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Posts Tagged ‘Orange Bowl picks’

December 31st, 2012 By Jack Wilshire

The Orange Bowl is one of the games on the college football bowl schedule this year, and today, I’m set to make my NCAA football pointspread picks for the ‘total’ in this clash. The Northern Illinois Huskies and the Florida State Cowboys are going to do battle at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, FL. Join me for my Orange Bowl tips for this 8:30 p.m. ET kickoff that can be seen on ESPN.

The question that I have to ask myself about the Orange Bowl this year is whether the Seminoles are going to play defensively. If they do, there really should be no way that these Huskies should do all that much against this unit. If they don’t, this could end up being a dogfight that results in 40 points a side, because the one thing that I do have the utmost confidence in is the fact that QB EJ Manuel is going to put some points on the board against a defense that got some fat and impressive stats off of some awfully weak teams that had no business competing against a BCS team this year.

2013 Orange Bowl
Northern Illinois Huskies (12-1, 9-2-2 ATS) +13.5
Florida State Cowboys (11-2, 3-9 ATS) -13.5
Over/Under 58.5

Many are going to point to the fact that both DE Tank Carradine and DE Brandon Jenkins are out of the lineup for the Noles as a big time problem, but I just don’t see it that way. DE Bjorn Werner is going to want to prove that he should be a Top 10 pick in the NFL Draft, and a good game in the Orange Bowl could do just that for him. This is still a very deep defense with a lot to prove, especially after the unit was trampled at times by the Florida Gators. As we saw against the triple option of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, the gimmicks aren’t going to work against Florida State, and that will remain true against the Huskies as well.

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Take all of the yards and all of the points that QB Jordan Lynch put up this year and throw them out the window in this one. Remember that the Iowa Hawkeyes held Lynch and the gang down to just 17 points, and the Kansas Jayhawks kept NIU down to just 23. If that’s what two bad AQ conference schools were able to do to the Huskies, what are the Seminoles going to do to them with a full month to prepare for the game? Though in the end, the disappointing Seminoles might not show up to play and get run over, I have to think that they are really going to care about this one and get the job done. If that’s the case, this could be a shutout.

Northern Illinois vs. Florida State Picks & Tips: Under 58.5

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Posted in College Football Tips, Football Tipster |

 
December 31st, 2012 By Andrew Ryan

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To beat the Orange Bowl odds, you have to put a heck of a lot of work into the game. Our college football expert handicappers have done just that here at Cappers Info, and we think that we have the winning edge for the clash between the Northern Illinois Huskies vs. Florida State Seminoles.

Orange Bowl Picks: Northern Illinois Huskies vs. Florida State Seminoles
Date: Tuesday, January 1st, 8:30 ET
Location: Sun Life Stadium, Miami Gardens, FL
Orange Bowl Betting Odds: Florida State -13.5
Northern Illinois vs. Florida State Live TV Coverage: ESPN

There are a couple of countering forces going against each other in this game, and that makes this one of the tougher ones to handicap, especially for someone that is jaded by wearing garnet and gold glasses (figure we should get that out there in the first place). This is a big game with a big prize at the end of it, and Florida State has a good history of playing in bowl games of late. The team has won four bowl games in a row, and the only bowl games that it has lost of late were the 2007 Music City Bowl when seemingly half of the team was suspended and the 2005 Orange Bowl in which the club was overmatched by Penn State. Aside from that, this team has been golden in these spots, and that win over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish last year in the Champs Sports Bowl looks darn good at the moment, knowing that the Golden Domers haven’t lost since that point.

Northern Illinois is the trendy pick in this one, and there are some good reasons for that. The Florida State defensive line is all banged up, and that could be the key for QB Jordan Lynch to do the necessary damage to get the ball moving against the Noles. Remember that Lynch rushed for 1,771 yards and threw for 2,962 yards this year, though this is obviously the biggest challenge that he has faced this year. The Huskies dropped oodles of points on teams from the MAC, but the defense still gives us some cause for concern. Remember that this team allowed 19.0 points per game, but we really should discount games against teams like Massachusetts, Eastern Michigan, Akron, Buffalo, and Tennessee Martin. Just count games against bowl teams this year, and NIU allowed 27.0 points per game.

