The final week of the College Football regular season begins Tuesday night, in Akron, as the Ohio Bobcats travel to Ohio to take on the Akron Zips. Neither team has a winning record this season, but both teams are still playing for a lot Tuesday night.
Ohio is currently sitting at 5-6 on the season and need to win Tuesday night to become bowl eligible for the fifth straight season. Since head coach Frank Solich took hold of the Bobcats, in 2005, Ohio has gone bowling in 10 seasons and have won four MAC – East division championships.
Akron is not playing for a bowl berth, but are looking to win Tuesday to avoid becoming the first winless team since UTEP in 2017. The Zips have flirted with imperfection before as Akron finished the 2010, 2011 and 2012 seasons with a 1-11 final record. Head coach Tom Arth is looking to end his first season on a positive note with a win Tuesday night.
Below is my pick for the Ohio Bobcats at the Akron Zips. All lines are from the FanDuel Sportsbook.
Ohio Bobcats (-27.5) at Akron Zips: O/U 53 points (-105/-115)
The Ohio Bobcats kept their bowl hopes alive with a big 66-24 win at Bowling Green last week. This game was close in the first quarter, as Ohio took a 38-24 lead into the half, but a 28-0 first quarter made for an easy fourth quarter for the Bobcats. The win last Tuesday ended Ohio’s two game losing streak that saw their MAC – East winning aspirations go down the drain. On the road Ohio is now 3-2 in 2019 and 3-0 in conference play. The Bobcats are averaging 215.5 passing yards, 213.4 rushing yards and are scoring 33.1 points per game. Ohio is 3-8 against the spread and the over has hit in six of their 11 games this season.
The Akron Zips finally won a game this season….against the spread…as they went on the road to MAC – East division champion Miami (Ohio) and fell 20-17. Akron is still sitting with no wins this season, but the coaching staff has to be thrilled with their performance last week. The Zips were down 17-3 at the half, but outscored the RedHawks 14-3 in the second half to give themselves a chance to get their first win of the season. Akron will now finish at home, looking to now go winless this season, and are being outscored 31-8.8 in Akron this season. The Zips are 1-10 against the spread and the under has hit in six of their 11 games this season.
Series History: Ohio leads the all-time series 21-13-1 after winning last season’s meeting 49-28.
Pick: I think Akron fights in this one and keeps it somewhat close, so I am backing the Zips +27.5 Tuesday night.
YTD College Football Results: 54-45-2