College Football Predictions: Louisiana Tech vs. TCU Preview

Written by Jake Thompson
Wednesday, 21 December 2011 04:21

It’s time to preview Wednesday’s bowl game between Louisiana Tech and TCU with predictions on the final score.

The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (8-4) are one of the hottest teams in college football right now, and it’ll be interesting to see how they play against the #15 TCU Horned Frogs (10-2) in the Poinsettia Bowl.  We’ll preview how these two teams match up against one another and then use the knowledge that we’ve gained to make predictions on the best bets to make.  Start time of the Louisiana Tech vs. TCU game is set for 8:00 PM ET and the clash will be shown live on the ESPN channel.

Louisiana Tech comes into the Poinsettia Bowl with a 7-game winning streak, and the Bulldogs have covered the point spread in 9 of their last 10 while going under the total in 3 straight.  TCU has won outright 10 of their last 11 games, but they’ve only covered the point spread in 2 of their last 5 overall.  5Dimes Sportsbook has the Louisiana Tech vs. TCU odds favoring the Horned Frogs at -9 on the point spread, while the total sits at 55.5.  TCU opened as a 12.5-point favorite on the spread but has been bet down significantly despite attracting close to 75% of the action according to college football wager-tracking websites.

Louisiana Tech’s Offense vs. TCU’s Defense:

The Bulldogs score 30.6 points per game while displaying great balance between the run and the pass.  Quarterback Colby Cameron (1385 yards, 56.1%, 11 TD, 2 INT) has been great for Louisiana Tech since taking the starting job from Nick Isham, but he’s also faced some relatively weak defenses during his impressive run.  TCU gives up 21.2 points per game on the season, and they may be even better than those statistics indicate after elite offenses like Boise State and Baylor altered the numbers a bit.  The Bulldogs should be able to score a bit on TCU but they’ll have to avoid turnovers if they want to be successful.

TCU’s Offense vs. Louisiana Tech’s Defense:

The Horned Frogs are nearly impossible to stop on offense and they come into the Poinsettia Bowl averaging 41.7 points on 233.8 passing and 210.2 rushing yards each game.  Passing teams have been the kryptonite of the Louisiana Tech defense this year and TCU looks capable of beating their secondary if they have problems getting the rushing attack started.  The Bulldogs are very sound on defense but they also have faced a weaker slate that doesn’t have the firepower that the Horned Frogs possess.

Louisiana Tech vs. TCU Predictions:

I believe that TCU has too many ways to beat opposing teams, and that ultimately they’ll come out ahead.  Predictions here call for the Bulldogs to be exposed a bit even if they are still in the game when the 3rd quarter ends.  The better team will eventually start to take over and I expect the Horned Frogs to pull away late after tiring their Poinsettia Bowl adversary.  This is a tough game to make betting predictions on, but my recommendation is to go with the over to hit after Louisiana Tech adds on a late score.

Bet on the 2011 Poinsettia Bowl between TCU and Louisiana Tech at 5Dimes Sportsbook and receive a 50% cash bonus on top of your first deposit by clicking our link to get signed up!

Louisiana Tech 24

TCU 34