New Orleans Bowl Pick
Which 6-6 team will close out their season on a winning note when Southern Miss faces Louisiana-Lafayette tonight at 9PM ET in the New Orleans Bowl?
According to oddsmakers at BetDSI, Southern Miss is favored in this contest, as the Golden Eagles are getting odds of -6 points against the Ragin’ Cajuns. The over/under total is listed at 58.5 points. These two will meet from the Superdome in New Orleans and the game airs on ESPN. Southern Miss has won and covered in six straight meetings with Lafayette.
Southern Miss won its last game, 39-24 over Louisiana Tech, to qualify for this bowl game. The Eagles were 6-6 overall and 3-8-1 against the spread this season. They went just 1-7 against the spread in their last eight games. Southern Miss surprisingly gave up 30.3 points per game this season despite allowing only 330.9 yards per game. Their pass defense held opponents to just 181.6 yards per game. On offense, the Eagles put up 33.3 points and 471.7 yards per game, including nearly 300 passing yards per game. Nick Mullens has thrown for 2,926 yards and 22 touchdowns to lead the offense while Ito Smith has run for 1,321 yards and 15 scores.
Lafayette closed the regular season on a two-game win streak to get to 6-6 on the year. The Cajuns have also covered in their last four games to move to 8-4 against the spread in 2016. Lafayette gave up 25.1 points and 370.6 yards per game on defense this year while the offense averaged 23.8 points and 365.2 yards per contest. The offense was led by a stellar run game, which produced 180.8 yards per contest. Elijah McGuire is the leading rusher with 1,028 yards and seven touchdowns while Anthony Jennings has thrown for 2,074 yards and 11 touchdowns while rushing for 322 yards and seven touchdowns.
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Southern Miss is 0-3-1 against the spread in their last four bowl games but I like the Eagles tonight. Southern Miss has more playmakers on offense than Lafayette, which usually makes the difference in these bowl games. Jennings had 12 interceptions this year and could struggle against the Eagles’ secondary. I like Southern Miss to be too much for the Cajuns.
NEW ORLEANS BOWL PREDICTION: SOUTHERN MISS -6