The Vanderbilt Commodores only have one bowl win in their history, and now, they are back looking for more in yet another bowl betting bash at the Liberty Bowl against the co-Big East champs, the Cincinnati Bearcats.
The Big East isn't the normal participant in this game, but with the Conference USA champs, the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles going to the Hawaii Bowl and the Houston Cougars going to the Ticket City Bowl, the Bearcats were able to slip in. History tells you that a 6-6 or 7-5 team out of the SEC usually plays in this game, and until last year when the Georgia Bulldogs were beaten by the UCF Knights, the SEC reps had never lost while the game was in this format.
This bodes well for the Commodores, who are going to be the de facto home team in this game playing in Volunteer State.
What else bodes well for Vandy is the fact that QB Zach Collaros probably isn't going to be able to suit up in this one. Collaros suffered an ankle injury against the West Virginia Mountaineers back on November 12th, and it just doesn't seem likely that he is really going to be ready to go by New Year's Eve. Collaros was considered one of the top quarterback prospects in the nation a few years ago, and he has done great things both as a runner and as a passer for this program.
That being said, it is going to be up to QB Munchie Legaux to take control of the offense. Legaux has a better set of legs, and he can get out of trouble in a hurry, but his passing skills definitely need some refining considering the fact that he is only completing 47 percent of his passes. He is going to be going against a Commodores defense which held Arkansas to 31 points, Alabama to 34 on the road, and South Carolina to 21 on the road before RB Marcus Lattimore tore his ACL. These were all fantastic accomplishments.
The battle on the ground should be an interesting one. The Bearcats are only allowing 2.6 yards per carry this season and 92.6 yards per game, but they are going against a Vandy offense that tries to focus in on the run as hard as it can.
Bookmaker Sportsbook has the Liberty Bowl betting lines all set to go. Vandy is favored by 2.5. The 'total' has been put at 48.5.
