Posted on 12/31/2007 5:02:56 PM

NCAA Football Betting – Texas Tech at Virginia

By Charles Jay

LAST POINTSPREAD RESULT: Texas Tech pulled off a 34-27 upset over Oklahoma, covering as a seven-point home underdog. Virgnia lost to Virginia Tech 33-21 as a four-point home underdog.

ABOUT TEXAS TECH:

The Good News -- Offense, and plenty of it. Graham Harrell threw for 45 touchdowns and completed 73% of his passes in Texas Tech's "Air Raid" attack. Freshman wide receiver Michael Crabtree was the Biletnikoff Award winner, with 125 catches for 1861 yards and 21 TD's. The Red Raiders led the country with 476 passing yards per game.

The Bad News -- Texas Tech's rushing attack was 119th and last in Division I-A with 61 yards per game. The run defense yielded 171 yards per game. In a loss to Oklahoma state, three OSU runners had over 100 yards. Texas Tech also had a minus-6 turnover margin.

ABOUT VIRGINIA:

The Good News -- The Cavaliers allowed just 18.8 points per game, placing the team 13th in the nation in scoring defense. Part of that stop unit was future first-round draft choice Chris Long (son of Howie), who had 14 of the team's 40 sacks. Virginia registered wins over Georgia Tech, Connecticut, Maryland and Wake Forest.

The Bad News -- Virginia ranked 100th in total offense. QB Jameel Sewell had just nine TD passes in 341 attempts.

Here are some college football betting TRENDS relative to this matchup:

* TT has won 10 of its last 14 games SU

* TT has played five UNDERS in its last seven games

* VA has covered two of its last seven games

* VA has played 15 UNDERS in its last 23 games

* VA coach Al Groh is 3-1 ATS in bowl games

* TT is 4-1 SU in its last five bowls

THE BOTTOM LINE: Virginia coach Al Groh is a respected defensive strategist, and there is no doubt he'll come up with a few twists to throw at Texas Tech's offense. But their run defense (3 ypc) hardly matters here against a Red Raider team that doesn't care about running the ball very much. And who is going to match up with Michael Crabtree? One thing you can be sure of with Texas Tech is that it won't give up - last year's massive comeback to beat Minnesota 44-41 led to the firing of Gopher head coach Glen mason. We're sure Groh won't suffer the same fate here, but his offense is too pedestrian to trade points. And considering, for example, that Texas Tech hung up 949 yards in its last two against Oklahoma and Texas, that may be what the Cavs have to do.

We'll lay the points with TEXAS TECH, the six-point favorite in the BetUS NCAA football betting odds.

WHAT: Gator Bowl

WHO: Texas Tech Red Raiders (8-4 SU, 6-5 ATS) vs. Virginia Cavaliers (9-3 SU, 5-7 ATS)

WHEN & WHERE: January 1, 1 PM ET at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium (grass)

BETUS COLLEGE FOOTBALL BETTING LINE: TEXAS TECH -6, Total: 59

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(Charles Jay of TotalActionExtra.com loves to help people pick winners. He is a regular contributor to the BetUS.com Locker Room)