FSU’s defense hasn’t really been beaten up this year in any game that it shouldn’t have been, save for perhaps the game against the Florida Gators. If there is an answer for Lynch, this game will be a romp. The Noles will score against this defense as long as they want to be in this game. If they do, this will look a heck of a lot like the game between the Georgia Bulldogs and the Hawaii Warriors a few years ago, and a heck of a lot less like the Boise State Broncos and the Oklahoma Sooners from the old Fiesta Bowl. Don’t be afraid to lay the lumber with the garnet and gold, as this game could ultimately get ugly.

Northern Illinois vs. Florida State Pick: Florida State Seminoles -13.5
Orange Bowl Score Prediction: Florida State 41 – Northern Illinois 17

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Posted in College Football |

 
January 4th, 2012 By Andrew Ryan

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The winners of the Big East and the ACC lock horns in a battle of two of the least appreciated teams in the BCS, and we are ready to make our free Orange Bowl picks between the Clemson Tigers and the West Virginia Mountaineers.

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Orange Bowl Matchup: West Virginia Mountaineers vs. Clemson Tigers
Orange Bowl Date/Time: Wednesday, January 4th, 8:30 ET
Orange Bowl Location: Sun Life Stadium, Miami, FL
Orange Bowl Odds: Clemson -3
Orange Bowl Total: 61.5
Orange Bowl TV Coverage: ESPN, ESPN3.com

This is going to be the very last football game ever played here at Sun Life Stadium before the Dolphins, Marlins, and all other Miami based events head to the new stadium next year. Neither one of these teams have been particularly great in bowl games in recent seasons. The Tigers have only won one game since the 2005 Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando, while the Mountaineers have now lost back to back bowl games, part of the reason that Head Coach Bill Stewart was thrown out the door at the outset of the season. That doesn’t mean that neither one of these teams are capable of playing well in bowls, as many of the games have been close, and this should be a great test for two teams that seem relatively evenly matched.

Both of these squads definitely had their flaws this year and lost some games that they had no business losing. West Virginia’s two conference losses came against the Louisville Cardinals at home and the Syracuse Orange on the road, and neither game should have been even remotely close. Clemson dropped three of its four games before the ACC Championship Game, and the truth of the matter is that the only reason that it is here is because it just had the number of the Virginia Tech Hokies all season long, trumping them twice, including for all of the marbles when it counted to reach this game. Looking back at both schedules, neither team really had those truly signature wins. West Virginia’s best victory came against a Cincinnati Bearcats team that had lost its starting quarterback in the game, and aside from there, that was only one win on the slate (@ Rutgers) against a team that finished the regular season with a winning record. Clemson at least had some meat on the slate, knocking off the Florida State Seminoles (albeit without QB EJ Manuel) and the Auburn Tigers, it didn’t win a game on the road in its last three tries, and it was blown away by at least two full touchdowns in both efforts.

Clemson knows that it is going to need to generate offense from the arm of QB Tajh Boyd and the hands of WR Sammy Watkins. Boyd threw for 3,578 yards and 31 TDs this year, while Watkins was clearly one of the most explosive freshmen in the country. He had 229 rushing yards, 695 return yards, and team highs in receptions (79), receiving yards (1,159), yards per catch (14.7), and TDs (11). With WR DeAndre Hopkins, the second leading receiver, battling a concussion still, Watkins is going to have to be the big man in this game.

What we are afraid of though, is just how good the WVU passing attack can be. This unit averaged 341.8 yards per game this year through the air, and now it draws a Clemson defense which ranks well, but was never really tested all that much against elite passing games like this one. QB Geno Smith was a Heisman candidate for awhile this year for a reason, as he threw for 3,978 yards and 25 TDs against seven picks. Both WRs Stedman Bailey and Tavon Austin had over 1,000 receiving yards this year, and both are going to be tremendous threats in this game. In the end, we just don’t think that Clemson is going to be doing enough damage with its corners to be able to stop this high octane trio. Head Coach Dana Holgorsen is running a tight ship with his boys from Morgantown right now, and that should make all of the difference for his team in what should be a great game in South Beach.

