Beef ‘O’ Brady Bowl – FIU Golden Panthers vs Marshall Thundering Herd
The Florida International Golden Panthers, out of the Sun Belt Conference take-on the Conference-USA’s Marshall Thundering Herd on Tuesday, December 20 in the Beef ‘O’ Brady Bowl at Tropicana Field.
Date/Time: Tuesday, Dec. 20 8 p.m. (ET)
Venue: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, FL.
Broadcast: ESPN
Golden Panthers @ Thundering Herd by BetOnline.com
Point spread: Golden Panthers -4
Over/Under: 48.5
The game is slated to get underway at 8 p.m. and it will be broadcast on ESPN.
FIU rallied to close-out the season with three solid victories in which it outscored its opponents by a combined 100-42. The streak raised its final record to 8-4 straight-up (6-6 against the spread) and 5-3 SU in conference play. The total stayed ‘under’ in eight of its 12 games this year.
The Golden Panthers’ defense finished the regular season ranked 16th in the nation in points allowed; giving-up an average of just 19.4 points a game. It held its opponent to 20 or less points in nine of its 12 games.
Marshall needed wins in its final two games just to qualify for a bowl at 6-6 SU (7-5 ATS). It knocked-off East Carolina 34-27 in overtime in the season final as a one-point home favorite to finish 5-3 SU in conference play. The total has stayed ‘under’ in seven of its 12 games this season. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Consistency on both sides of the ball has been an issue for the Thundering Herd all season long. They only managed to average 22 points a game on offense and only scored 30 or more points twice this year. Defensively, they finished ranked 84th in the country in points allowed; giving-up an average of 30.2 points a game.
FIU is just 2-5 ATS in its last seven games as a favorite and the total has stayed ‘under’ in six of its last eight games overall.
Marshall is 6-1 ATS in its last seven bowl games. The total has stayed ‘under’ in five of its last six postseason games.
The most solid play in this matchup could be the ‘under’ as everything points to a low scoring game, but despite the Herd’s past success in bowl games, stick with the Golden Panthers and their shutdown defense to win and cover the four points in this one.
The Pick: FIU 24 vs. Marshall 16
