The Big 12 North Champion Missouri Tigers will take on one of the more surprising teams in the Big Ten this year, the Northwestern Wildcats in the 2008 Alamo Bowl.
Our team of writers and handicappers break down the matchup and hand out an Alamo Bowl Free Pick, which takes place Monday December 29 at 8:00PM ET.
Oddsmakers from online sports book Sports Interaction have made Missouri -13 point spread favorite. The over/under for this game has been set 66.5 total points.
Top Public Betting Trend: Missouri is just 1-4 against the spread in its last five games while Northwestern is 4-2 against the number in its last six. The under has also covered in four of the Wildcats’ last five games.
Key Stat: The Wildcats are allowing just 19.3 points per game while limiting opponents to just 215.3 passing yards per game.
Game Outlook: Many bettors are going to look at this game and immediately think that the Tigers explosive offense will light up a Wildcat team that played in the weak Big Ten this year. But the thing to keep in mind is that Northwestern has been solid defensively this year and their pass defense isn’t that bad. Missouri quarterback Chase Daniel will look to win his final game as a senior, but we expect the Northwestern defense to keep things close. Defensively, the Tigers have struggled against the pass in 2008, yielding almost 280 yards per game through the air. That spells good news for a Wildcat offense, that loves to set up the play action pass after it pounds the ball on the ground to loosen the defense up. The Wildcats probably won’t take home a win, but you should take home a cover by betting the dog in this one. Our only concern is that Missouri’s spread offense will run amuck on a fast Alamodome turf. For the rest of our College Football Bowl Free Pick, see below.
Our Free College Football Bowl Pick for the Alamo Bowl matchup between the Northwestern Wildcats and Missouri Tigers game is
NORTHWESTERN WILDCATS +13
TheSpread.com Projected Final Score
Missouri 31
Northwestern 21
We also predict that this game will GO UNDER THE TOTAL (66.5 Sports Interaction.com) SET BY ODDSMAKERS