Friday's Top Bowl Action
Music City Bowl (ESPN, 3:30 p.m. ET)
Nebraska Cornhuskers vs. Tennessee Volunteers
Odds: Tennessee (-6.5); Total set at 59.5
There arguably wasn't another team in college football this year that experienced as many highs and lows as the Tennessee Volunteers did, making them one of the toughest teams to handicap for bettors all season long.
Tennessee was projected to be a player in the CFB playoffs conversation, but after starting out 5-0 SU, things really started to go off track with three straight defeats before closing the year on a 3-1 SU run.
The 49-10 loss to Alabama was somewhat expected, but when you lose 24-21 as 14-point favorites to South Carolina, and 45-34 as 7-point favorites to Vanderbilt, bettors know this Volunteers team wasn't built for success over the long haul this year.
But now they get to play this Music City Bowl in front of what should be a large crowd on their side – the game is in Nashville, Tennessee – and would love to cap off the campaign on a high note.
Nebraska surprised many in the Big 10 by going 9-3 SU this year, but it's not hard to argue that the Cornhuskers took advantage of what was a very soft conference schedule.
Everyone knows that the Big 10 was loaded this year with the likes of Ohio State, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Penn State all finishing in the Top 10 in the rankings, but the conference was also quite top heavy and Nebraska only played two of those four schools previously mentioned. There was a tough 23-17 OT loss at Wisconsin – definitely the weakest of those four teams – and a 62-3 loss @ Ohio State the following week.
Aside from that, Nebraska got to beat up on the Northwestern's, Illniois, Purdue's and Maryland's of the conference and they took full advantage of it. Yet, the Cornhuskers were only 6-4-2 ATS in their 12 games as they often made things tougher then necessary by letting those weaker opponents hang around for too long.
They likely won't have that luxury against this Tennessee team who can score in flurries.
Early bettors picked up on that idea that Nebraska's 9-3 SU record might be a little fraudulent and steamed this line up to it's current resting place after opening up as low as -3 at most places.
Nebraska's QB Tommy Armstrong Jr likely missing the game also has something to do with that move, and Nebraska wasn't a great offensive team to begin with. If Tennessee steps up and puts up points like we know they can, this game could turn into a route early.
That's why even with the line being at it's highest point right now, laying the 6.5 points is the best betting option here. Tennessee may have had a disappointing campaign, but they've still got most of the talent they had at the beginning of the year when talks of them threatening Alabama's reign atop the SEC had plenty of momentum.
The Volunteers are 6-1 ATS when failing to cover the spread in their last outing, and on a 7-3 ATS run against another winning opponent. Tennessee is also 5-0 ATS in their last five on a neutral field, and with this bowl game being played in Tennessee and Nebraska going with a back-up QB, I expect this one to be a route from about halftime as it will all be too much for Nebraska to overcome.
Music City Bowl (ESPN, 3:30 p.m. ET)
Nebraska Cornhuskers vs. Tennessee Volunteers
Odds: Tennessee (-6.5); Total set at 59.5
There arguably wasn't another team in college football this year that experienced as many highs and lows as the Tennessee Volunteers did, making them one of the toughest teams to handicap for bettors all season long.
Tennessee was projected to be a player in the CFB playoffs conversation, but after starting out 5-0 SU, things really started to go off track with three straight defeats before closing the year on a 3-1 SU run.
The 49-10 loss to Alabama was somewhat expected, but when you lose 24-21 as 14-point favorites to South Carolina, and 45-34 as 7-point favorites to Vanderbilt, bettors know this Volunteers team wasn't built for success over the long haul this year.
But now they get to play this Music City Bowl in front of what should be a large crowd on their side – the game is in Nashville, Tennessee – and would love to cap off the campaign on a high note.
Nebraska surprised many in the Big 10 by going 9-3 SU this year, but it's not hard to argue that the Cornhuskers took advantage of what was a very soft conference schedule.
Everyone knows that the Big 10 was loaded this year with the likes of Ohio State, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Penn State all finishing in the Top 10 in the rankings, but the conference was also quite top heavy and Nebraska only played two of those four schools previously mentioned. There was a tough 23-17 OT loss at Wisconsin – definitely the weakest of those four teams – and a 62-3 loss @ Ohio State the following week.
Aside from that, Nebraska got to beat up on the Northwestern's, Illniois, Purdue's and Maryland's of the conference and they took full advantage of it. Yet, the Cornhuskers were only 6-4-2 ATS in their 12 games as they often made things tougher then necessary by letting those weaker opponents hang around for too long.
They likely won't have that luxury against this Tennessee team who can score in flurries.
Early bettors picked up on that idea that Nebraska's 9-3 SU record might be a little fraudulent and steamed this line up to it's current resting place after opening up as low as -3 at most places.
Nebraska's QB Tommy Armstrong Jr likely missing the game also has something to do with that move, and Nebraska wasn't a great offensive team to begin with. If Tennessee steps up and puts up points like we know they can, this game could turn into a route early.
That's why even with the line being at it's highest point right now, laying the 6.5 points is the best betting option here. Tennessee may have had a disappointing campaign, but they've still got most of the talent they had at the beginning of the year when talks of them threatening Alabama's reign atop the SEC had plenty of momentum.
The Volunteers are 6-1 ATS when failing to cover the spread in their last outing, and on a 7-3 ATS run against another winning opponent. Tennessee is also 5-0 ATS in their last five on a neutral field, and with this bowl game being played in Tennessee and Nebraska going with a back-up QB, I expect this one to be a route from about halftime as it will all be too much for Nebraska to overcome.
