on the time of the last game (and the fact that we are an hour ahead of Eastern), the next post for the New Year’s Eve games will be early on 12/31. Until then, be safe out there, JoJo and G.
