Outback Bowl Betting Preview and Pick – Northwestern vs. Auburn

December 31, 2009 by admin
Filed under: NCAA Football Betting 

January 1st, 2010 – 11:00 am EST

Northwestern (8-4, 5-3 Big Ten) vs. Auburn (7-5, 3-5; SEC)

The New Year’s Day college bowl cavalcade begins as the Northwestern Wildcats and the Auburn Tigers travel to Tampa Bay Florida for the 2010 Outback Bowl. The 11am start leaves New Years Eve revelers little time to shake off their hangovers but there are few better ways to shake a hangover than with college football.

Northwestern Wildcats +7 +250 Over 55
Auburn Tigers -7 -300 Under 55

The BetUS.com bookmakers have the 7-5, Auburn Tigers as the -7 point favorites. A straight up wager on the 8-4, Northwestern Wildcats will pay college bowl bettors +250 on the moneyline. The predicted game total is set at 55 points.

Offensively the Auburn Tigers scored 32.9 points a game but that total is inflated by their 41.4 points a game average over their first five games. The Tigers started the season 5-0 but finished 2-5 and with one of their wins coming versus a Division II opponent. During their stumble to the finish line, they managed 26.8 points a game and if we take out their 63-point win over Div. II’s Furman, which drops the average to 20.8 a game.

Auburn -7 vs Northwestern >> Join to Bet Now

Northwestern’s defense held opponents to 23.3 points a game. The Wildcats boast a solid run defense and they managed to sack opposing quarterbacks 26 times this season and forced 26 turnovers, which tied them for 20th in the nation.

This is one of those lines that standout as a surefire underdog play as Auburn has struggled down the stretch while Northwestern has exceeded expectation including upsets over Iowa and 14th ranked Wisconsin.

Let’s have a look at a few trends before we make our Outback Bowl prediction:

  • Northwestern is 8-1 ATS in their last nine games as an underdog
  • Auburn is 2-5 ATS in their last seven games overall
  • Auburn is 0-4 ATS in their last four games as a favorite
  • Auburn is 1-5 SU versus Division 1A teams in their past six games

As you can see based on the four hot trends above, recent history is favoring the underdog Wildcats. Not many people agree with me but Northwestern should win this game, I’m going to take the moneyline but if you want to be a little less risky take the Wildcats +7.

BetUS.com Outback Bowl Pick: Northwestern Wildcats +250 moneyline

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