2012 GoDaddy.com Bowl Odds

Written by Jack Jones

The Arkansas State Red Wolves take on the Northern Illinois Fighting Illini on January 8th in the GoDaddy.com Bowl. This game takes place just one night before top-ranked LSU takes on No. 2 Alabama in the BCS title game. These are two of the hottest teams in the country. Arkansas State won the Sun Belt title and has won nine straight coming in, while Northern Illinois won the MAC title thanks to an eight-game winning streak.

According to the latest college bowl odds, Arkansas State is a 1.5-point favorite over Northern Illinois with a total set of 63 points.

Arkansas State

The Red Wolves are one of the better teams in the country that not too many folks know about. Arkansas State (10-2, 8-0 Sun Belt) suffered their only two losses of the season to Illinois and Virginia Tech early, both on the road. They have registered their first 10-win season since 1986.

Arkansas State ranks 23rd in the country in total offense (453.5 yards/game) and 27th in scoring (33.5 points/game). The Red Wolves also feature a stop unit that ranks 20th in the land in total defense (325.7 yards/game) and 14th in scoring (19.3 points/game. Their strength offensively is a passing attack that averages 288.7 yards/game. Their strength defensively is a run defense that yields a mere 107.3 yards/game.

Their offense is led by Sun Belot offensive player of the year Ryan Aplin, who is completing 65.6 percent of his passes for 3,235 yards with 18 touchdowns and 13 interceptions on the season. Aplin also leads the team in rushing with 605 yards and nine scores on the ground. His favorite target is star receiver Dwayne Frampton, who set school records with 90 receptions and 1,125 yards to go along with six touchdowns.

The Red Wolves also have the Sun Belt defensive player of the year in defensive end Brandon Joiner, who has 12 sacks on the season. The senior will be trying to lead his team to victory without the services of head coach Hugh Freeze, who left to take the head coaching job at Mississippi. Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn has been named their next head coach, though assistant David Gunn will lead the team in Mobile. This will only be their second-ever bowl appearance, losing in the 2005 New Orleans Bowl to Southern Miss by a final of 19-31.

Northern Illinois

The Huskies have been one of the most exciting teams to watch all season. Northern Illinois (10-3, 7-1 MAC) lived up to that with a 23-20 come-from-behind victory over Ohio in the MAC title game. Trailing 20-0 at halftime, the Huskies outscoring the Bobcats 23-0 after intermission to steal the championship trophy.

Northern Illinois is exciting because of an offense that has scored 40 or more points in nine games. UNI ranks ninth in the country in total offense (481.8 yards/game) behind a balanced attack that averages 247.6 yards on the ground and 234.2 yards through the air. Their problem is on defense, where they rank 84th in yards allowed (417.9/game).

You will get to witness one of the finest players in college football on January 8th. MAC offensive player of the year Chandler Harnish owns 20 school records and he’s one of the most versatile quarterbacks in the nation. He completed 62.9 percent of his passes for 2,942 yards and 26 touchdowns to five interceptions, while also leading the team with 1,382 rushing yards and 11 scores.

The Huskies have been to six bowl games all-time, going 3-3 in those games. This will be their fourth straight bowl appearance, and their fifth in the last seven years. They beat Fresno State 40-17 last year in the Humanitarian Bowl after losing in the conference title game. First-year head coach Dave Doeren has done an excellent job this season, delivering a MAC title to NIU for the first time in school history. He will be coaching in his first bowl game.

Betting Trends

The Red Wolves are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games overall, but just 1-5 ATS in their last 6 games as a favorite of 3.0 or less.

The Huskies are 5-14 ATS in their last 19 vs. a team with a winning record, and only 1-8 ATS in their last 9 neutral site games.

Projected Score: Arkansas State 32 – Northern Illinois 31

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Comments

One Response to “2012 GoDaddy.com Bowl Odds”

T Gorman on January 5th, 2012 1:22 PM

Who wrote this article? Who proffed it? Northern Illinois are the Huskies not the fighting illini

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