Texas Bowl, Baylor Vs. Illinois Line And Pick: Robert Griffin Will Outshine Mikel Leshoure

The line: Either the Baylor Bears or Illinois Fighting Illini, depending on where you look. 5Dimes likes Illinois, while Bodog favors Baylor. I recommend you take the points, buddy.

Notable Baylor units: The offense! Wheeee! Top-25 nationally in both passing and rushing yards, the Bears attack is fronted by QB Robert Griffin III, who finished seventh in the nation in total offense. Griffin posted more yards per game than any of this year’s Heisman Trophy finalists. Does quarterback count as a unit?

Notable Illinois units: The offensive line. RB Mikel Leshoure could be a first-round draft pick, but QB Nathan Scheelhaase and RB Jason Ford have combined for over 1,200 ground yards of their own. But when Scheelhaase drops back to pass, look out. The Illini have given up the Big Ten’s second-most sacks despite passing more than only five teams in the nation.

The pick: Baylor’s run defense ranks in the bottom half nationally both per attempt and per game. Illinois’ defense is considerably better -- but they gave up 67 points to one-man offense Denard Robinson earlier this year. Hate to go with the obvious and pick Baylor in the Texas Bowl, but Griffin’s gonna ball.