The Vanderbilt Commodores are sitting as the favorites on the odds to win the Music City Bowl at Nashville's LP Field on December 31, and they'll be taking on an N.C. State team that was below .500 against the spread on the season.
For updated lines and totals on all of this year's bowl games head over to the college football betting boards at 5Dimes, , and BetOnline today.
Music City Bowl
Monday, December 31 @ 12:00pm ET
LP Field, Nashville, Tennessee
Team: N.C. State Wolfpack
Conference: Atlantic Coast
Records: 7-5 SU, 5-6-1 ATS, 4-7 OU
Team: Vanderbilt Commodores
Conference: Southeastern
Records: 8-4 SU, 8-4 ATS, 5-6 OU
Opening Spread / Total (from BetOnline)
Vanderbilt -6.5 / 51 Points
[Music City Bowl Matchup Stats]
Music City Bowl Betting Trends: Eight of the past 11 Music City Bowls have played UNDER the total . . . North Carolina State is 6-1-1 ATS in past eight bowl games.
Music City Bowl History
Data includes original name of bowl, current name, teams, point spread of the second listed team, SU winner and ATS winner.
| 1998 | Music City Bowl | Virginia Tech | 38 | Alabama | 7 | 5 | VTECH | VTECH |
| 1999 | Music City Bowl | Syracuse | 20 | Kentucky | 13 | -2.5 | SYRACU | SYRACU |
| 2000 | Music City Bowl | Mississippi | 38 | West Virginia | 49 | 4 | WESTV | WESTV |
| 2001 | Music City Bowl | Boston College | 20 | Georgia | 16 | -4 | BOST.C | BOST.C |
| 2002 | Music City Bowl | Arkansas | 14 | Minnesota | 29 | -8.5 | MINN | MINN |
| 2003 | Music City Bowl | Wisconsin | 14 | Auburn | 28 | -3 | AUBRN | AUBRN |
| 2004 | Music City Bowl | Minnesota | 20 | Alabama | 16 | -3 | MINN | MINN |
| 2005 | Music City Bowl | Virginia | 34 | Minnesota | 31 | -6.5 | VIRGNA | VIRGNA |
| 2006 | Music City Bowl | Kentucky | 28 | Clemson | 20 | -11 | KENTUC | KENTUC |
| 2007 | Music City Bowl | Florida State | 28 | Kentucky | 35 | -7 | Push | KENTUC |
| 2008 | Music City Bowl | Boston College | 14 | Vanderbilt | 16 | 5 | VANDY | VANDY |
| 2009 | Music City Bowl | Kentucky | 13 | Clemson | 21 | -6.5 | CLEM | CLEM |
| 2010 | Music City Bowl | North Carolina | 30 | Tennessee | 27 | 1 | UNC | UNC |
| 2011 | Music City Bowl | Wake Forest | 17 | Mississippi State | 23 | -7 | WAKE | MIS.ST |
---ARCHIVED ARTICLES---------------------------------------------------------
Dating back to 1999, in its last four bowl appearances Mississippi State is a perfect 4-0 SU. Wake Forest is 5-1 SU in six bowl appearances since 1992.
For lines and totals on all of this year's bowl games head over to the college football betting board at today. Of note, 7 of the past 10 Music City Bowls played UNDER, which out the best UNDER value at shops such as today.
Music City Bowl
Friday, December 30 @ 6:40pm ET
LP Field, Nashville, Tennessee
Team: Wake Forest Demon Deacons
Conference: Atlantic Coast
Records: 6-6 SU, 7-5 ATS, 6-6 OU
Team: Mississippi State Bulldogs
Conference: Southeastern
Records: 6-6 SU, 6-6 ATS, 5-7 OU
Spread / Total (from 5Dimes)
Mississippi State -7.0 / 48 Points
[Music City Bowl Matchup Stats]
The Mississippi State Bulldogs and the Wake Forest Demon Deacons meet in the Music City Bowl as each did just enough to earn bowl eligibility at 6-6 SU.
After starting the year off strong at 4-1 SU and ATS including an outright upset over Florida State, Wake Forest hit a rut and went just 2-5 SU (3-4 ATS) over its last seven games. Mississippi State took an unexpected step backwards this year after an impressive 9-4 SU campaign in 2010. The Bulldogs did finish the second half of the season with a 5-1 ATS record despite a 3-3 SU record.
Senior running back Vick Ballard was one of the only consistent contributors for Mississippi State’s offense. Ballard finished the year with1,009 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns on 179 carries.
-------------------------------
It was a very trying year at North Carolina with injuries and suspensions, but in its third straight bowl appearance most sportsbooks give the Tar Heels a slight 2-point edge over the Tennessee Volunteers in the Music City Bowl odds.
Music City Bowl
LP Field, Nashville, Tennessee
Thursday, December 30 @ 6:40pm ET
Team: North Carolina Tar Heels
Conference: Atlantic Coast Conference
Records: 7-5 SU, 6-5 ATS, 5-6 OU
Team: Tennessee Volunteers
Conference: Southeastern Conference
Records: 6-6 SU, 6-4-1 ATS, 8-3 OU
Spread / Total (from SBG Global)
North Carolina -2 / 50 Points
[Music City Bowl Matchup Stats]
North Carolina had thought it was going to contend for its conference title, but with suspensions and injuries the defense that was so strong was suddenly hampered. They surrendered 338.5 yards per game, which was good for just fourth in the conference.
The Tar Heels had the confidence of most college football betting enthusiasts until the team came falling apart, and it showed with them having so many teams on the ropes but failing to close out games. It will be up to quarterback T.J. Yates to establish his rhythm early if North Carolina is to beat a hot Tennessee team.
Yates was the primary reason for a bowl appearance by the Tar Heels. He was second in pass efficiency and second in passing yards per game.
ADVERTISEMENT: Make some sweet music in the Music City Bowl and get a free $25 wager betting the game's underdog, courtesy of today!
The NCAAF odds don’t line up for Tennessee in this game, but after a sluggish 2-6 start and nearly playing its way out of a bowl game the Volunteers snapped off four straight to get into the Music City Bowl.
Tennessee has 21 freshman players on its roster, and first-year quarterback Tyler Bray was on fire down the stretch, connecting for 12 touchdown passes in his last four starts to propel the Volunteers.
While the betting lines favor North Carolina, one cannot look past the very distinct possibility of an upset in this game with such a small spread, which even has oddsmakers wondering.
The Volunteers' youth combined with their high-scoring games, which paid out to OVER bettors eight times this season, might be of interest to totals bettors.
