Welcome back from Christmas break, fellow sports investors! Kick off your weekend in style by picking up our winner for the Liberty Bowl. Will Arkansas notch a winning season for Sam Pittman, or will Texas Tech's high-flying offense be too much?
Our top college football analyst shares his best bet for Texas Tech vs. Arkansas below. Enjoy the game, and best of luck with your wagers! Let's get into it.
As with lots of bowl games, the point spread on this one has been all over the place. Oddsmakers opened the line at Arkansas -2.5 but that flipped all the way to Texas Tech -3 after a slew of Razorbacks hit the transfer portal. However, the line has since resettled back to Arkansas -1.5.
The total has seen some severe movement as well. It opened at 59.5 points, but there's been nothing but a steady stream of Under money. The total is now sitting 7 points lower at 52.5.
Texas Tech will have to search for its 9th win without the services of starting QB Behren Morton, who recently underwent surgery. Freshman Will Hammond will start in his place, but he only threw 23 passes during mop-up duty in the regular season.
Thankfully for Texas Tech, dynamic running back Tahj Brooks is expected to suit up for this one. That will take some of the pressure off of the young QB. Brooks ran for 1505 yards and 17 TDs during the regular season, so the Red Raiders should look to get him plenty of carries.
Texas Tech's defense had a rough go of it in 2024. The Red Raiders ranked outside the Top 80 in yards per pass allowed and yards per rush allowed. CJ Baskerville was one of the bright spots in the secondary, as he picked off 4 passes.
Sam Pittman is one of my favorite coaches, but he lost six starters to the transfer portal. The Hogs will be going to war without three starting offensive linemen, a starting tight end, and a starting wideout. Some young guys are going to have to step up if Arkansas is going to win its 7th game.
Taylen Green had a fantastic season for the Razorbacks, as he threw for 2813 yards and 13 TDs. Green has a strong arm and the ability to make plays with his feet. The problem is he won't have his favorite wideout in Andrew Armstrong, who decided to opt-out of the Liberty Bowl.
Arkansas's defense struggled against the pass at times, but they were fantastic against the run. The Hogs only allowed 3.6 yards per carry, which ranked 26th in the nation. Linebacker Xavion Sorey Jr. led the team with 89 tackles.
This is a tricky game to handicap because of the slew of opt-outs and transfer guys on both sides. That said, Texas Tech should only be missing two starters while Arkansas should be missing six. The Red Raiders D-line is nothing special, but they could wreak havoc on the young O-line of the Razorbacks.
Some folks were expecting Tahj Brooks to opt out of this game, but Texas Tech recently listed him as RB1 on its bowl depth chart. That's good news that I can put some money on. Wreck Em, Tech!