Kansas State vs. UCLA Bowl Pick
Will the Kansas State Wildcats beat the UCLA Bruins and cover the point spread as a nearly touchdown-sized favorite at 9:00 p.m. ET in the Cactus Bowl?
ODDSMAKERS LIKE: Kansas State. According to oddsmakers from online sports book Bovada.lv, the Wildcats are 6.5-point favorites to beat the Bruins, who opened as 2.5-point underdogs. The total, meanwhile, hit the board at 62 points but was bet down slightly to 61.5.
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THE PUBLIC LIKES: As of Tuesday morning, 72% of the betting tickets were on the Wildcats to cover the spread and 83% of the money was also on Kansas State.
INJURY REPORT: Jesse Ertz is out for the season for Kansas State after suffering a knee injury back in November. Offensive lineman Dalton Risner (shoulder) is also out, while D.J. Reed (undisclosed), Kendall Adams (foot) and Dayton Valentine (undisclosed) are all questionable.
For the Bruins, quarterback Josh Rosen (concussion) is doubtful while Darren Andrews (knee) and Kenny Lacy (hip) are both out. Jaelan Phillips (undisclosed) is questionable.
WHO WE LIKE: Kansas State. The Wildcats are 5-1 against the spread in their last six games played in December, are 6-2-1 against the number in their last nine games after accumulating less than 170 yards passing in their previous game, and are 3-0-1 at the betting window in their last four games coming off an ATS loss.
On the other side, the Bruins are just 4-10 against the spread in their last 14 games overall, are 2-9 against the number in their last 11 games coming off a win, and have failed to cover in seven of their last eight conference games. With Jim Mora fired and Rosen unlikely to play, I don’t know how motivated UCLA will be to win this game. I’m laying the points with K-State.
CACTUS BOWL PREDICTION: KANSAS STATE WILDCATS -6.5