The Rutgers University Scarlet Knights (10-2) are a -7 ½ point favorite, as installed by most offshore and Las Vegas sports books, over the Kansas State University Wildcats in the Houston Bowl when the game kicks off Thursday, Dec. 28 from Reliant Stadium in Houston at 8 p.m. (EST). Television coverage is provided by the NFL Network.
The Scarlet Knights could have had it all after stunning the Louisville Cardinals 28-25 on Nov. 9 to take the Big East Conference lead in what was the highest rated week-night regular season ESPN game in history.
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Rutgers had gone 9-0 and was three wins away from a probable berth in the BCS Championship game on Jan 8. Then Rutgers fell on its head with a 31-11 loss to the Cincinnati Bearcats and 41-39 overtime thriller at West Virginia to end the regular season. Rutgers fell hard, out of the BCS mix and right into a Texas Bowl match-up with the Wildcats. But it was still a season of emergence in New Jersey where college football excellence is rare. And Rutgers was excellent in 2006 under national coach of the year Greg Schiano, especially on defense where they ranked in the top-10 in defensive scoring, total yards and passing defense. They struggled some on offense especially from the passing game where they were ranked 103rd in the nation with an average of 156.3 yards through the air. Find Live College Bowl Lines Here! The ground game was the strength of the Rutgers offense behind the running of Heisman Trophy candidate, sophomore running back Ray Rice who rushed for 1,624 yards on 311 attempts and scored 19 touchdowns. While the Scarlet Knights were getting all the national attention the Kansas State Wildcats went unnoticed as they compiled a seven-win season mostly at the expense of cup-cake programs like Illinois State, Florida Atlantic and Marshall. The Wildcats captured some glory by toppling the Texas Longhorns in Manhattan, Kan., 45-42 on Nov. 11. Kansas State’s first loss of 2006 came on Sept. 23 to Louisville 24-6 followed by a 17-3 road loss to the Baylor Bears the next week. The Wildcats managed a win over the Oklahoma State Cowboys on Oct. 7 but followed with two consecutive losses to Nebraska and Missouri. Kansas State looked like it turned the corner after three straight conference wins over Iowa State, Colorado and Texas but got hammered at Kansas to close out the regular season. Bet on Texas Bowl at BetRoyal and receive 50% in sign-up bonuses! The Wildcats struggled on both offense and defense at times during the season. They suffered quarterback woes with Josh Freeman and Dylan Meier who combined for nine touchdown passes and 17 interceptions. On the ground Leon Patton was hardly dominant running for 595 yards on 100 rushes. The Wildcats finished the regular season going 6-5 both against the spread and cashing for the over in totals action. The Wildcats also covered three of its last four games ATS with the OVER cashing four of the final five games. Kansas State had one win SU and ATS against a Top-5 ranked team with the win over the Texas Longhorns. Rutgers finished the regular season 8-4 ATS while cashing for the over 6-of-11 times on total bets. The total for the Houston Bowl has been set at 45.
