Prizing:

1st Place: $50 Amazon gift card

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

Overview:

On Thursday, December 29th, at 9:00 P.M. the Oklahoma State Cowboys will take on the Colorado Buffaloes in the Alamo Bowl.

The Crowd:

“The Crowd” projects a final score of Oklahoma State 31.7 – Colorado 30.9 with an over/under of 62.6.  The Vegas Line has a final score of Colorado 32.8 – Oklahoma State 29.8 with an over/under of 62.5.

2016-17 Statistics (127 total teams):

Passing offense: Oklahoma State 322.8 YPG > Colorado 254.4 YPG

Rushing offense: Colorado 191.9 YPG > Oklahoma State 169.3 YPG

Scoring offense: Oklahoma State 38.7 PPG > Colorado 32.8 PPG

Scoring defense: Colorado 20.5 PPG > Oklahoma State 28.1 PPG

Passing defense: Colorado 182.0 YPG > Oklahoma State 252.6 YPG

Rushing defense: Colorado 146.3 YPG > Oklahoma State 204.4 YPG

Turnover Margin Per Game: Colorado +0.6 = Oklahoma State +0.6

Strength of schedule:

Oklahoma State is (9-3) with wins over Southeastern Louisiana, Pittsburgh, Texas, Iowa State, Kansas, West Virginia, Kansas State, Texas Tech, and TCU.  Their losses came against Central Michigan, Baylor, and Oklahoma.  Colorado is (10-3) with wins over Colorado State, Idaho State, Oregon, Oregon State, Arizona State, Stanford, UCLA, Arizona, Washington State, and Utah.  They were defeated by Michigan, USC, and Washington.

Summary:

This is one of the most intriguing bowl match-ups of the year as Oklahoma State’s prolific offense will try to put up points against the hard-nosed defense of Colorado.  Colorado quarterback Sefo Liufau suffered an ankle injury in the PAC-12 championship which played a huge factor in their blowout loss to Washington.  In fact, Liufau was been banged up in all of Colorado’s losses but he is a huge difference maker when healthy.  The Buffaloes have an excellent running back in Phillip Lindsay who ranked among the leaders with his 16 touchdowns.

Oklahoma State was also blown out in their final game of the year against the Oklahoma Sooners.  Big-12 teams are never known for their defensive identity but the Cowboys can put up points with anyone.  Oklahoma State’s 322.8 passing yards per game ranks them in the top ten.  Colorado’s defense is strong against both the pass and the run which certainly gives them a big advantage.  I think this game will be close as these teams nearly has an identical point differential.  I like Colorado to win this one because they are more balanced on both sides of the ball

**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:

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