Sheraton Hawaii Bowl Betting - Nevada vs. SMU
by Nick Meyer
Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, Hawaii
The Sheraton Hawaii Bowl will provide an entertaining Christmas Eve appetizer for pro college football betting fans across the country as former Hawaii and current SMU coach June Jones brings his high-octane passing attack back to where it helped turn Timmy Chang into one of the NCAA's best statistical passers of all-time.
Jones brings a young but fast and explosive SMU team to Hawaii to tangle with a tough, well-coached foe in the Nevada Wolfpack, a team that features experience at key positions and the kind of balanced offense that can give any team fits once it gets rolling, featuring the unique and usually effective Pistol formation attack that Nevada was known for basically establishing on the college football scene.
The BetUS.com Sportsbook has odds for the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl at -12 ½ for the favorite Nevada over the underdogs from SMU, and the over/under is also quite high (72 ½) as seemingly everyone predicts a shootout to unfold on Christmas Eve. Rightfully so, as this game is between two of the more productive offenses in all of college football.
Nevada is just 1-3 against the college football point spread and straight up in its last four bowl games, but that means they will be hungry for a big win as the favorite in the Hawaii Bowl.
Their offense is led by big-time run/pass threat QB Colin Kaepernick who has thrown 19 TD's and 5 INT's on the season. Vai Taua averages almost 8 yards a carry as well. The Nevada offense is too balanced not to score against the SMU defense, so the question in this one on every bettor's mind is whether or not SMU can keep up with them on the scoreboard in what is sure to be a shootout.
Considering that Nevada's pass defense is porous, giving up 284 yards per game, the Mustangs will have the ability to score often.
Running back Shawnbrey McNeal has been huge for SMU to add balance to their offense and freshman QB Kyle Pardon has been surprisingly efficient.
SMU also has a big win against East Carolina on the year and might be a little faster overall than the Wolfpack, and that could be a big factor for the underdog Mustangs to keep the game close.
In the end, Nevada's experience will probably win out, but SMU has a great chance to cover the spread in what should be a high-scoring game.
