Car Care Bowl Betting – Tigers Get Home Advantage Versus Bulls In Car Care Bowl

After barely qualifying for a postseason bowl game, the Clemson Tigers will get home-field advantage for the 2010 Meineke Car Care Bowl when they take on the South Florida Bulls. The game will be played at the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, just a couple of hours away from the Clemson college football betting campus.

• Meineke Car Care Bowl
• South Florida Bulls vs. Clemson Tigers
• Friday December 31, 2010 – 12:00 PM ET
• Online Sports Betting Odds: Clemson – 5.5

Tigers’ fans will be hoping that their presence in Charlotte will help an offense that finished 86th in scoring this year with an average of 23.8 points per game. They may not have to score many more than that to get the job done against South Florida, as the Bulls finished 7-5 with an average of 23.5 points per game.

NCAA Football Betting Preview: South Florida

South Florida matched its win total from last year at seven, with three of their five losses coming by a touchdown or less, and after winning four of its final six games earned the spot in the Meineke Car Care Bowl. Second-year starter BJ Daniels took a step back from the previous season with 1,496 yards passing, nine touchdowns and 12 interceptions after throwing for 1,983 yards and 14 touchdowns the previous season. He’ll need to show improvement after a down year, especially with injuries ravaging the Bulls’ depth at running back. South Florida will be without Bradley Battles and Jeff Hawkins after both went down with knee injuries, while fullback Richard Kelly remains sidelined with a broken thumb. The Bulls will need their defense to step up in a major way to make up for an offense that has been marred by injuries. South Florida ranked 20th on that side of the ball with 319.7 yards allowed per game.

NCAA Football Betting Preview: Clemson

Daniels will be holding his breath every time he drops back with sack leader Da’ Quan Bowers constantly making his way in to the backfield. Bowers won the Bronko Nagurski Trophy as the top defensive player in the sportsbook bonus nation after registered 15.5 sacks and 25 tackles for a loss, a big reason why the Tigers were tied for ninth in the FBS in scoring defense. While Clemson can rely on a defense that gave up just 17.8 points per game, they will need more from the offense, which means more from quarterback Kyle Parker. Parker was benched in the third quarter following an interception in the 29-7 loss to South Carolina State, but head coach Dabo Swinney has said he will go back to his starter even despite that freshman Tajh Boyd appears ready to start.

The Match Up: South Florida vs. Clemson

Both teams will struggle to move the ball on offense, but with Daniels hurting under center for the Bulls, and a variety of other injuries hurting South Florida’s offensive depth, the situation appears dire against one of the nation’s best defenses. Parker will make the most of one final shot before moving on, and with Bowers running wild it will be just enough to secure the victory.