Saturday Blitz
Fansided

College football’s 5 best bets for 2019-20 bowl season

By Will Koger

TAMPA, FLORIDA - NOVEMBER 23: The Memphis Tigers celebrate winning a game against the South Florida Bulls at Raymond James Stadium on November 23, 2019 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
TAMPA, FLORIDA - NOVEMBER 23: The Memphis Tigers celebrate winning a game against the South Florida Bulls at Raymond James Stadium on November 23, 2019 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 6
Next
STATE COLLEGE, PA – NOVEMBER 30: Tyler Rudolph #21 of the Penn State Nittany Lions celebrates with teammates after recovering a kick against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights during the second half of the game at Beaver Stadium on November 30, 2019 in State College, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
STATE COLLEGE, PA – NOVEMBER 30: Tyler Rudolph #21 of the Penn State Nittany Lions celebrates with teammates after recovering a kick against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights during the second half of the game at Beaver Stadium on November 30, 2019 in State College, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) /

4. Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic

No. 17 Memphis (12-1) vs. No. 10 Penn State (10-2)
Saturday, Dec. 28 at 12 p.m. ET
AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas

Pick: Memphis +6.5 and +210

More of a “feel pick” than anything else, Memphis has certainly earned their spot in the Cotton Bowl, winning the AAC Championship with wins over Ole Miss, Navy, SMU, Cincinnati and Cincinnati again. Meanwhile, Penn State hasn’t done much of anything impressively. Their only wins over top 25 teams were close games versus Iowa and Michigan.

Memphis is a legit top-10 offense in the country, ranking seventh in SP+; Penn State has lost to the only two top ten offenses they have played in Minnesota (No. 8) and Ohio State (No. 4). In fact, Minnesota compares very favorably to Memphis as they are separated by just 0.8 points in offensive SP+ and one point in defensive SP+. When they played, Penn State never led Minnesota once as the Golden Gophers controlled the game. Memphis can hope to replicate that success.

The motivation factor should also be brought up, as it always is when a Group of Five team plays a Playoff short-comer. I expect this game to be close, and when it comes down to the wire, I trust Memphis signal-caller Brady White more than his Nittany Lion counterpart Sean Clifford and I think the Tigers can pull the upset for the Group of Five.

Home/College Football News