The Houston Cougars are slight betting favorites on Saturday, December 17th as they take on the San Diego State Aztecs in the Las Vegas Bowl on ABC. The Cougars are 9-3 while the Aztecs are 10-3. The Cougars feature an offense led by quarterback Greg Ward Jr. while the Aztecs feature a defense that is giving up just 21 points per contest. Let’s look at the College Football Betting contest and Las Vegas Bowl picks.
The Cougars play the Aztecs in the Las Vegas Bowl on Saturday, December 17th with a start time of 3:30 pm Eastern on ABC.
Las Vegas Bowl Odds
Houston -3.5, total 54.5
Houston vs. San Diego State
The Cougars won 9 games this sports betting season but the season was really a disappointment as the team was thought to be a national title contender. Houston will be without their head coach Tom Herman who left for Texas. Defensive coordinator Todd Orlando will be coaching this game. The Cougars were highly ranked after beating Oklahoma but things went downhill from there as the Cougars went 4-3 the rest of the way. The Cougars were led this season by Greg Ward Jr. who threw for 3,328 yards and 22 TDs. He also rushed for 518 yards and 9 TDs.
Houston averaged 38 points per game and allowed just 23 points per contest. It is surprising with those numbers that they didn’t win at least 10 games. The key for Houston will be stopping the San Diego State rushing attack.
San Diego State won the Mountain West Conference including winning the title game against Wyoming. The Aztecs offense is led by running back Donnel Pumphrey who was second in the country in rushing yards at 2,018. He had 88 more carries than the entire San Diego State team had passing attempts. He accounted for over 40% of the offense.
The Aztecs will need quarterback Christian Chapman to do something in this game if San Diego State is to win as the Cougars will be stacking the line to stop Pumphrey.
Both of these defenses are very solid. The Cougars ranked 27th in the country, allowing just 22.6 points per game while the Aztecs allowed just 21 points per game which was 19th in the country.
Game Trends
The Cougars are 8-2 ATS in their last 10 neutral site games. The Cougars are 16-5 ATS in their last 21 non-conference games. The Cougars are 1-6 ATS in their last 7 games overall. The Aztecs are 2-6 ATS in their last 8 games in December. The Aztecs are 2-9-1 ATS in their last 12 non-conference games.
The Over is 5-1 in the Cougars last 6 games in December. The Over is 4-1 in the Cougars last 5 Bowl games. The Over is 5-1 in the Aztecs last 6 games overall. The Over is 5-2 in the Aztecs last 7 non-conference games.
Las Vegas Bowl Picks
The Cougars and Aztecs are both good on defense and Houston will be coached by their defensive coordinator in this one. I will take this game under the total.
