As mentioned earlier the 2015-16 NCAA Football Bowl Games on Thursday the 31st of December has 3 Bowl Games of which 2 are of the College Football Playoffs Semi-final with the Cotton Bowl and the Orange Bowl to determine the Finalist for the 2015-16 NCAA Football Championship Game.
In this article we are previewing the 1st Game which is the Goodyear Cotton Bowl with the 12-1 No. 3 Michigan State Spartans (Big Ten-East) playing the 12-1 No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide (SEC-West) with the game being played at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas with the kick-off scheduled for 8:05 PM ET and seen on ESPN TV.
Should you Bet on College football then you need the betting odds on this game, which have the Crimson Tide favored at -10, -105 with the Over/under at 46 ½ and -400 on the Money Line, while the Michigan State Spartans are at +10, -115 and +325 on the ML.
If you’re a fan of the 12-1 No. 3 Michigan State Spartans and the Big Ten Conference, the team has its work cut out for them, even with their surplus of talent and tools to beat Bama. Yes, they have one of the better defenses in the nation, one that is ranked at 19th as they allowed only some 20.3 points each game in 2015. Thus, it first goal will be to stop Alabama’s RB D. Henry and that defense to date has only given up some 112.3 yards each game and that ranks 8th in the nation.
On offense the Spartans will be seeking that their QB C. Cook will pick up his performance which to date he has passed for 24 touchdowns and 2,925 yards and with only 5 interceptions. They hope QB Cook can have a similar game as he had against arch rival Michigan back in October when he passed for some 330 yards and 1 TD and did not have an interception in that game.
The offense for the Spartans has not had but very few turnovers, while their defense has forced opponents to 16 fumbles which ranks 3rd in the FBS. The Spartans defense has been great in 2015, but they say the Alabama front 7 defensively is better, but not mentioning to what extent, but be sure they will be pressuring the Spartans offensive line. When it comes to pass rush, the Tide are said to have the best in the nation, one that this season has 46 takedowns on the opponent QB’s. Meanwhile the offense for the Spartans has allowed their QB to be sacked some 17 times in 2015.
Now for the fans of the 12-1 No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide, their Coach Saban and the team are in the same place they were a year ago when they were playing in the CFP national semifinals against Ohio State, a game that they lost.
This season they enter this Cotton Bowl semifinal game seeking to run through the Spartans defense as their star RB D. Henry will be taking on that task, since he is their biggest offensive weapon, being the new Heisman winner who accumulated some 23 touchdowns on 1.987 rushing yards. However, the Spartan defense could slow him somewhat since their strong defense, but against Wisconsin then ranked 4th on defense he rushed for 148 yards and averaged 11.2 yards on each carry in their 35-17 win in that game. Regardless RB Henry will eat up time from the Spartans defense, which will give his QB J. Coker plenty of time to pass out of the pocket in this game.
QB Coker doesn’t have outstanding statistics, but he still has had a great season as he has passed for 17 touchdowns to date, while passing for some 2,490 yards and with just 8 interceptions this season.
The Spartans will have to worry about RB Henry, QB Coker and then there is their chokehold defensive unit that ranks 3rd in the FBS for defensive scoring allowing only 14.5 points each game, then 1st against the run and 17th against the pass.
The online betting prediction for this CFP Playoff Cotton Bowl Game had the Tide overpriced at -10, thus Alabama will not cover the spread but they will go on to beat the Michigan State Spartans 21-17 and head to the final match-up for the 2015-16 CFP Championship Game.