Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl: No. 15 Nevada Wolf Pack (12-1) vs. Boston College Eagles (7-5)
Date: Sunday, January 9th, 2011
Location: San Francisco, California
Time: 9:00 p.m. EST
The Compass Bowl isn’t the only college football betting action going on this weekend. The Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl is on Sunday between Nevada and Boston College. Nevada finished with a near-perfect record and its lone loss came against Hawaii on Oct. 16. The Wolf Pack won the Western Athletic Conference title after upsetting Boise State 34-31 in overtime. It ruined Boise State’s BCS bowl hopes and Nevada, Boise State and Hawaii finished with 7-1 conference records. Nevada set a school record with 75 touchdowns and 544 points scored on the season. Senior quarterback Colin Kaepernick tied an NCAA record with 59 career rushing touchdowns. He also became the only player in college football history to pass for 9,000 yards and rush for more than 4,000 yards. It’s the sixth straight bowl game for the Wolf Pack.
Boston College started the season 2-5 but won its final five games, including victories over Clemson and Syracuse. The Eagles were tops in the nation against the run at 80.2 yards per game allowed. The defense is anchored by sophomore linebacker Luke Kuechly. He was a finalist for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy for the best defensive player in college football and led the country with 171 tackles.
My Pick: The Kraft Hunger Bowl will be the first time these two teams square off. Expect a strong showing for Nevada since Reno isn’t far from San Francisco. Nevada is the easy favorite because of its offense and run away with at least a 37-20 victory.
Money Line (odds provided by Eurobet)
Nevada: 1/3
Boston College: 23/10
Point Spread: Nevada -7.5
Over/Under: 55