2012 AT&T Cotton Bowl Odds

Written by Jack Jones

Two of the biggest BCS snubs were the Arkansas Razorbacks and the Kansas State Wildcats. Both finished in the top eight in the final BCS standings, but neither will be playing in a BCS bowl this year. Arkansas finished sixth in the BCS after a 10-2 season. Their only losses came to Alabama and Arkansas, the two teams who will be battling out in the BCS Championship. Kansas State also went 10-2 and finished eighth in the BCS. These two will collide on January 6th in the AT&T Cotton Bowl in what figures to be one of the more entertaining non-BCS games.

Taking a look at the bowl odds for this game, I find a line of Arkansas -7.5 over Kansas State and a total set of 62.5 points.

Arkansas

The Razorbacks are coming off a very successful regular season in just their fourth year under head coach Bobby Petrino. He has now put together back-to-back 10-win seasons, and he could pick up an 11th victory with a win over the Wildcats on January 6th. While they were beaten pretty handily by LSU and Alabama, they took care of business in all of their other games.

Arkansas features a potent offense and an underrated defense this season. They rank 24th in the country in total offense (445.9 yards/game) and 14th in scoring offense (37.4 points/game). This was clearly the most potent offense in the SEC during the season. The Razorbacks are also 50th in total defense (371.4 yards/game) and 36th in scoring defense (22.8 points/game).

Their offense is led by quarterback Tyler Wilson, who led the SEC with 3,422 passing yards while completing 63.1 percent of his passes with 22 touchdowns and only six interceptions. Receiver Jarius Wright led the SEC with 11 touchdown receptions while finishing second in catches (63) and yards (1,029).

The Razorbacks are 12-23-1 all-time in bowl games. They did make it to a BCS game last year, but would lost to Ohio State 26-31 in the Sugar Bowl in a nail biter that went right down to the wire. Petrino is 3-3 in bowl games as a head coach as well.

Kansas State

While the Razorbacks could not qualify for a BCS bowl, the Wildcats were actually eligible. Arkansas could not play in the BCS wince both Alabama and LSU are ranked ahead of them and from the same conference. The Big 12 only has one team in the BCS, and that is Oklahoma State. One conference cannot get three teams into the BCS under the current guidelines.

Kansas State’s only losses this season came to Oklahoma State and Oklahoma. They had a chance to win both of those games, hanging right with the Sooners at halftime and taking the Cowboys right down to the wire. This was certainly one of the biggest surprise teams in the country under head coach Bill Snyder, who just recently returned to coach Kansas State in 2009.

The Wildcats don’t “wow” you with their numbers, but this team simply gets the job done. They rank 92nd in total offense (343.5 yards/game) and 70th in total defense (398.7 yards/game). They have been winning by controlling the clock with their running game and not turning the ball over. Kansas State ranks 28th in the country in rushing (193.7 yards/game) and they are +16 in turnovers.

Though he was never in the Heisman Trophy discussion, few players in the country were more important to their team than quarterback Collin Klein. He threw for 1,745 yards and 12 touchdowns to five interceptions, while also leading the team in rushing with 1,099 yards. His 26 rushing scores were second-most in the FBS behind the 32 by Heisman Trophy finalist Montee Ball of Wisconsin.

Betting Trends

The Wildcats are 9-2 ATS in their last 11 games overall, and 7-1 ATS in their last 8 games as an underdog.

The Razorbacks are 16-7 ATS in their last 23 games overall, and 12-3 ATS in their last 15 games as a favorite.

Projected Score: Arkansas 35 – Kansas State 28

Check out the rest of the college bowl predictions offered by world-renown handicapper Jack Jones today.

Comments

Got something to say?