The Central Florida Knights (9-3) and Marshall Thundering Herd (8-4) will battle in Monday’s Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla. Kickoff will be at 2:30 p.m. ET. We analyze the UCF-Marshall odds and betting lines, while providing college football betting tips and advice on this matchup.
UCF vs. Marshall: Three things you need to know
- Central Florida sports a high-octane offense which ranks sixth in the nation in scoring (43 points per game) and fourth in total yards (536.6 yards per game). Many of those yards and points have been piled up in short order. In 64-of-79 scoring drives, the Knights marched down the field to score in under three minutes. Twenty of those drives took less than 60 seconds.
- UCF’s numbers and game results have an underpinning which has painted the Knights as a moderate-to-heavy play over much of the second half of the season. Bettors were rewarded with a tepid 2-4 against the spread mark, mostly due to non-covers of big spreads. Similar game-by-game analytics are a lean away from Marshall in this bowl matchup. A couple of UCF’s recent ATS losses were away from home; perhaps an in-state contest sways the result, here.
- Marshall should be comfortable at Raymond James Stadium. The Herd is back in this bowl for the second straight season after beating South Florida, 38-20, last December. Marshall also won here in 2011 and 2015 – all under current head coach Doc Holliday.
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UCF vs. Marshall: Odds, betting lines and picks
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Monday at 8:50 a.m. ET.
Prediction
Central Florida 42, Marshall 21
Moneyline (ML)
PASS on the juice-heavy moneyline here, although there’s a slight lean toward Central Florida (-667). It’s just too much chalk, with a $10 bet on the Knights to win outright returning a profit of just $1.50.
Against the Spread (ATS)
Central Florida is riding an eight-game winning streak against Marshall and is 7-2 ATS in the last nine head-to-head meetings. UCF is 8-3 ATS over its last 11 games when favored by 10.5-to-21 points. The Knights own that same mark over their last 11 non-conference tilts.
This line started at 18, went straight to 18.5 and then down to its current number over ensuing days. A move back toward UCF before kickoff wouldn’t be a surprise. CENTRAL FLORIDA (-15.5, -110).
Over/Under (O/U)
UNDER 59.5 (-106) draws a watch. A figure of 60-plus would entice perhaps a lesser-unit play.
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