Normally speaking, by the time the second to last day of the college football bowl season comes around, you aren't particularly interested in the game. The NFL playoffs have just started, you would have just had those four games spread over the course of the two days, and the next day is the BCS National Championship Game. This year though, not only are you going to get commercials that you want to watch featuring Danica Patrick and some other pretty faces, but you're also getting two great teams to watch battle it out on the GoDaddy.com Bowl betting lines. The Northern Illinois Huskies will face the Arkansas State Red Wolves in just one of the two non-BCS bowl games that pitted a pair of teams with at least 10 wins against one another.
If you liked the Alamo Bowl, which featured well over 1,400 yards and 121 points, this very well could be the game for you. The Red Wolves and the Huskies both played against very respectable schedules this year, yet they still averaged over 70 points and over 900 yards per game between them.
QBs Chandler Harnish and Ryan Aplin are more or less just like a poor man's QBs Robert Griffin and Keith Price. Harnish was a 1,000+ yard rusher this year, and within his first few throws, he will have over 3,000 passing yards, while Aplin did a little more with his arm, throwing for over 3,500 yards and a bit less with his legs with just over 600 rushing yards. Both led their respective teams in total touchdowns as well as in all of the passing categories, and there really isn't anything that either man can't do.
Don't kid yourself about these defenses, though. Arkansas State was able to hold down both the Illinois Fighting Illini and the Virginia Tech Hokies this year, while NIU did its job against the Ohio Bobcats in the second half in the MAC Championship Game to come all the way back from a 20-0 deficit to reach this point.
The oddsmakers are having a tough time in this year. The only strong consensus is for an 'over' game, as the GoDaddy.com Bowl odds have risen from 61 up to 63. The Red Wolves are getting the slight nod by 1.5 points at 5Dimes Sportsbook, but it wouldn't be a shock for either team to win the game.
