Prizing:

1st Place: $50 Amazon gift card

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

Top 10 Winner:

1. davidkrou***@gmail.com (350 points)
2. tmsmith08***@gmail.com (329 points)
3. Tom Bain (329 points)
4. Robert Cricket Miles (317 points)
5. Al Rodriguez (300 points)
6. antwan***@gmail.com (300 points)
7. bco***@comcast.net (300 points)
8. Cameron Butler (300 points)
9. caryn***@outlook.com (300 points)
10. colins***@outlook.com (300 points)

Overview:

On Saturday, December 17th, at 3:30 P.M. the Houston Cougars will take on the San Diego State Aztecs in the Las Vegas Bowl.

Mark May:

Mark is going with “The Crowd” predicting a final score of Houston 38 – San Diego State 34.

The Crowd:

“The Crowd” projects a final score of Houston 36.3 – San Diego State 29.2 with an over/under of 65.9.  The Vegas Line has a final score of San Diego State 29.0 – Houston 26.5 with an over/under of 54.5.

2016-17 Statistics (127 total teams):

Passing offense: Houston 301.9 YPG > San Diego State 145.8 YPG

Rushing offense: San Diego State 273.3 YPG > Houston 157.3 YPG

Scoring offense: Houston 38.0 PPG > San Diego State 35.3

Scoring defense: San Diego State 21.0 PPG > Houston 22.6 PPG

Passing defense: San Diego State 220.4 YPG > Houston 242.5 YPG

Rushing defense: Houston 97.9 > San Diego State 111.9 YPG

Turnover Margin Per Game: San Diego State +0.8 > Houston -0.3

Strength of schedule:

Houston is (9-3) with wins over Oklahoma, Lamar, Cincinnati, Louisville, Texas State, Connecticut, Tulsa, UCF, and Tulane.  They were defeated by Memphis, SMU, and Navy.  San Diego State is (10-3) with wins over New Hampshire, California, Northern Illinois, UNLV, Fresno State, San Jose State, Utah State, Hawaii, Nevada, and Wyoming.  Their losses came against South Alabama, Wyoming, and Colorado State.

Summary:

Houston has some major wins on their resume beating the likes of Oklahoma and Louisville.  San Diego State was without a signature win this season and had some head scratching losses to weak teams.  Houston’s balanced offensive attack should create problems for the Aztecs defense.  Houston has one of the best dual threat quarterbacks in the country in Greg Ward Jr.

San Diego State has one of the worst passing offenses but they rank as a top five rushing offense.  Houston’s strength defensively is stuffing the run which would put the one-dimensional San Diego State offense in trouble.  If Houston’s prolific offense gets up big early this will be a blowout because San Diego State struggles to throw the ball.  Ultimately I like Houston to win by double digits.

**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 with Frank Isola of New York Daily News.

Note:

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