The 44th Independence Bowl will take place in Shreveport as the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs face off against the Miami Hurricanes. Louisiana Tech has a 2-1-1 overall record in this bowl, while Miami is 0-1 in Shreveport.
Louisiana Tech ended the regular season with a 9-3 overall record and a 6-2 record in Conference USA. The Bulldogs missed out on the conference championship game thanks to a loss to UAB a few weeks back. La Tech will be making their sixth straight bowl appearance and will look to make it six straight wins. The Bulldogs are 7-3-1 all-time in bowl games.
Miami went 6-6 overall in 2019 and finished just 4-4 in the weak ACC – Coastal division. Regardless, the Hurricanes will be bowling for the seventh straight year and will look to end their two game skid in bowls. The Hurricanes are 19-21 all-time in bowl games.
Below is my pick for the Independence Bowl between the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs and the Miami Hurricanes. All lines are from the PointsBet Sportsbook.
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs vs Miami Hurricanes (-6): O/U 50 points (-110/-110)
La Tech finished their regular season with a 41-27 win over the UTSA Roadrunners. UTSA was leading 17-15 in the second quarter, but the Bulldogs scored 17 unanswered points to take control of the game. Louisiana Tech lost two of their final three games to cost themselves a shot at a conference championship. The Bulldogs went 3-3 away from Ruston this season. Louisiana Tech is 7-5 against the spread and the over has hit in six of their 11 games with a total this season.
Miami finished their regular season with a 10 points loss at the Duke Blue Devils. The Hurricanes led 17-3 early in the fourth quarter, but Duke scored 14 points in three minutes to take the lead and win the game. Miami lost two straight games to end the season to finish with a poor 6-6 record. The Hurricanes went 2-4 away from Miami this season. Miami is 6-6 against the spread and both the over and under have both hit in six games this season.
Series History: These two teams have not met since 2014, but Miami leads the all-time series 4-0.
Game Prediction: I expect Louisiana Tech +6 to cover.
YTD College Football Results: 68-57-2