2006 Poinsettia Bowl Picks

The Horned Frogs from Texas Christian and the Huskies of Northern Illinois will be playing in the 2006 Poinsettia Bowl, sponsored by San Diego County Credit Union. The game goes on Tuesday, December 19th at 8pm EST at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California. This is the first game of the bowl season and will be televised on ESPN2.

TCU came on strong at the end of the season in winning six straight games. They have now won 20 of their last 23 matchups and have one of the nation’s best defenses. That defense is in the top-10 nationally in run defense, scoring defense, and total defense. TCU is no stranger to the bowl season as they have now made 8 bowls in the last 9 years.

Northern Illinois finished 7-5 and 5-3 in the MAC, but they are coming off a pair of nice wins, including a blowout over the West Division champs in Central Michigan. The Huskies also have the NCAA’s leading rusher in their backfield in Garret Wolfe. Wolfe put up 1,900 rushing yards this season after an incredibly fast start. It should be a good matchup against this tough TCU run defense. Northern Illinois now has had 7 straight winning seasons and have made bowls in 2 out of the last 3 years.

Free Pick: With our free pick we are going to take the OVER in this matchup. We know TCU has a tough defense, but the Horned Frogs are 6-0 OVER after leading their previous two games by 14+ points at the half the last 3 seasons and they are 10-2 OVER off 3 straight wins against conference rivals. Both of these teams are putting up nearly 28 ppg on the year and with both looking to shine in the national spotlight of the year’s first bowl, expect both offenses to pull out all the stops. Ride the OVER all the way to the bank.

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.

Poinsettia Bowl Best odds:

Northern Illinois +12.5 at Bodog
TCU -11.5 at BetCris

OVER 47 -101 at Pinnacle
UNDER 47 -109 at Pinnacle