#8 : Independence Bowl from Shreveport, LA

Quaint, that whole tar heel
name thing.

It will be a pair of 7-5 teams this evening from Shreveport, when the Missouri Tigers meet the North Carolina Tar Heels.  Shreveport is up in northwestern Louisiana where the state borders Arkansas and Texas.  Before I looked that up, I didn't  know that Louisiana bordered Arkansas and Texas, and I'll bet that you didn't either.  You just get so much more than degenerate gambling here.  That may become our new motto. 

Or "beats a poke in the eye with a sharp stick".  I'll get back to you on that.

If the story that the numbers tell holds true, this will be a very fine match up.  Both of the teams were 6-6 ATS for the season.  Each had a 6-1 home record and was 1-4 on the road.  They're matched categorically as well.

My pick is NC +5 1/2.

UPDATE
My pick sucked.  It's 41-24 Tigers as the clock heads toward merciful zero.