The Buffalo Bulls (5-1) and the Marshall Thundering Herd (7-2) meet Friday for a 2:30 p.m. ET kickoff at the Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Ala., for the Camellia Bowl. Below, we analyze the Buffalo-Marshall college football betting odds and lines, with picks and predictions.
Buffalo vs. Marshall: Betting odds, spread and lines
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Thursday at 4:15 p.m. ET.
- Money line: Buffalo -190 (bet $190 to win $100) | Marshall +155 (bet $100 to win $155)
- Against the spread/ATS: Buffalo -4.5 (-110) | Marshall +4.5 (-110)
- Over/Under: 54.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)
Buffalo vs. Marshall: Three things to know
- All eyes will be on Buffalo RB Jaret Patterson, who ended the regular season with 1,072 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns, while averaging 7.6 yards per carry. He rumbled for 409 yards and 8 touchdowns in a late November game against Kent State. Patterson hurt his right knee in the MAC Championship Game loss to Ball State, but head coach Lance Leipold said Patterson should be fine for the bowl.
- Buffalo isn’t a one trick pony, though, and Leipold didn’t rule out the possibility of Patterson being somewhat limited. That’s not the end of the world as RB Kevin Marks can get the job done, too. He had 603 rushing yards and 6 touchdowns on 77 totes. Buffalo ended up as the No. 1 rushing team in the nation with 309.2 yards per game, and it averaged 47.8 PPG to rank third in the country.
- Marshall had been rolling along and was ranked in the Top 25 with seven wins and five covers through the first seven games. But the Thundering Herd limped to the finish line, getting shutout in a 20-0 home loss to Rice Dec. 5, losing outright as 24.5-point favorites. They were then clipped at home 22-13 by UAB in the C-USA Championship Game as 4.5-point favorites Dec. 18.
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Buffalo vs. Marshall: Odds, betting lines, predictions and picks
Prediction
Buffalo 31, Marshall 20
Money line (ML)
Buffalo (-190) will cost you more than two times your potential return, and that’s a little on the expensive side. Look to the spread instead. PASS.
Against the spread (ATS)
BUFFALO -4.5 (-110) is the play, as it just overwhelmed opponents with its one-two backfield punch. Regardless if Patterson is 100 percent, limited or even sidelined, Marks is more than ready and able to answer the bell if needed. Marshall did allow just 88.9 rushing YPG this season, but it never faced a stud RB like Patterson and/or Marks in C-USA play.
Marshall is 7-1 ATS across the past eight bowl games, but that’s in the past. More recently, the Herd are 1-4 ATS in the past five games, and 0-2 straight-up in the past two with a power outage on offense. That trumps historical bowl trends.
Over/Under (O/U)
UNDER 54.5 (-110) is the lean in this bowl game. Marshall will slow down Buffalo’s rushing attack somewhat, as the Herd will be the best rushing defense the Bulls have seen all season. Buffalo will still make plenty of noise, however, and Marshall’s recent struggles on offense won’t be solved against an unheralded Bulls defense which allowed just 23.8 PPG and 379.2 total yards per contest.
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