W KENTUCKY vs GEORGIA ST
When: 12/26/2020 3:30 PM
Where:

TV: 3:30 PM
LINE: -3.5
PREDICTION: GEORGIA ST , W KENTUCKY

Oddsmakers currently have the GEORGIA ST listed as -3.5 point favorites versus the W KENTUCKY, while the game’s total is sitting at 50.5.

The bowl tradition continues to grow at Western Kentucky and Georgia State, who will meet Saturday in the 22nd annual LendingTree Bowl in Mobile, Ala.

Western Kentucky (5-6), from Conference USA, will play its 30th postseason game. Over the past eight seasons the Hilltoppers are 4-2 in bowls and defeated Western Michigan last year in the First Responders Bowl.

Georgia State (5-4), from the Sun Belt Conference, will make its fourth bowl appearance in the program’s 11-year history. The Panthers have earned a bowl trip for the third time in four seasons under coach Shawn Elliott. They lost to Wyoming in the Arizona Bowl last year.

Georgia State and Western Kentucky played in the 2017 Cure Bowl in Orlando, with Georgia State winning 27-17 for its first bowl victory.

“Playing in the postseason, that’s always our No. 1 goal,” said Western Kentucky coach Tyson Helton. “To have one more opportunity to try and get a win and send our guys off right, that’s pretty special.”

In 24 seasons as a Division I coach, Elliott has been a part of 19 teams that have reached a bowl game or the NCAA playoffs.

“I’m so proud of our players for their commitment and hard work to persevere through this season,” Elliott said. “We talk about doing things for the first time, and back-to-back bowl games is another first for our program.”

Western Kentucky has had trouble scoring this season — the Hilltoppers have averaged 18.8 points, last in Conference USA. Tyrrell Pigrome has thrown for 1,423 yards and nine touchdowns, with no interceptions, and has rushed for 328 yards and three TDs. Brayden Narveson, who is 13-for-14 on field goals and 24-for-24 on extra points, is a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award, an honor given annually to the nation’s best kicker.

Western Kentucky’s resume includes losses to Louisville, Liberty and BYU, but the Hilltoppers have won their past three games. They rank fifth in the conference in scoring defense (24.1). They lead Conference USA in pass defense, allowing 170.1 yards per game. The defense is led by all-conference choice DeAngelo Malone, a defensive end who has 65 tackles, six sacks and 11 tackles for loss.

Georgia State had 14 players named to the All-Sun Belt Conference, including two first-team selections: left guard Shamarious Gilmore and kicker Noel Ruiz, a graduate transfer from North Carolina A&T.

Georgia State averages over 30 points a game behind quarterback Cornelious Brown, who has thrown for 2,046 yards and 14 touchdowns, and receiver Sam Pinckney, who has 44 catches for 753 yards and six touchdowns.

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W KENTUCKY vs WASHINGTON
When: 10:30 PM  ET, Tuesday, November 6, 2018
Where: Alaska Airlines Arena, Seattle, Washington

TV: 10:30 PM
LINE: -7
PREDICTION: WASHINGTON , W KENTUCKY

Oddsmakers currently have the WASHINGTON listed as -7 point favorites versus the W KENTUCKY, while the game’s total is sitting at 151.

No. 24 Washington has high hopes for the second season of the Mike Hopkins era and it opens the season Tuesday at home against Western Kentucky. The Huskies surprisingly recorded their first 20-win campaign since 2011-12 in Hopkins’ first season and the team is primed to end a seven-year NCAA Tournament drought.

Washington reached the second round of the NIT last season before losing to Saint Mary’s as Hopkins, a former Syracuse assistant, quickly rejuvenated the program. “One of the reasons why I felt we had the success is not just the belief but we had a chip on our shoulder,” Hopkins said at a press conference. “You can never lose that. That’s one of the main values even at the university is the grit, it’s the chip on our shoulder. You got to go out there like you’ve got something to prove.” Western Kentucky figures to make for a challenging opponent as the Hilltoppers advanced to the NIT Final Four last season before losing to Utah. “We’re all excited for Tuesday,” Western Kentucky junior swingman Jared Savage told reporters after the team’s exhibition game on Saturday night. “I know we’re (playing) a great team and we’ve just got to come ready.”

TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, ESPNU

ABOUT WESTERN KENTUCKY (2017-18: 27-11): The Hilltoppers lost stalwarts Justin Johnson (15.7 scoring average), Darius Thompson (13.6) and Dwight Coleby (11.1) off their NIT Final Four squad but return two stellar guards in sophomore Taveion Hollingsworth and senior Lamonte Bearden. Hollingsworth (13.3) set a school mark for most points (506) by a freshman while Bearden contributed 11.8 points and 3.4 assists. Highly coveted Nigerian freshman center Charles Bassey is expected to be an immediate standout.

ABOUT WASHINGTON (2017-18: 21-13): Senior big man Noah Dickerson considered leaving for the NBA but withdrew from the draft and is expected to build off of last season’s averages of 15.5 points and 8.4 rebounds. Sophomore guard Jaylen Nowell averaged a team-best 16 points per game while senior guards David Crisp (11.6) and Matisse Thybulle (11.2) also averaged in double digits. Thybulle was the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year after recording a school-record 101 steals and he owns the program’s career record of 205 thefts.

TIP-INS

1. Washington won the lone previous meetings, 86-47 in 2016.

2. The Huskies went 16-4 at home last season.

3. Savage made 109 3-pointers in two seasons at Austin Peay before transferring to Western Kentucky.

PREDICTION: Washington 84, Western Kentucky 79

The post W KENTUCKY vs. WASHINGTON 11/6/2018 Free Pick & CBB Betting Prediction appeared first on IdealCapper.

W KENTUCKY vs WISCONSIN
When: 9:00 PM ET, Friday, August 31, 2018
Where: Camp Randall Stadium, Madison, Wisconsin

TV: 9:00 PM
LINE: -34
PREDICTION: WISCONSIN , W KENTUCKY

Oddsmakers currently have the WISCONSIN listed as -34 point favorites versus the W KENTUCKY, while the game’s total is sitting at 51.

Seventh-ranked Wisconsin looks to live up to its lofty ranking when it kicks off the new season at home against Western Kentucky on Friday. The Badgers went unbeaten in the regular season en route to their third Big Ten West Division title in the last four years before falling to Ohio State in the conference championship game, and the Badgers hope to build on their record-breaking 13-win season by earning a spot in the College Football Playoff for the first time in program history.

Wisconsin returns several key players on offense, including Heisman Trophy candidate Jonathan Taylor, who set an NCAA freshman rushing record with 1,977 yards. Quarterback Alex Hornibrook is back after throwing 25 touchdowns passes, but the lefthander will be without two major weapons. Junior Quintez Cephus, who was the team’s top returning receiver, was suspended indefinitely after he was charged with two counts of sexual assault while Danny Davis will sit out the first two games for his role in the alleged incidents. Wisconsin has won 22 consecutive home openers and can extend its non-conference winning streak at Camp Randall to 40 games with another victory. Western Kentucky is coming off its first losing season since 2010 and hopes to earn the biggest win of Mike Sanford Jr.’s two-season tenure by knocking off a Big Ten opponent for the first time in school history after losing its previous seven meetings.

TV: 9 p.m. ET, ESPN. LINE: Wisconsin -36

ABOUT WESTERN KENTUCKY (2017: 6-7): Senior quarterback Drew Eckels will replace Mike White, who threw for 4,177 yards and 26 touchdowns last season. Eckels hopes to prove the critics wrong after the Hilltoppers were picked to finish fifth in Conference USA’s East Division. Senior D’Andre Ferby is the favorite to start at running back after rushing for a team-high 373 yards in 2017, but there are four other players vying for playing time in a crowded backfield. “I think that all five guys are going to play against Wisconsin,” Sanford told reporters. “We’ve had opportunities in scrimmages to see who ran the best and that was going to decide the starter but all five of them have done really good things.”

ABOUT WISCONSIN (2017: 13-1): Taylor racked up ten 100-yard games to go along with 13 touchdowns in his record-breaking freshman campaign and is poised for another big year with all five starters returning on the offensive line, including All-Americans Beau Benzschawel, Michael Deiter and David Edwards. A.J. Taylor, who caught 31 passes for 475 yards and five touchdowns last season, and Kendric Pryor will be counted on to fill the void left by Cephus and Davis. “It’s something we can’t control and everybody’s accepted it and we’re moving forward trying to get better every day,” linebacker and team captain T.J. Edwards told reporters. “Those two guys have done a lot in the past but we have a game on Friday and that’s our main focus.”

EXTRA POINTS

1. Wisconsin has won 10 or more games in four straight seasons.

2. Hornibrook is 20-3 as a starter.

3. The Badgers are 85-10 at home since the start of the 2004 season.

PREDICTION: Wisconsin 41, Western Kentucky 13

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