Arkansas at Texas
When: 9:00 PM ET, Monday, December 29, 2014
Where: NRG Stadium, Houston, Texas
TV: 9 p.m. ET, ESPN.
LINE: Arkansas -6
PREDICTION: Arkansas 27, Texas 17
Join BetOnline and get up to $1,000 BONUS

Oddsmakers currently have the Razorbacks listed as 5-point favorites versus the Longhorns, while the game’s total is sitting at 45½.

The Razorbacks ended the program’s 17-game conference losing streak with a 17-0 victory over LSU on Nov. 15 and followed with a 30-0 win over Ole Miss. Linebacker Martrell Spaight was an All-SEC first team selection after leading the league in total tackles (123), and defensive lineman Trey Flowers has been a force with five sacks and 13.5 tackles for loss. While the Razorbacks rely heavily on the run, Brandon Allen has been a reliable option at quarterback with 18 touchdown passes and five interceptions.

In their last action, Arkansas was a 21-14 loser on the road against Missouri. They failed to cover the 2.5-point spread as favorites, while the combined score (35) was profitable news for UNDER bettors.

Team record: 6-6 SU,9-3 ATS
Arkansas is 9-2 ATS in its last 11 games
Arkansas is 6-15 SU in its last 21 games
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Arkansas’s last 5 games

The Longhorns’ stellar defense is led by linebacker Jordan Hicks (team-high 138 tackles) and tackle Malcom Brown, who leads the team in tackles for loss (14) and sacks (6.5). Cedric Reed finished the season with four sacks in the team’s last three games and started all 12 games for a Texas defense that allowed 23.4 points per game in Big 12 play. Quarterback Tyrone Swoopes’ season has been marked by inconsistency and a 13-to-10 touchdown-to-interception ratio, including four picks against TCU.

Texas lost its last outing, a 48-10 result against TCU on November 27. Texas failed to cover in that game as a 4.5-point underdog, while the 58 combined points took the game OVER the total.

Team record: 6-6 SU,7-5 ATS
Texas is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Texas’s last 5 games

The post Texas vs. Arkansas Preview appeared first on IdealCapper.

“Obviously when you break team rules there’s a certain amount of trust that has been broken, and that will be addressed with further discipline,” Brown said in a statement. “That discipline will be handled within the team.”

McCoy, a senior quarterback, and Hicks, a junior linebacker, were both suspended from the team the day before the Valero Alamo Bowl for reasons that Brown declined to specify. The suspensions followed a KENS-TV report that two unidentified Texas players were being investigated for sexual assault.

According to a heavily redacted police report, the event occurred in the early morning of Dec. 28 when a 21-year-old woman invited two men to her hotel room. The report showed only that the men are students and that one is 21 and the other is 20. The woman told police that she had several drinks at a nightclub and the hotel bar before she invited the men to her room.

“I don’t exactly remember,” she said, according to the report.

The woman said one of the men had sex with her while the other “just stood there and watched,” the report states.

“I don’t quite remember,” she repeated, according to the report.

Perry Minton, Hicks’ attorney, later acknowledged his client was one of the accused but denied Hicks’ involvement in a sexual assault.

“Mr. Hicks vehemently asserts that all conduct that occurred during the evening of the incident was consensual by everyone involved,” his lawyer said in a Dec. 30 statement. “The allegation, if any, that a sexual assault occurred by anyone at anytime is completely false.”

Last week, Minton said the case against his client had been closed and that Hicks would be returning to school. An hour later, the San Antonio police issued a statement that the case was not closed.

“In light of the media inquiries into the allegation of a sexual assault that took place in the early morning hours on December 28, 2012, in the downtown area, the San Antonio Police Department’s SVU (Special Victims Unit) is still reviewing the case,” police officials said in a released statement.

Hicks missed 10 games this past season due to a hip injury. McCoy played in six games with one start. He was 54 of 76 with three interceptions and six touchdowns.

Hicks is projected to be a starting linebacker next season. McCoy will contend for the starting spot with four other quarterbacks.

Also Sunday night, Texas announced that three junior backups have elected to give up their remaining eligibility and focus on their futures after football.

Offensive lineman Thomas Ashcraft, defensive tackle Kyle Kriegel and tight end Trey Graham will not play for the Longhorns in 2013. All three were members of Texas’ No. 3-ranked recruiting class of 2009.

Ashcraft, an Under Armour All-American ranked No. 5 among guard prospects out of Cedar Hill (Texas), appeared in 35 games as a reserve lineman and on special teams.

Kriegel appeared in five games in 2012 as a backup. Graham never played in a game after right knee injuries cost him two full seasons.

The post Case McCoy, Jordan Hicks rejoin UT appeared first on IdealCapper.