Team Beats Bowl At Football

NCAA Football Betting Lines

Shreveport, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - James Franklin ran for two touchdowns and threw for another, leading Missouri to a 41-24 win over North Carolina in Monday's Independence Bowl. Franklin finished with 142 yards on the ground and 132 through the air for the Tigers (8-5), who used 31 straight first-half points to grab a decisive advantage. They recorded four straight wins to close the season, their last in the Big 12 before a move to the SEC.

 

North Carolina scored on its opening drive, capitalizing on Sean Tapley's kickoff return to midfield with Renner's 22-yard touchdown pass to Dwight Jones.

 

Franklin capped Missouri's next drive with a two-yard touchdown plunge and Trey Barrow hit a 31-yard field goal early in the second quarter before the Tigers capitalized on a pair of UNC turnovers prior to the break.

 

Giovani Bernard's fumble at the UNC 40 was converted into Franklin's eight- yard TD strike to Jerell Jackson and an interception by Zaviar Gooden resulted in Kendial Lawrence's nine-yard scoring run.

 

The teams traded touchdowns in the third quarter, as Renner hit Boyd for a 44- yard score and Franklin crossed the goal line from two yards out the ensuing drive.

 

Game Notes

 

This game marks Louisville's 16th postseason appearance. The Cardinals are 7-7-1 in bowl games all-time.

 

The Wolfpack are making their 26th bowl appearance. The team is 13-11-1 all- time in the postseason. The team has won four of its last five bowl games, including a 23-7 decision over West Virginia in last year's Champs Sports Bowl.

 

Louisville has won all three previous meetings with NC State on the gridiron.

 

Freshman quarterback Teddy Bridgewater completed an impressive 66.0 percent of his passes this year, but threw for just 1,855 yards, with 12 TDs against nine INTs.

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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

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