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Now that Christmas is in the rearview mirror, all the good college football bowl games are starting. It's time to continue our college football odds series with a West Virginia-Minnesota prediction and pick.
West Virginia ended the season 6-6, just making it to a bowl game. West Virginia is led by senior running back Leddie Brown, who ended the year with 1,065 yards and 13 rushing touchdowns. He became the focal point of the offense when became the starter last season. The bad news is that he opted out of this game to prepare for the NFL draft. Quarterback Jarret Doege ended the year with 2,908 passing yards and 19 touchdowns. Those two are going to be huge factors in this game against Minnesota. Minnesota contains one of the top defenses in all of FBS as they allow just 18.3 points per game. Both of these offenses average the same amount of points per game and so this game could be decided on the defensive side of the ball.
Minnesota is coming off a really good season. They ended 8-4 and are fresh off a win against No. 14 Wisconsin. The Golden Gophers shut down one of the top rushing attacks in the nation and held Wisconsin to just 13 points. That is rare to see and so the Golden Gophers now have a lot of momentum coming into this matchup. The only downside is that the games will be exactly one month apart. If Minnesota still has that drive and momentum coming into this matchup against West Virginia, then this should be an easy one for them.
Here is how FanDuel set the West Virginia-Minnesota line for the Guaranteed Rate Bowl.
College Football Odds: West Virginia-Minnesota Odds
West Virginia: +5 (-110)
Minnesota: -5 (-110)
Over: 45 (-105)
Article Continues Below
Under: 45 (-115)
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Why West Virginia Could Cover The Spread
Minnesota is fourth in the nation in total defense. It's going to take a very strong effort from backup running back Tony Mathis. Mathis will be the starter with Brown opting out. He didn't see much action this season carrying the ball just 59 times for 356 yards. Doege will need to take matters into his own hands and create a dynamic passing attack. It's not going to be easy for him and the offense with how tough Minnesota's defense is this year. If West Virginia wants to cover this spread, they will need to find ways to score. It's really as simple as that.
Why Minnesota Could Cover The Spread
Minnesota can cover this spread by their dominant defense. West Virginia will struggle to find ways to score unless we see something new from Doege. Offensively, Ky Thomas and Mar'Keise Irving are the ones to keep an eye out for. Those two have really helped the rushing attack for Minnesota after their starting running back ended his season early with an injury. The Golden Gophers are looking to win their fifth-straight bowl game and third in a row under head coach PJ Fleck. Minnesota ended the year 7-4-1 against the spread and West Virginia ended 6-6.
Final West Virginia-Minnesota Prediction & Pick
This will be the very first meeting between these two schools. It's going to take a full-out effort from West Virginia if they want to really win this game. Without their best players, it's never easy beating a team this good. With that being said, I'm taking Minnesota to cover this spread and win their fifth straight bowl game. Their defense will be too much for West Virginia to handle. Based on Minnesota's last game, I think the under is likely to happen as well.
Final West Virginia-Minnesota Prediction & Pick: Minnesota -5 (-110) and Under: 45 (-115)
