The Minnesota Golden Gophers and West Virginia Mountaineers clash Tuesday in the college football Guaranteed Rate Bowl from Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona.
The West Virginia Mountaineers come to the bowl game on behalf of the Big 12 after finishing the season at 6-6. Jarret Doege has thrown for 2,908 yards, 19 touchdowns and 11 interceptions while Leddie Brown has a team-high 1,065 rushing yards and 13 rushing TDs. Winston Wright leads the Mountaineers with 672 receiving yards on 60 catches while Bryce Ford-Wheaton has 560 receiving yards and Sam James has 465 receiving yards. On defense, Josh Chandler-Semedo has a team-high 104 total tackles while Dante Stills has a team-high 6 sacks and Taijh Alston has 5 sacks as well.
The Minnesota Golden Gophers come into this one representing the Big Ten after going 8-4 in the regular season. Tanner Morgan has thrown for 1,935 yards, 10 touchdowns and 8 picks on 59.7% passing while Ky Thomas leads Minnesota in rushing with 680 rushing yards and 5 TDs and Mar’Keise Irving has 570 rushing yards and 4 scores. Chris Autman-Bell has a team-high 35 grabs for 490 yards and 6 TDs while Dylan Wright while Mike Brown-Stephens and Dylan Wright each have 300+ receiving yards and two more Golden Gophers have at least 200 receiving yards this season. On defense, Jack Gibbens has a team-high 86 total tackles while Boye Mafe has a team-high 6 sacks and Thomas Rush is right behind with 5.5 sacks.
West Virginia is 0-4 ATS in their last 4 neutral site games as an underdog and 3-14-1 ATS in their last 18 games in December while the under is 5-1 in their last 6 games on grass. Minnesota is 4-0 ATS in their last 4 bowl games and 5-0 ATS in their last 5 games in December while the under is 6-2 in their last 8 games following a win.
I think it’s safe to say there are better options to try to make some money on the card for this day of games, but if forced to pick, I’d side with the under. These are two teams with subpar offenses that will likely struggle to move the football against a pair of rock solid defensive units. This could be a 24-17 kind of game, so give me the under in this one.