Central Florida vs Rutgers 2009 St. Petersburg Bowl Picks, Predictions & Odds: The Central Florida Knights and Rutgers Scarlet Knights will do battle in the second St. Petersburg Bowl tomorrow night at Tropicana Field. South Florida beat Memphis 41-14 in last year's inaugural game, and both of this year's combatants are hoping for a similar score, in their favor of course, on Saturday evening. Kickoff is scheduled for 8:00pm ET on ESPN. 2009 St. Petersburg Bowl Picks, Predictions & Odds at online sportsbook SBGglobal.com have Rutgers listed as a slight -2.5 against the spread favorite.
Central Florida rebounded from a dismal 4-8 campaign last year to go 8-4 (9-2 ATS) this season and finish second in the 
Conference USA's East Division to East Carolina. The Knights compiled a 6-2 league record, losing only to the aforementioned Pirates and Southern Miss. George O'Leary's squad won five of its last six games and closed out the regular season with three straight wins, beating Houston, Tulane, and UAB.
This year's bowl appearance marks just the third in UCF history. O'Leary guided the Knights to the 2005 Hawaii Bowl, which they lost 48-49 to Nevada, and the 2007 Liberty Bowl where they suffered a 3-10 loss at the hands of the Mississippi State Bulldogs.
Rutgers enters tomorrow's bowl, its fifth straight, with an 8-4 (6-6 ATS) overall record. Many felt the Scarlet Knights would win the Big East this year given their schedule, but Greg Schiano's troops finished fourth behind Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and West Virginia with a 3-4 league record. Rutgers closed out the season by losing two of its last three ball games, including a horrendous 13-31 loss at 4-8 (1-6 conference record) Syracuse.
Schiano has guided the Scarlet Knights to three consecutive bowl wins, beating Kansas State in the 2006 Texas Bowl, Ball State in the 2007 International Bowl, and North Carolina State 29-23 in last year's Papajohns.com Bowl.
2009 St. Petersburg Bowl Betting Trend: Central Florida is 11-4 against the spread over the last five years as an underdog coming off of a win. Central Florida, however, is just 1-8 straight up (6-3 against the spread) in its last nine games as an underdog with a total between 44.5 and 47.
SBGglobal.com Central Florida vs Rutgers 2009 St. Petersburg Bowl Picks, Predictions & Odds:
UCF Knights +2.5 (-105), Over 44.5 (-110), +125 (Moneyline)
Rutgers Scarlet Knights -2.5 (-115), Under 44.5 (-110), -145 (Moneyline)
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