Duke Football: 3 reasons to watch Independence Bowl vs Temple
By Zach Bigalke
3. Temple is a Group of Five favorite against Duke in Shreveport
The Owls opened as a 3.5-point favorite against Duke when the betting lines opened for the bowl games, and that line has not shifted since. Temple is something of an enigma this season. They started the year with a 19-17 loss at home to Villanova, an FCS team that went 5-6 this season and came nowhere near the NCAA Division I playoffs. Then they lost again at home, this time 36-29 to MAC East champion Buffalo. Then they beat Big Ten opponent Maryland on the road and
The game has a long history of offering upset opportunities for smaller schools, with mid-majors playing power-conference opponents on 10 occasions prior to this year’s Temple-Duke donnybrook. Surprisingly, though, a mid-major has only beat a major-conference opponent only four times in this game.
Air Force claimed Independence Bowl victories two straight years in 1983 and 1984 over Ole Miss and Virginia Tech. Louisiana Tech took down Maryland in 1990. And Air Force did it again in 2010, this time against Georgia Tech.
Temple will be fighting to become the fifth program to take down a major-league foe in the Independence Bowl. They have a legitimate chance of pulling off the feat this year, and it will be well worth watching to see if they can finish the deal and win their ninth game of the year.