New Orleans Bowl: Louisiana Tech vs Georgia Southern Picks

The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs will go into the New Orleans Bowl without top QB Luke Anthony, and are six-point underdogs against Georgia Southern for Wednesday's game.

Rohit Ponnaiya - Betting Analyst at Covers.com
Rohit Ponnaiya • Betting Analyst
Dec 21, 2020 • 10:41 ET
Lousiana Tech Levi Bell New Orleans Bowl
Photo By - USA TODAY Sports

College football betting has been absolutely chaotic this season, so why should Bowl season be any different?

Two Group of Five programs that have been through plenty of turmoil in 2020 will end their season in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl on Wednesday as the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs face the Georgia Southern Eagles.

Georgia Southern enters as a 6-point favorite with the Over/Under installed at 49.5.

We break down the college football odds with our best free picks and predictions for Louisiana Tech vs. Georgia Southern at the New Orleans Bowl on Wednesday, December 23 with kickoff at 3 p.m. ET.

New Orleans Bowl: Louisiana Tech Bulldogs vs Georgia Southern Eagles Betting Preview

Weather

The New Orleans Bowl is held indoors at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome so the weather will not play a factor.  Be sure to monitor the gametime conditions for the other bowl games with our NCAA football weather info.

Key Injuries

Louisiana Tech: Luke Johnson QB (Out), Adrian Hardy WR (Out).
Georgia Southern: Shai Werts QB (Doubtful), Justin Tomlin QB (Out), J.D. King RB (Out), Wesley Kennedy III RB (Out), C.J. Wright (Out), Reynard Ellis LB (Out), Chris Harris Jr. LB (Out), A.J. Watkins DE (Questionable).
Find our latest NCAA football injury reports.

Betting Trend to Know

It's been very profitable for bettors when backing the Bulldogs and the Under in Louisiana Tech's bowl games. The Bulldogs are 7-1 ATS in their previous eight bowl games while the Under is 6-2 in that span. Find more NCAA betting trends for Louisiana Tech vs. Georgia Southern.

 

Against the Spread (ATS) Pick

The Bulldogs finished their regular season going 3-4 SU and 2-5 ATS in their final seven games. They are fresh off their ugliest game of the season, a 52-10 loss to Texas Christian, where they lost starting quarterback Luke Anthony to a gruesome leg injury. 

With the injury to Anthony and the fact that Louisiana Tech's defense has surrendered 39 points per game over their last three contests, it certainly isn't a surprise that they opened as 4.5-point underdogs for this contest before quickly moving to +6. 

That said, Georgia Southern also has plenty of it' own problems despite a 7-5 record. The Eagles lost three of their last four games and it's a miracle that they even managed to play 12 games, given that they had 33 players out due to a combination of injuries, suspensions and COVID-19 for their season opener. 

Three months later and Georgia Southern's depth chart is still muddled, as dual-threat senior QB Shai Werts is doubtful for this game and backup Justin Tomlin is out following ankle surgery. Werts led the team in both passing and rushing and if he can't suit up, third-string Miller Mosley will get the nod. 

In addition, two of the Eagles' top runners, J.D. King and Wesley Kennedy III could also be out. King is dealing with a knee injury and Kennedy is facing a suspension for drugs and weapons charges (an arrest that also has starting defensive lineman CJ Wright out indefinitely). 

As bad as Tech's defense has looked lately, Georgia Southern's offense might not be able to take advantage, since they average a modest 26.3 ppg and are shredded by injuries. There are simply too many questions on this Eagles squad for me to back them at -6. Take the underdogs and grab the points in what could be an ugly contest.

PREDICTION: Louisiana Tech +6 (-110)

Over/Under Pick

Both of these offenses have been very pedestrian, even when at full strength. Louisiana Tech is just 113th in the country in total offense with 325.1 yards per game while Georgia Southern isn't a whole lot better, ranking 91st with 364.8 ypg. 

When you consider that the Bulldogs' run game has been particularly brutal and they've been heavily reliant on passing, the injury to Anthony – and leading receiver Adrian Hardy opting out – will really hurt.

GSU could also be missing plenty of their top offensive weapons. And even with Werts under center, they were one-dimensional on offense, mustering a pathetic 102.4 yards per game through the air. With the Under 5-1 in the Eagles last six non-conference games, back it again on Wednesday.

PREDICTION: Under 49.5 (-110)

New Orleans Bowl: Louisiana Tech vs Georgia Southern Betting Card

  • Louisiana Tech +6 (-110)
  • Under 49.5 (-110)
NCAA Parlays

Did you know that if you parlayed today’s New Orleans Bowl: Louisiana Tech vs. Georgia Southern picks, you could win $26.45 on a $10 bet?

Use our NCAA parlay calculator to create your own parlays and see their potential payouts.

Where Can I Bet on College Football Bowl Games?

You can bet on college football bowl game odds at every online and casino sportsbooks, including NCAA football point spreads, Over/Under totals, derivative bets and even prop plays as well. Head over to our best-suggested sportsbooks for the top spots to bet on college football odds in your area.

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Betting Analyst

With a background playing soccer, rugby, and boxing, combined with a journalism degree, it's little surprise that Rohit gravitated towards the world of sports betting. He specializes in betting on UFC and college basketball, two sports where the eyeball test can tell you a lot more about matchups than any analytics. Rohit has years of experience handicapping NFL and NBA games as well as niche betting markets such as politics and Oscar odds. He's also the resident CFL expert and formerly hosted "The Chez and Ro Show" with former CFL star Davis Sanchez.

You can catch Rohit breaking down every UFC event with Joe Osborne on "P4P Picks" on the Covers YouTube channel and he also has regular appearances on "Before You Bet" with Joe. In addition, he's a regular guest on "By The Book" on the Monumental Sports Network and makes guest appearances on VSIN's "The Handle" and CBS Sports.

Rohit primarily makes his bets at bet365, which offers a wide variety of prop markets, but also has accounts at several others so he can shop around for the best prices. For Rohit, bankroll management is key. He believes you should never bet what you can't afford to lose and maximize those few betting opportunities where books misprice a line.

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