Welcome to college football bowl season, ladies and gentlemen! Christmas and New Years are right around the corner, and we are lucky enough to have at least one college football game each day to enjoy.
Get ready for the Boca Raton Bowl on December 18th! Our betting preview has everything you need to know about Western Kentucky and James Madison. Check out the live odds and our best bet prediction as well. Good luck, folks!
As with most bowl games, there's been quite a bit of back and forth on this point spread. Oddsmakers opened the line James Madison -6 before sharp action drove it all the way up to James Madison -8.5. However, there was enough buyback to bring the line back down to its current number of James Madison -6.5.
The total has seen some solid movement as well, with most of the sharp money coming in on the Under. The opening line was 53.5 but that has since been bet down to 52 at most online sportsbooks. That move isn't all that surprising when you consider that both teams have had several players opt out of the game.
Handicapping motivation is always a moving target in bowl games, but it's safe to assume that James Madison will be fired up to play in the Boca Raton Bowl. The program is still looking for its first bowl victory, so I expect an inspired effort from Bob Chesney's boys in this one.
The bad news is that starting QB Alonza Barnett was hurt during James Madison's last game of the regular season against Marshall. All signs point to backup Billy Atkins starting for the Dukes under center. Look for JMU to lean more heavily on its running game to make Atkins more comfortable.
James Madison isn't terrible on offense, but the strength of this team is their stellar defense. The Dukes rank amongst the best in the land at stopping the run, the pass, and sacking opposing QBs. Safety Jacob Thomas leads the team in tackles with 70.
Western Kentucky is a proud program with a history of success, but they've had more than a few guys hit the transfer portal in recent weeks. Starting QB Caden Veltkamp is one of those portal guys, but all reports say that he'll play in the Boca Raton Bowl.
While that's great news for WKU, they'll still be without OT Darrell Johnson, DT Jayden Loving, and LB Darius Thomas. While I could see Veltkamp having some success against the JMU secondary, I have to wonder where his head is at since he entered the portal.
Western Kentucky has struggled on the defensive side all season long, and they were just routed by Jacksonville State in the conference title game. Will the Hilltoppers be able to get enough stops against the Dukes in this bowl game?
I know that Veltkamp playing in this game is huge for Western Kentucky, but I could see the stout James Madison defense giving him all sorts of problems in this one. The Dukes rank 11th in the nation in sack rate, so look for them to dial up several different blitz packages. That could lead to several turnovers from the Hilltoppers.
Motivation is hard to predict, but I've read several good quotes from the James Madison camp about how happy they are to be in this bowl. The Dukes have several players from the state of Florida, so that's an extra feather in our caps for this play. Lay the points with the Dukes!
Prediction: James Madison 31 - Western Kentucky 20