The Daily Sweat: Bowl season is here and Troy vs. UTSA is a great matchup for the first day
Bowl season is here.
The college football postseason kicks off on Friday with two games and one of the few games that features ranked teams against each other.
Friday’s headliner is the Cure Bowl (3 p.m. ET, ESPN), as No. 24 Troy takes on No. 25 UTSA. In addition to featuring ranked teams, it’s the only game this bowl season that pits two conference champions against each other. UTSA won Conference USA while Troy took the Sun Belt.
Troy is a 2.5-point underdog to the Roadrunners as the Trojans look to win 12 games at the top level of college football for the first time in school history. Troy went 11-2 with a victory over Coastal Carolina in the Sun Belt title game to go to a bowl game for the first time since 2018.
UTSA is also 11-2 and is going for back-to-back 12-win seasons. The Roadrunners had never won more than eight games in a season until 2021 and a win on Friday would be the school’s first bowl win ever.
UTSA QB Frank Harris is the offensive star to watch. He completed over 70% of his passes and threw for 31 TDs while rushing for nine others. He announced before the bowl game that he’d be back for another season of college football.
Troy, meanwhile, is led by RB Kimani Vidal on the ground. He has 1,059 yards and has rushed for nine TDs.
We like over 57 to hit in this game thanks to a UTSA offense that ranks No. 12 in the country in points per game. Troy’s recent scoring binge has been buoyed by defensive touchdowns in two if its last three games, but the Trojans average 26 points per game while UTSA gives up that same amount per game. It’s worth noting that the total was 55.5 just a couple of days ago.
Bahamania
Bowl season gets started at 11:30 a.m. ET (ESPN) with the Bahamas Bowl. Miami (Ohio) takes on UAB in what is the Blazers' last game before Trent Dilfer takes over as head coach.
UAB is a 10.5-point favorite in this one. Both teams finished 6-6 in the regular season and it’s fair to expect a lot of rushing attempts in this one. Miami runs the ball 37 times per game compared to just 26 passes while UAB runs it 40 times a game and throws it just 24 times a game.
10 NBA games
Twenty NBA teams are in action on Friday night. The first ESPN prime-time game features a Warriors team without Stephen Curry at the Philadelphia 76ers (7:30 p.m. ET) ahead of the Denver Nuggets at the Los Angeles Lakers.
Philly is an 8.5-point favorite over a Warriors team that has been terrible on the road even with Curry in the lineup. The Nuggets are 1.5-point favorites over the Lakers. The Nets are also 1.5-point favorites at the Raptors and the Hornets are 1.5-point favorites at home against the Hawks.
Who cashed tickets Thursday?
The 49ers clinched the NFC West with an easy win over the Seahawks on Thursday night. San Francisco covered the 3.5-point spread in the 21-13 win.
The Grizzlies destroyed the Milwaukee Bucks, 142-101, on Thursday night after scoring 70 points in the first half and a whopping 47 in the third quarter. The Jazz, meanwhile, took down the New Orleans Pelicans in overtime. That Jazz win means the Grizzlies are now a game up on the Pelicans for first place in the West.
