On paper, the unstoppable force meets immovable object in Fort Worth, as the nation’s No. 2 rushing offense faces the top run defense. Air Force has made the triple option its identity for years (as have the other service academies), to the point where the Falcons barely bother to pass. But this marks the best run defense Air Force has seen all season, and it comes with the Falcons on a four-game losing streak.
A 7-5 season certainly isn’t bad by the Blue Devils’ standards, but Duke’s gotten one bad thing after another since September.
The biggest question with this game is simple: which team really wants to be here? UCLA clearly didn’t look like a team that wanted anything to do with its season finale, and things aren’t a lot better in Boise.
New Orleans Bowl: Jacksonville State vs. Louisiana: Expert Pick and Prediction – December 16, 2023
The knock on Jacksonville State has been clear from Week 1: if you want to beat the Gamecocks, you do it by throwing the football. And that’s not what Louisiana does well.
Florida A&M was denied a chance to play for the HBCU national title in 2019 because of sanctions. Now the Rattlers are back with a chance to make up for that year.
Army’s still got plenty to play for as it looks to secure the Commander in Chief’s Trophy for the fifth time in seven years. The Mids can’t win the Commander in Chief’s trophy given that they lost to Air Force, but they can deny it to Army, which would be just as satisfying.
The defenses are ahead of the offenses here, and neither team is likely to put up huge numbers. Florida State has to try to do so, but the Seminoles are really in no position to do that without Jordan Travis.
It’s hard to pick against either of these teams for different reasons. On one hand, Georgia has dominated for the past two years and plays its best football against the best teams on its schedule. On the other, Alabama keeps finding ways to hang around when it should have been dead and buried by now.
Oregon has been a cover machine and has looked far superior to Washington over the past six weeks. But are the Ducks really a full 10 points better than the Huskies at this point?