The 2016 Outback Bowl features two teams with contrasting styles when the Northwestern Wildcats of the Big 10 take on the Tennessee Volunteers of the SEC. NU plays Big Ten ball, running the ball and hitting short passes to move the chains and chew up the clock and relying on their stout defense to make plays. Tennessee loves the big play, high octane type offense and would love to get into a shootout and out score you, rather then shut you down.
Northwestern won its first bowl appearance back in 1949 with a 2014 win against Cal in the Rose Bowl and it had to wait a long, long time for another win in a bowl when they defeated Mississippi State in the 2013 Gator Bowl. In between, NU lost nine straight bowl games, however their last win was against an SEC opponent.
Tennessee looked like it was on the right track for rebuilding when they blew out Iowa in the 2015 TaxSlayer Bowl, 45-28, but with five losses in the last eight bowl games since the 2002 Citrus Bowl win over Michigan, the Vols need to get back on track because the future is now!
These teams met one time in post season with Tennessee rolling to a 48-28 win in the 1997 Citrus Bowl.
ODDS
Outback Bowl
January 1, 2016
Noon, ET - ESPN2
Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida
Tennessee Volunteers -8.5
Northwestern Wildcats +8.5
Game Total 47
BETTING ANGLE
Tennessee opened up as a touchdown favorite and gamers are all over them, driving the line all the way up to 8.5. The game total is 47, one of the lowest on the board. The total opened up at 45.5 so a little money, or public money, drove the total up a couple of points.
ANALYSIS AND PREDICTION
Northwestern wants to keep the score down and will stay with their run game as long as they are ahead or close. If it becomes a shootout, the Wildcats are in trouble. Tennessee wants to dictate the tempo with a spread offense and no huddle attack and force NU into playing an up-tempo game, something the Wildcats aren’t very good at. The Wildcats know they can not turn the ball over and must create turnovers in order to keep the game close.
Tennessee has outscored opponents 123-52 in the first quarter and 129-60 in the second quarter. They generally get off to fast starts and their problem is holding on late in the games where they blew games against Oklahoma and Florida. If Tennesse gets off to a good start, the game is over!
The Volunteers score early and often and put the Wildcats in a hole that they can’t dig out of. Tennessee rolls, 35-20.
BookMaker opened the spread for this game at -8.5 in favor of Tennessee. The NCAA lines totalsurfaced at 47. Now you can wager in-game while the action unfolds with BookMaker's livebetting option.
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