The BYU Cougars have won and covered four straight bowl games and beaten the Washington Huskies three straight since 1999, but those numbers did not stop oddsmakers from tabbing the Huskies as favorites in the Fight Hunger Bowl odds menu. Washington has been opened as a 3-point favorite over the Cougars with the total set at 57.5.
Fight Hunger Bowl 2013: Odds, picks and trends for BYU vs. Washington
BYU is an underdog despite several key bowl betting trends. The Fight Hunger Bowl odds favor the Washington Huskies. This story was provided to SB Nation by OddsShark.com.
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BYU (Independent, 8-4 SU, 5-6-1 ATS, 4-8 OU) was +3.5 in early wagering at 5Dimes.eu. They have tallied 31.3 points per game behind a solid rushing attack that averaged 274.6 yards a game. Both quarterback Taysom Hill and running back Jamaal Williams rushed for over 1,200 yards while combining for 16 rushing touchdowns. Hill threw for another 2,645 yards and 19 touchdowns, but he was picked off 13 times while completing just 54.1 percent of his attempts. The Cougars' defense was ranked 23rd in the country in points allowed, giving-up an average of 21.3 points a game.
Washington (Pac-12, 8-4 SU, 6-6 ATS, 6-6 OU) beat the teams it was supposed to this season with losses coming to Oregon, Stanford, Arizona State, and UCLA. It went just 1-3 ATS in those four defeats.
The Cougars closed out the season going 2-2 SU in their last four games with losses to Wisconsin and Notre Dame and they were 0-3-1 ATS during that run. The total stayed UNDER in four of their last five games. They were just 1-5 ATS on the road this season and the total stayed UNDER in five of those six games.
The Huskies were only able to cover in two of their last seven games and the total went OVER in four of five road games this season.
Keith Price threw for 2,843 yards and 20 scores as part of an offense that averaged 271.3 passing yards per game. Washington also had a solid ground game behind Bishop Sankey. The Huskies rushed for an average of 243.1 yards a game, which was ranked 14th in the nation.
Sankey rushed for a team-high 1,775 yards and 18 scores on 216 carries. Washington’s defense was torched for an average of 42.5 points in its four defeats, but overall it held opposing teams to an average of 23.4 points a game.
These two have met six times since 1996 and the series is tied 3-3 SU. Washington has the slight 4-2 edge ATS and the total has been evenly split at 3-3 as well. The Cougars have won their last four bowl games both SU and ATS and the total has gone OVER in four of Washington’s last five bowl games.
The total has stayed UNDER in five of the last six Fight Hunger Bowls.
Prediction: Washington 40, BYU 36 according to the OddsShark.com computers.
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