Both Troy and Rice enter the 2006 New Orleans Bowl with 7-5 records. Troy got off to a rough start before coming on strong to reach their number as they won the Sun Belt conference by winning 6 out of their last 7 games. The Trojans have never won a bowl game though and are looking to get that monkey off their back against Rice. History will be against them though as the Sun Belt Conference champion has only won one game out of their last 5 tries in the post-season.
Rice doesn’t have a whole lot of bowl history themselves as they haven’t accepted a bowl invitation for over 45 years. The Owls may be 7-5 on the year, but their backers have cashed in 9 out of 12 times at the pay window. Rice has a balanced attack and has finished the season by winning 6 straight games both SU and ATS.
We are going to go with the OVER in this game as Rice is 8-1 OVER after allowing 24+ points in the first half of their last game and are 8-1 OVER on turf this season. Troy State’s offense has struggled on the road, but their defense has struggled as well. Rice is giving up 32.6 points per game so don’t expect the defenses to do much in this game. I think it goes over easily.
If you want to know which team is going to cover tonight’s game, take a look at what our expert handicappers have on tap for College Bowl Picks.
2006 New Orleans Bowl Best odds:
Troy +4.5 -108 at Bodog
Rice -4 -110 at BetCris
OVER 52.5 -108 at Pinnacle
UNDER 53.5 -110 at BetCris