NCAA Football
2012-12-22 - East Carolina at Louisiana
A Sports Betting Pick by Addicted
American Football : North America : NCAAF : NEW ORLEANS BOWL
Saturday, December 22nd, 2012, 12:00PM (5:00PM GMT)
PREVIEW
From the Sun Belt we have Louisiana-Lafayette and from Conference USA we have East Carolina. Both finished 8-4 for the season, but I have Louisiana as the form team, thanks to their better finish to the regular season. They are favoured here by 6.5 points.
Louisiana (aka the Ragin Cajans) finished the season very strong, rattling off 3 straight wins following a fantastic performance against ranked Florida, who they almost upset. They gave up 2 TDs in the last 2 minutes and lost 27-20, but they didn't let their heads drop and finished on a run of wins. That is what you want in a side you're betting on.
Finishing with 4 wins in their last 5, the Cajuns have got serious performances out of dual threat QB Terrance Broadway, who has thrown for 2,565 yards and 16 TDs, as well as rushing for 661 yards and another 8 TDs himself. Staying with the strong finish theme, 3 of his 4 best rushing performances were in the final games.
There is going to be tremendous home support for Louisiana as this game is being played in New Orleans in the Superdome, home of the Saints. It helps that Louisiana were in this game last year too, and it's telling that in addition to almost beating mighty Florida, they recorded 2 wins this season over teams that are in Bowl games. East Carolina did not beat any Bowl teams this year.
Scoring almost 40 points per game through the final games of the season, Louisiana has my vote as winners of this game, but I do worry a bit about the defence, and how well it will do if they are ahead and safe late on. The dreaded backdoor cover.
BETTING VERDICT
As you can see from my score prediction, I'm expecting this to finish very close to the number, which I realise is on the lower side of the key number of 7. Still, we don't want to get scuppered by a backdoor cover by the Pirates with the game won, so I'm not going to risk the ATS bet.
I'll go with the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns to win.
The Pick :
Louisiana 34-28 East Carolina
BEST BETTING TIP :
Take Louisiana-Lafayette to win on the ML @ 1.50 (Pinnacle)
