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NFL Divisional Playoffs
Top 100 NFL Fantasy Players According to Our Statistics ($9.95)
Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles vs. Cincinnati Bearcats
by Kris Lazaro
The Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles will take on the Cincinnati Bearcats in this year’s edition of the ‘pizza’ bowl, sponsored by Papa John’s Pizza. The event will be held this Saturday, December 22nd 2007 in Birmingham, Alabama. Oddsmakers have made the Bearcats an 11 point favorite for the matchup.
Southern Miss has a 7-5 record this season, while going a mere 5-6 against the spread. They are a decent team on the road, going 4-2 in both the straight up and against the number statistic. The Golden Eagles boast a good running game, a key to winning (and covering bowl games). They averaged 200.3 yards per game and are actually a better running team on the road (averaging 202.2 yards per game). They come into this game on a two game winning streak, most recently beating the Arkansas State Indians by the score of 16-10 (incidentally, the Golden Eagles failed to cover the spread of 14.5).
The Cincinnati Bearcats have been amazing this year. They boast a 9-3 record with an 8-2-1 against the spread record. Besides being a road warrior (they went 5-1 in the regular season and 4-1 against the number), they are also a very good defensive team. They held opponents to 18.6 points per game, while allowing 370.7 yards to the opposition. The Bearcats’ strength is their run defense, allowing on average 105.7 yards on the ground. They come into this bowl game off a convincing win over the Syracuse Orangemen, beating them soundly by the score of 52-31 and pushing the line of Cincinnati –21.
The author sees this game as a toss up. Southern Mississippi’s great running game will be neutralized by Cincinnati’s good run defense, and while Cincinnati’s overall class will overshadow their opposition’s, this game will be closer than what most people foresee. At the time of writing, the general public believes that the Bearcats will win this game; in fact 94.4% of ESPN SportsNation believe this fact (as evidenced by www.espn.com). The author recommends taking the points.
Game prediction: 38-31 Cincinnati.
