It'll be Vanderbilt vs. Houston on Saturday at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama as those two schools hit the field for this year's BBVA Compass Bowl.
Six of past seven Compass Bowls played UNDER total, while the Big East is 5-2 SU in Compass Bowls.
Vandy won seven of nine SU to end the season, while Houston has been dominant at the payout window with a 12-2 ATS past 14 games overall dating to 2012.
Supporters of the Cougars have seen them go 8-4 and 10-2 ATS so far this season, while the Commodores are at 8-4 and 6-6 ATS. In totals betting, the Commodores are 7-5, while the Cougars are 5-7.
View Houston Cougars vs Vanderbilt Commodores Odds and Stats.
The home team opened as 1.5-point favorites in this NCAA football battle at Sportsbook. The over under line was 52.5 at Sportsbook.
The power rankings show a disparity between these teams, with the Commodores rated this week at No. 60 and the Cougars sitting at No. 22. It may or may not play a role in OddsShark score prediction models that turned out a 38-29 result in favor of the Cougars this week.
Houston won its last outing, a 34-0 result against Southern Methodist on November 29. Houston covered in that game as a 9.5-point favorite, while the 34 combined points took the game UNDER the total. In their last gridiron battle, Jordan Matthews did much of the damage, producing 125 receiving yards as Vanderbilt beat the Demon Deacons 23-21 at Vanderbilt Stadium.
How They Match Up:
Offensively, the game matches up Vanderbilt's No. 66-ranked offense (29.17 PPG) against a Cougars defense that ranks No. 16 at 20.17 PPG. The Commodores passing attack has averaged 233.67 yards per game, less than the Cougars give up through the air (276.17 YPG on average).
In comparing defenses, the Cougars own the league's No. 37-rated front 7 in terms of stopping the run, allowing 149.8 yards per game when on the road. Vanderbilt, on the other hand, rates No. 94 this week in generating rushing yards at home.
