Steve’s Screenshot
NCAA Football
Temple (-13, 51) at SMU (8 pm ET, espn2)
My power ratings make Temple -15 over SMU, so there is a bit of line value on the Owls. However, this is not a good scheduling situation as Temple comes into this game off one of their biggest games in years when they hosted Notre Dame in primetime last week. With ESPN GameDay going to Temple, that game was the one they wanted to win even though it had no relevance as far as their conference title hopes go. Temple came up just short in a 24-20 loss, so they may be a bit flat, especially on a short week. Keep in mind the Owls also had a national TV underdog win at East Carolina the week before.
Overall this season, Temple’s defense has been outstanding. The Owls only allow 15.7 points per game on 4.7 yards per play versus offenses that average 25 points per game on 5.5 yards per play.
SMU is a woeful 1-7 SU on the season, and a major reason for that has been their horrendous defense. The Mustangs are giving up 43.6 points per game on 7.1 yards per play versus offenses that average just 38.7 points per game on 6.8 yards per play.