Prizing:

1st Place: $50 Amazon gift card

2nd-5th Place: $10 Starbucks gift card

Overview:

On Wednesday, December 28th, at 5:30 P.M. the West Virginia Mountaineers will take on the Miami Hurricanes in the Russell Athletic Bowl.

The Crowd:

“The Crowd” projects a final score of Miami 31.6 – West Virginia 26.2 with an over/under of 57.8.

2016-17 Statistics (127 total teams):

Passing offense: Miami 273.5 YPG > West Virginia 267.4 YPG

Rushing offense: West Virginia 239.5 YPG > Miami 157.7 YPG

Scoring offense: Miami 34.6 PPG > West Virginia 32.6 PPG

Scoring defense: Miami 18.9 PPG > West Virginia 23.4 PPG

Passing defense: Miami 220.4 YPG > West Virginia 255.7 YPG

Rushing defense: Miami 134.8 YPG > West Virginia 175.5 YPG

Turnover Margin Per Game: Miami +0.6 > West Virginia +0.5

Strength of schedule:

West Virginia is (10-2) with wins over Missouri, Youngstown State, BYU, Kansas State, Texas Tech, TCU, Kansas, Texas, Iowa State, and Baylor.  Their two losses came against ranked opponents in Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.  Miami is (8-4) with wins over Florida A&M, Florida Atlantic, Appalachian State, Georgia Tech, Pittsburgh, Virginia, North Carolina State, and Duke.  They were defeated by Florida State, North Carolina, Virginia Tech, and Notre Dame.

Summary:

Miami head coach Mark Richt announced Saturday that he was suspending seven players for “failing to meet the standards and expectations set by our program.”  None of the suspended players are huge losses, but it’s not ideal to have controversy shadowing the program on the eve of a bowl game.  Miami holds the advantage in the most of the major statistical categories including scoring offense and defense.  Miami has one of the best front sevens in the ACC and should be able to get pressure on West Virginia quarterback Skylar Howard.  Miami quarterback Brad Kaaya is among the best in the nation and should be able to exploit a West Virginia secondary that allows over 250 yards per game through the air.  This should be a close game but I like the Hurricanes stout defense to carry them to victory.

**LISTEN HERE** to the latest edition of “The Berger Shop” podcast, sponsored by The Crowd’s Line.  This week’s episode features an in-depth discussion about the return of Tiger Woods with golf pro Jason Birnbaum.

Note:

To be eligible to enter a Crowd’s Line contest you must be over 18 years of age, a resident of the United States/Canada, and submit your score prediction on our prediction tool (blog widget). The winner will be selected according to The Crowd’s Line scoring methodology.  If more than one entrant has the same winning score the winner will be selected by random drawing.  Only one prize will be awarded per contest and that winner will receive their prize in 5-7 business days.