CHICK-FIL-A BOWL PICKS AND ANALYSIS: TENNESSEE VS. VIRGINIA TECH

Following his dismissal as head coach of the Oakland Raiders last fall, Lane Kiffin landed on his feet when he took over the University of Tennessee program on December 1st.  He’s already made an impact as he’s got the Vols back to a bowl game in his first year at the helm.  Virginia Tech entered the season with their sights set on a more prestigious bowl game, but stumbled coming out of the gate in a loss to Alabama.  They would eventually finish 9-3 after ending the season on a four game winning streak.  The Hokies have been installed as -5’ point college football betting favorites with the total set at 49’.

Tennessee finished strong in the regular season, appearing to draw motivation from a hard fought 12-10 loss to Alabama.  The Vols won four of their last five games and significantly increased their offensive productivity in the process.  The long sputtering Tennessee attack found another gear over these last five contests, averaging 31 PPG and 410 yards per contest.  The Vols defense has been solid in recent years, and anchored by safety Eric Berry who won the Jim Thorpe award as the country’s best defensive back.

West Virginia is led by the venerable Frank Beamer, and is appearing in a bowl game for the 17th consecutive season—the third longest current streak among FBS teams.  This version of the Hokies was paced by freshman tailback Ryan Williams who rushed for 1538 yards and was named the ACC rookie of the year.  Junior QB Tyrod Taylor improved significantly from his erratic performance last season, reducing his interceptions drastically as he increased his yardage and touchdown numbers.

For the sports betting handicapper however, the primary question focuses on the pointspread.  Are these two teams so far apart from a qualitative standpoint to justify one being a -5’ favorite?  In our view, the talent at play here is very evenly matched.  There is some concern that Virginia Tech has been overvalued all along this year, with much of their late success coming against the weak bottom half of the ACC.

Tennessee certainly played a more challenging schedule, and may hold the physical advantage in the trenches.  They’ve got plenty of time to come up with a game plan to contain the Hokies’ skill players on offense, and have developed enough of a scoring spark of their own to be competitive.  Much of their focus will likely be to pressure Va. Tech QB Taylor hoping he’ll revert to his sometimes poor decision making and interception prone ways.

In what should be a low scoring affair dictated by the defenses, the points are definitely the play.  We’ll take Tennessee +5’ and look for the game to play UNDER the total.

Bet the Chick-Fil-A Bowl Tennessee vs. Virginia Tech at Sports-1.