Independence Bowl Tulsa vs. Virginia Tech Picks & Predictions
By Anthony Rome
It what will be Frank Beamer's final game as head coach of Virginia Tech, the Hokies will take on Tulsa in the Independence Bowl this evening at 5:45PM ET.
The Hokies are 14-point favorites over the Golden Hurricane according to oddsmakers from online sports book Mybookie.ag. The total is also sitting at 61.5 points for today's game at Independence Stadium in Shreveport, Louisiana.
Motivation is often challenging to gauge when it comes to handicapping bowl games, but it shouldn't be an issue today for the Hokies. Two touchdowns is a lot to lay in a bowl but it's hard to bet against VA Tech in Beamer's final game. The Hokies had a disappointing year, so Beamer's players will surely be driven to send Beamer out on a high note.
This is also a tough matchup in general for Tulsa, which struggled against the formidable opponents on its schedule this season. Back in October, the Golden Hurricane was an 8.5-point home underdog versus a ranked Houston team and lost 38-24.
Of course, that was a better showing for Tulsa than its 66-42 loss to Memphis later that month, or in its 44-21 loss to Navy in its second-to-last game of the season. The Golden Hurricane did cover on the road versus Cincinnati last month, but was a 22.5-point dog in a 49-38 defeat.
Virginia Tech isn't an offensive juggernaut but that won't matter against a Tulsa program that ranked 103rd in defensive efficiency this season. That's out of 128 teams, by the way. The Hokies' offense shouldn't struggle to move the ball today.
INDEPENDENCE BOWL FREE PICK: VIRGINIA TECH HOKIES -14