Harvey’s 2008 St. Petersburg Bowl Picks

Bob Harvey is ready to cash in with another run of bowl picks to finish off a great year.  Nobody works as hard as Bob does to beat the bowl game lines and that is why he is able to have so much success season after season.  Let’s take a look at his picks from the 2008 St. Petersburgh Bowl in which he sided with South Florida and the UNDER:

Once again this season, South Florida showed it couldn’t “seal the deal”. Following consecutive 9-4 finishes, South Florida was looking to take the next step after earning its first preseason ranking in school history.

Instead, the Bulls couldn’t measure up to those expectations and will travel 32 miles to Tropicana Field for the St. Petersburg Bowl on Dec. 20 against Memphis.

South Florida opened this season with five straight wins and was the No. 10 team in the nation, but lost five of its last seven to finish 7-5. Last season, the Bulls won their final three Big East contests and finished a game back of co-champs West Virginia and Connecticut. In 2006, they won three of their last four, including a victory over the then-No. 7 Mountaineers.

South Florida’s defense ranks 13th in the country, allowing 291.8 yards per game, and ninth against the run (97.7). The Bulls will face a Memphis team with the nation’s 18th-best rushing attack at 205.6 yards per game, and 22nd-ranked offense (432.2). However none of the Tigers six wins this season came against a team with a winning record.Good defense against so-so offense should win and cover. It’s just a matter of how seriously SF will take this game.

South Florida can take solace in making its fourth straight bowl appearance. The Bulls have gone 1-2 in the previous three, including a 56-21 loss to Oregon in last year’s Sun Bowl.