Owls of Temple vs. Cougars of Houston AAC Championship Betting Odds. With the 2015-16 NCAA Regular Season ending its time to move on to the Conference Championship games that we have been previewing, and now have the match-up on Saturday the 5th of December 2015 between the American Athletic Conference Division winners as the AAC-East Champs the AP No. 20 Owls of Temple 10-2 (AAC 7-1) play the AAC-West Champs the AP No. 17 Cougars of Houston 11-1 (AAC 7-1) with the game being played at the TDECU Stadium in Houston, Texas with kick-off scheduled for 12:05 PM ET and seen on ESPN TV.
For those that Bet on College football at a sportsbook, the early odds have the Cougars of Houston listed as the favorites at -5 ½ and the Over/under at 54 ½ and -225 on the Money Line, while the listed underdog Owls of Temple are +5 ½ and +170 on the ML.
The Owls lost out on the CFP’s with their loss in October to the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame, but they have finished their season with their ticket to this seasons ACC Championship game against the Cougars of Houston. Similar to the Owls, the Cougars are out of any playoff hopes, but now playing for the Title in this game and a spot in the 6 Bowl Games on New Year’s Day.
For the avid fans of the (10-2, 7-1 AAC) Owls of Temple, you know your team is back in the AP Top 25 again after completing 2 consecutive wins over U Conn and then No. 21 Memphis. Now their goal is to take the Title for this ACC Conference overall as the beat the West Champion Cougars in this Title game on Saturday the 5th of December 2015.
The Owls have to thank their defense this season, a unit that has suffocated opponents for the scoring of points, and that includes UConn which they held to just 136 total yards in the Owls 27-3 last week. That was the 4th game this season in which they held their opponents to less than 200 yards offense in a game. However, in this game with the Cougars they will get their real test, since the Cougar offense is 2nd in the AAC at scoring each game an average of some 42 points.
On offense Temple as a well balance ground and air attack scheme that will score points this Saturday, as their QB P. Walker this season as passed for some 205 yards per game and 18 touchdowns this season with 6 interceptions to date. Meanwhile their RB J. Thomas will lead the rushing game as this season he has 17 touchdowns (2nd in Conference) and some 1.190 total yards rushing.
The fans of the (11-1, 7-1 AAC) Cougars of Houston, your team displayed some great comeback abilities, since they were able to beat the No. 15 Midshipmen of Navy by a mere 52-31 and thus they now are playing the Title game at their home front.
The win over Navy came as the Cougars defense stopped the Navy’s running games, who previously had averaged 400 plus yards rushing in each game this season, and in this game only managed to accumulate some 146 total yards and 3 rushing touchdowns. In this game against the Owls, the Cougars will need a repeat of those stats on defense since Temple RB Thomas has average almost 160 yards each game this season. Then the Cougars defense has to be concerned with the passing game of Temple that has averages 264 yards each game, so they need their passing attack that has 33 sacks this season to be present and accounted for in stopping the Owls.
The offense of the Cougars may have a more difficult time since the Owls have a very tight and stingy defense. However the Cougars have the weapons to get past the Owls defense. One being QB G. Ward who in their last game against Navy passed for 310 yards and 3 touchdowns and then he himself rushed for 84 yards and 1 TD in that game.
Their RB K. Farrow the team rushing leader may be out with an ankle injury, thus they will look to RB B. Wilson who in replacing Farrow in the Navy game he had 22 carries for 112 yards and scored 2 touchdowns in the game.
The online betting prediction for this game is that the Owls of Temple will cover the spread and overcome the Cougars of Houston in winning the AAC Championship with their 32-25 win over the Cougars.