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Written by Martin Bishop
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Tuesday, 01 January 2008 |
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The bowl game with the biggest college football betting line is the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day. USC is nearly a two touchdown favorite over Illinois in game that many people do not expect to be close. The Trojans will be playing in the Rose Bowl for the third straight season while Illinois will be playing in the game for the first time since 1984. SBG Global reports that early college football betting has the public taking USC at Home.
Rose Bowl Betting Preview
Illinois (9-3) vs. USC (10-2)
Tuesday, 5:00 pm Eastern – ABC
SBG Global Opening Line: USC -14 , Total 50
Illinois is the only team with three losses to make a BCS bowl game. Now they will have to prove they belong. Illinois was taken from the Big 10 for the Rose Bowl so that the game has the traditional Big 10-Pac 10 matchup. "I think that's cool that that's the way it came off," USC head coach Pete Carroll said. "I think that's kind of what we all know the Rose Bowl to be. We're thrilled to be going to the Rose Bowl. It's a great reward for our season to go there and we'll have a great time." Missouri is probably the team that should be in the game, especially since they beat Illinois earlier in the season. Illinois was the only team in the nation to beat Ohio State this season and they did finish with four straight wins.
SBG Global Current Line: USC -13.5 , Total 48.5
USC finished the season strongly after suffering a couple of losses earlier in the year including a humiliating loss to Stanford when they were favored by 41 points. USC has played much better since the return of quarterback John David Booty from injury. He completed 62.7 percent of his passes for 2,106 yards with 20 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He has thrown eight TD’s and one interception in the last four games. He was hurt in the loss to Stanford and missed the loss to Oregon. The Trojans can only think of what could have been had they won one of those games. "I don't think you can help but think about that," USC nose tackle Sedrick Ellis said. "There's nothing we can do about it now. Now we have to think about the Rose Bowl and Illinois."
USC has the second ranked defense in the country, allowing only 15.9 points per game. What could cause USC trouble in the Rose Bowl is the play of Illinois quarterback Juice Williams. He threw for 13 TD’s this season and also was a solid running threat. Williams had two 100-plus rushing yard games over the final three games of the season and scored five of his seven rushing touchdowns over his last four games. He also had tailback Rashard Mendenhall in the backfield. The junior set single-season school records with 1,526 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns.
Illinois has a solid defense that allowed only 19.5 points per game. The Illini are led by first-team All-Big Ten linebacker J Leman who led the conference in tackles 16 of the last 19 weeks going back to last year.
USC beat Michigan in last year’s Rose Bowl, 32-18. They lost to Texas in the BCS Title game in the Rose Bowl the previous year. It is the Trojans’ 32nd trip to the Rose Bowl Game where they have posted a 22-9 record.
Illinois has been to the Rose Bowl four times where it has posted a 3-1 record.
USC leads the all-time series against Illinois 10-2 but this will be the first meeting between the two teams in the Rose Bowl.
Here are the college football betting stats for Tuesday’s game.
The Fighting Illini are 7-2 ATS in their last 9 games as an underdog. The Fighting Illini are 10-3 ATS vs. a team with a winning record. The Fighting Illini are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 games overall. The Fighting Illini are 3-11 ATS in their last 14 games on grass. The Fighting Illini are 1-5 ATS in their last 6 non-conference games.
The Trojans are 6-0 ATS in their last 6 vs. the Big Ten. The Trojans are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games in January. The Trojans are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games as a favorite. The Trojans are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 Bowl games.
The Trojans are 9-3 ATS vs. a team with a winning record. The Trojans are 19-7 ATS in their last 26 non-conference games.
The Under is 10-1 in the Fighting Illini’s last 11 games on grass. The Under is 9-4 in the Fighting Illini’s last 13 games as an underdog. The Under is 15-3 in the Trojans last 18 games on grass. The Under is 4-1 in the Trojans last 5 vs. Big Ten. The Under is 17-5 in the Trojans last 22 games as a favorite. The Under is 16-5 in the Trojans last 21 games overall. The Over is 9-4 in the Trojans last 13 non-conference games.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 01 January 2008 )
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