Very rarely have teams come along who have been as explosive on offense as the Baylor Bears. They are, in fact, averaging more points than anyone in all of Division I college football. They have also broken through to win the big 12 championship, which puts them in the BCS which means that, they’ve demonstrated that they can beat the NCAA football odds without Robert Griffin III in the lineup. In the Fiesta Bowl, they will be facing a genuine upstart program as the Central Florida Knights, champions of the American Athletic Conference, meet up with them at 8:30 PM ET at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, AZ. The winner of this game will undoubtedly have a top 10 national ranking.
Both of these teams are 11-1 straight up on the regular-season, as they did not have to play a conference championship game. Baylor racked up points like a cash register at the beginning of the season and they are so explosive that they have scored 59 points or higher seven times, with nine victories coming by 20 points or more. They covered nine of their 12 games in the sportsbook betting lines.
In the NCAA football odds that have been posted on this game at BetAnySports, Baylor is favored by a lot of points:
Baylor Bears -16.5
UCF Knights +16.5
Over 74 points -110
Under 74 points -110
The thing about the Bears is that they can cover a pointspread like this almost without even trying. For example, they played host to the Oklahoma Sooners on November 7, and were laying 15.5 points in what was considered by many to be their toughest test to that point. However, after being a little slow in the early going they developed some momentum and never let up, eventually rolling to a 41-12 win that may have shocked some people, among them some of the college football bettors who hadn’t been giving them enough credit.
UCF is another team that may not have been given enough credit by BetAnySports customers until they pulled off their signature win, which took place on October 18 at Louisville. The Knights came back from a double-digit deficit to win 38-35, which was the Cardinals’ only loss of the season. Central Florida had previously beaten Penn State and went to overtime with South Carolina before losing 28-25. Some people question the close games they had to play down the stretch, however, as they won by only three points against Temple and South Florida, and beat SMU by just a 17-13 margin to clinch the crown in the AAC, which was a combination of Big East leftovers and former Conference USA teams (of which UCF was one).
The quarterbacks will certainly take center stage here. Bryce Petty of Baylor had 30 touchdown passes with only two interceptions. You’re not going to force him into many mistakes. The same can be said of Blake Bortles, the UCF quarterback who was 68% accurate on the season, and is being looked upon as a possible first-round draft choice.
What may be overlooked by NCAA football odds bettors is the fact that both of these teams can play some defense. Central Florida’s head coach, George O’Leary, is well-known for that, as that is his background. UCF allowed only eleven touchdown passes this season, so it’s not as if they will not challenge balers offense of prowess. But Baylor can play some defense too; opponents completed less than 50% of their passes against the Bears’ secondary.
Get NCAA football odds that are second to none the rest of the bowl season by opening up an account at BetAnySports.