The North Texas Mean Green failed to win their first conference championship since 2004, but will get a pretty nice consolation prize. North Texas will get to travel to the Big Easy to take part in the New Orleans Bowl and will face a familiar foe. The Troy Trojans are back to being one of the best teams in the Sun Belt, and both fanbases will remember some of the epic battles between these two schools in the 2000s. That should create a very exciting atmosphere for our first college bowl game.
Watch the New Orleans Bowl live on Saturday, December 16, 2017, at 1 p.m. ET at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. This game will be broadcast on ESPN.
College Football Opening Odds at BookMaker.eu
Troy -5.5
North Texas +5.5
Over/Under 59.5
Odds Analysis
It was an extremely successful season for the Trojans. Troy went into Death Valley and beat LSU and finished the season 10-2 with a share of the Sun Belt title. That was in spite of the Trojans failing to cover the first four games of the season. Troy did cover its last three to end the regular season though. Under was a great bet in Troy games all year with a mark of 9-3.
North Texas had struggled since moving up to Conference USA the last couple seasons, but it all came together for the Mean Green this year. North Texas went 7-1 in conference play during the regular season and made the CUSA Championship Game. Unfortunately, the Mean Green ran into Lane Kiffin’s Florida Atlantic team twice, and the Owls dominated them both times.
Matchup to Watch
The Mean Green have had a hard time stopping teams that like to keep the ball on the ground this season. North Texas is outside the top 100 in terms of rush defense and gave up more than 200 yards per game on average this year.
To be fair to the Mean Green though, they did have to play some of the best rushing offenses in the country. Army’s triple option is very hard to stop and North Texas did have the misfortune of playing Florida Atlantic twice.
Troy doesn’t have a great run game, but may try to move the ball on the ground with Jordan Chunn against this defense. Chunn did average five yards a carry and found the end zone 10 times, and has shown he can step up in big games. He was a big reason why Troy was able to knock off LSU, running for 191 yards and a score in Baton Rouge.
Key Stats
North Texas has a high-powered offense that has taken the school to one of its most successful seasons. The Mean Green have a balanced attack and racked up more than 6,000 total yards this year.
Graham Harrell is now one of the hottest names in the country as a result of this offense’s success. QB Mason Fine threw for over 3,700 yards and 28 touchdowns on the year and RB Jeffery Wilson tallied over 1,200 yards and averaged 6.5 yards per carry.
The Mean Green had one of the top 20 offenses in the country this season and can probably put points on Troy’s defense. However, Harrell has been linked to a lot of jobs, and it’s unlikely that he will still be with the team by the time this game rolls around.
Free ATS Pick
Harrell has been given a lot of credit for turning things around in Denton, perhaps even moreso than Seth Littrell. However, Littrell and Harrell are from the same coaching tree, Mike Leach, and even if Harrell leaves whichever assistant takes over for this game knows this scheme. Still, calling a game is a big step and for that reason I like Troy. There is less to worry about and the Trojans’ peak is much higher than that of the Mean Green.
College Football Odds: Troy 41, North Texas 23
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