Free Orange Bowl Pick: West Virginia +3

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Posted in College Football |

 
January 2nd, 2011 By Andrew Ryan

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The Virginia Tech Hokies and Stanford Cardinal probably underachieved this year, but they are both going to be playing on Tobacco Road on New Year's Eve for the first of a four pack of NCAA football bowl games at the Orange Car Care Bowl. Which team will beat the college football betting lines? Check out our preview and our Orange Car Care Bowl picks.

Orange Bowl Matchup: Stanford Cardinal vs. Virginia Tech Hokies
Date: Monday, January 3rd, 8:30 ET
Location: Sun Life Stadium, Miami, FL
Orange Bowl Line: Stanford -3.5
Over/Under 58

Cardinal Notes: This could be the end of a tremendous era of Stanford football. QB Andrew Luck is most likely going to end up going to the NFL after this game is over, where he is likely to be the No. 1 pick in the draft and become a member of the Carolina Panthers. Luck, a two year starter down on "The Farm," threw for 3,045 yards and 28 TDs this year, and he also showed his mobility by running for 438 yards and three scores. The other major problem that the Cardinal might have in this one is that Head Coach Jim Harbaugh might be leaving for either another collegiate job or one in the NFL, as he is the most highly sought after coach in the country right now at either the pro or college level. On the ground this year, the Cardinal really did a great job, getting the ball in the hands of RB Stepfan Taylor quite a bit. The frosh really took over, replacing the departed RB Toby Gerhart, and he rushed for 1,023 yards and 15 scores on the campaign. This Stanford offense averaged 468.7 yards per game this year, and though it wasn't as heralded as the offense of the Oregon Ducks, there is no shame in averaging 40.3 points per game. On the other side of the ball, there wasn't a defense in that country that pitched more shutouts than that of the Cardinal, which had three clean sheets. Stanford allowed an average of just 17.8 points per game this year and was really only blown to bits by Oregon's offense.

Hokies Notes: Virginia Tech could have really just run and hid after just two weeks of the season, as the team was 0-2 and had dropped clear out of the Top 25 in the country after getting beaten by the James Madison Dukes in a loss that was absolutely unforgiveable. However, give a lot of credit to Head Coach Frank Beamer and his team, which surged to 11 straight victories and a 10-1 ATS mark over the course of their last 11 games this year to not only win the ACC, but to make it here to the Orange Bowl with a chance to finish ranked in the Top 10 in America. The Hokies have QB Tyrod Taylor, the ACC Player of the Year on their side in this one. He threw for 2,521 yards and rushed for 637 more, accounting for a total of 28 scores against just four turnovers. The offense for the Hokies really did play well this year thanks to the fact that the ground game was just so darn good. Not only did Taylor reach the 600+ yard barrier, but so did RB Darren Evans and RB David Wilson, who rushed for 813 and 616 yards respectively. The man we haven't talked about yet is last year's ACC Freshman of the Year, RB Ryan Williams, who spend a good chunk of the year on the sidelines injured. The defense for VT only allowed 339.7 yards and 19.1 points per game on the campaign.

The Final Word: We know that the Cardinal have an underrated team this year, but there is still a big time question about the schedule that they played. No one is doubting the way that V-Tech just absolutely dominated foe after foe down the stretch, and they played a non-conference schedule that was absolutely legitimate. The Hokies are the right side in this one whether they win it or not, as this should be a close call the whole way. We tend to think that Beamer Ball gets the job done with a narrow 'W'.

Orange Bowl Free Pick: Virginia Tech +3.5
Orange Bowl Prediction: Virginia Tech 31 – Stanford 27

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Posted in College Football |