Guaranteed Rate Bowl Preview | Minnesota vs West Virginia
Guaranteed Rate Bowl Betting Preview
GoldSheet offers their Guaranteed Rate Bowl betting preview between Minnesota and West Virginia on Tuesday, December 28. At the time of posting, the Gophers from the Big Ten are holding steady as a 5-point favorite over the Mountaineers from the Big XII, with the total at 45 points.
Stay on top of the latest College Football updates direct from Las Vegas!
| Guaranteed Rate Bowl | Betting Notes |
|---|---|
| Point Spread: | Minnesota Golden Gophers -5 vs West Virginia Mountaineers |
| Total: | 45 Points |
| Game Time: | 10:15pm ET / 7:15pm PT on Tuesday, December 28 |
| Stadium: | Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona |
| TV: | ESPN |
Guaranteed Rate Bowl Predictions
Interestingly, since the Big Ten began allowing multiple teams to appear in bowls starting in 1975, you’d have though that maybe Minnesota and West Virginia would have run into each other before…but they haven’t, with this the first-ever meeting!
It won’t be the Mountaineers’ first-ever game at the Arizona Diamondbacks’ ballpark, however, having narrowly beaten local Arizona State 43-42 in bowl action on this diamond six years ago. Interestingly, that wasn’t a spread cover for the Mountaineers, just like their seven other bowl appearances since 2012, though Neal Brown is responsible for only one of those spread losses (last year’s narrow win and non-cover vs. Army in the Liberty Bowl), with Dana Holgorsen getting blame for the other seven.
Not a very encouraging sign, perhaps, for the Mounties, who are also going to battle at Chase Field minus key RB Leddie Brown (1065 YR), who will skip the bowl to prep for the NFL instead. Even with Brown, WVU barely got bowl-eligible, needing to beat Texas and Kansas (and it wasn’t easy vs. the Jayhawks) to get to the required six wins.
Also potentially working against the Mounties in Phoenix is that offensive analyst Kirk Ciarrocca has been hired by…Minnesota (!)…as P.J. Fleck’s new OC for 2022. Though it’s a return engagement in Minneapolis for Ciarocca, who held the same title from 2017-19 with the Gophers before briefly moving to Penn State, then Morgantown, and his return has generated so much excitement in the Twin Cities that QB Tanner Morgan has already announced he’ll return for a sixth season next fall. (And do you think Fleck might Ciarocca’s brain just a bit for some info on the Mountaineers for this game?).
There looks like a bit more to like here about Minny, which overcame a rash of injuries to the RB corps early in the season (including 1000-yard rusher Mo Ibrahim) to finish on a 6-2 SU run, with one of the losses a narrow 27-22 setback to Iowa in what ended up determining the Big Ten West, before upsetting Wisconsin to win back Paul Bunyan’s Axe and deny the Badgers the division.
The best platoon on the field might be Fleck’s defense which is only allowing 284.8 yards (ranks 4th nationally) and 18.3 points (ranks 9th) per game, which is going to be extra-tough for WVU QB Jarret Doege to solve…especially without his top threat Leddie Brown. Bowls have also been good lately for the happy-go-lucky Fleck, whose Gophers have throttled Georgia Tech and upset Auburn in their last two postseason excursions.
Interested in placing a bet on tonight’s Guaranteed Rate Bowl? BetMGM is offering a $1,000 Risk-Free Bet for first-time bettors in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Indiana, Colorado, Tennessee, Iowa, Michigan, Virginia, Washington DC, Wyoming, Mississippi, Arizona and Louisiana.
👀🤑 @thegoldsheet is feeling the Holiday Spirit! From today until January 2nd, you can have FREE ACCESS to the Gold Sheet.
1⃣ Head over to https://t.co/AXasP2W2lw.
2⃣ Sign in with Username: Free@GoldSheet.com
Password: FREE
3⃣Enjoy NFL, CFB, NBA, and CBB! pic.twitter.com/V3irjZNsEl— WagerTalk (@WagerTalk) December 24, 2021
Guaranteed Rate Bowl Stats
College football handicappers Ralph Michaels and JM Sports have put together a 66-page Bowl Betting Guide featuring everything from first quarter scoring to yards per point to plays per minute. Don’t place a bet on the Guaranteed Rate Bowl before diving into this FREE download.
College Football Daily
Join Joe Raineri, Dave Cokin, Tony Mejia and Bryan Leonard for College Football Daily as we preview this week’s bowl slate. In this episode, we’ll break down Purdue vs Tennessee (Music City Bowl); Pittsburgh vs Michigan State (Peach Bowl); Arizona St vs Wisconsin (Las Vegas Bowl); Rutgers vs Wake Forest (Gator Bowl).
WagerTalk Live Odds Screen
WagerTalk’s live odds screen features up-to-the-minute lines from a variety of offshore and domestic sports books. Track the moneylines, point spreads, first half lines and betting percentages for all of the college football bowl games, including this Guaranteed Rate Bowl showdown between Minnesota and West Virginia, from your desktop or phone.
**************************************************
Looking for more free sports picks and sports betting tips?
- Latest Betting Odds and Public Action: Vegas lines updated in real time, including who the public is betting on.
- Last Minute Handicapping Advice: Check out our extensive library of handicapping tips and advice from professional Vegas handicappers (we also recommend taking the time to look over our sports betting tips video library)
- Want an expert opinion? Check out the latest Free Sports Picks and Best Bets from our team of expert sports handicappers.
Make sure to bookmark all the above!
