Stanford vs. TCU Prediction
Will the TCU Horned Frogs handle the Stanford Cardinal tonight when the two teams square off in the Valero Alamo Bowl at 9:00 p.m. ET?
ODDSMAKERS LIKE: TCU. According to oddsmakers from online sports book Bovada.lv, the Horned Frogs are now 3-point favorites to beat the Cardinal, who opened as 2-point underdogs. As for the total, the number hit the board at 46.5 but was bet up to 49.
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THE PUBLIC LIKES: As of Thursday afternoon, 52% of betting tickets were on the Horned Frogs to cover the spread while 52% of the money was on the Cardinal.
INJURY REPORT: For Stanford, Terrence Alexander is questionable with a forearm injury while Eric Cotton is 50-50 with a foot injury. Sean Barton, meanwhile, is out for ht eyear after suffering a knee injury back in September.
For the Horned Frogs, Darius Anderson (foot), Montrel Wilson (undisclosed) and Jonathan Song (undisclosed) are questionable. Julius Lewis (undisclosed), meanwhile, is out for the year.
WHO WE LIKE: TCU. The Cardinal will live and die on the legs of Bryce Love, who cannot be contained for an entire 60 minutes. That said, the Horned Frogs have an elite run defense, allowing just 3.2 yards per carry (eighth in the nation) behind defensive ends Mat Boesen and Ben Banogu. That pair led the Big 12 in sacks with 11.5 and 8.5, respectively.
The problem with Stanford’s offense is that if you can force the Cardinal to be one-dimensional you can beat them. Meanwhile, TCU boasts senior quarterback Kenny Hill, who accounted for 25 touchdowns while also completing 67.2 percent of his passes to lead a balanced offense that averaged 33.2 points per game.
The Horned Frogs are 5-1 against the spread in their last six games coming off an ATS loss and have covered the number in their last five games coming off a straight up loss.
VALERO ALAMO BOWL PREDICTION: TCU HORNED FROGS -3