Texas Bowl Spread: Baylor vs. Vanderbilt Odds, Prediction
Three college football bowl games on Thursday, Dec. 27, and the late one features Baylor, with what should be a significant fan advantage, against Vanderbilt in the Texas Bowl from Houston.
Texas Bowl Betting Analysis
The Texas Bowl has been in existence since 2006 and generally tries to get a team from the Lone Star State in the game for obvious reasons. It’s the second trip to the bowl game for the Big 12’s Baylor, which lost in 2010 to Illinois, 38-24.
Coach Matt Rhule has worked a minor miracle in his second year at Baylor as that program was decimated in the wake of a sexual assault scandal that forced out former coach Art Briles along with several higher-ups in the administration. Rhule has done so well that NFL teams are eyeing him.
Reaching a bowl game might have saved the job of Vandy coach Derek Mason. He’s at such a recruiting disadvantage in the SEC with Vandy having by far the toughest academic requirements. The Commodores haven’t won a bowl game since 2013 under former Coach James Franklin, who is now at Penn State.
Baylor is 2-0 vs. Vanderbilt all-time, winning games in 1953-54.
Baylor Bears
Baylor got bowl eligible by closing the regular season with a 35-24 win over Texas Tech after going 1-11 in 2017. Sophomore quarterback Charlie Brewer has thrown for 2,635 yards and 17 touchdowns and rushed for six scores. However, he will be without his top receiver in Jalen Hurd due to a knee injury and surgery. Hurd, the Big 12 Offensive Newcomer of the Year and transfer from Tennessee, caught 69 passes for 946 yards and four scores. In addition, punter Drew Galitz tore his ACL in the finale against Texas Tech. Baylor has played just six total games against SEC teams (not since 1995), going 3-3.
Vanderbilt Commodores
Mason’s head coaching debut at Vanderbilt was in 2014 when he faced off against Rhule’s Temple Owls, who rolled to a 37-7 win. Vandy had to win its final two games this year to get bowl eligible, both at home, and did: 36-29 in overtime over Ole Miss and 38-13 over Tennessee – which had the added benefit of keeping the rival Vols from bowl eligibility. The Commodores showed at times they could play with anyone this year, losing by just five at Notre Dame, 10 to Florida and seven at Kentucky. QB Kyle Shurmur has thrown for 2,844 yards and 23 touchdowns and running back Ke’Shawn Vaughn, an Illinois transfer, has 1,001 yards rushing and 10 TDs. Shurmur needs 118 yards to pass Jay Cutler as Vanderbilt’s leader in career passing yards. Vandy last played a Big 12 team in 2017, beating Kansas State 14-7.
