Point Spreads - NCAA, Final Four, College Basketball, NBA, MLB, World Series, NFL, College Football, BCS & Super Bowl Point Spreads

The term explosive best describes the two teams that will be on display when the Utah Utes and Tulsa Golden Hurricane clash in the Bell Helicopters Armed Forces Bowl from Amon Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Tex., tonight with kick-off at 8:30 p.m. (EST). The game will be televised by ESPN.

Expect plenty of tricks tonight too. Tulsa head coach Steve Kragthorpe and Utes coach Kyle Whittingham grew up together around the BYU campus in the 1970’s when their dads were coaches on Lavell Edwards’ staff. These guys will pull out all stops to get the edge on a buddy.

“Offensively, we anticipate a lot of tricks from Utah” Kragthorpe said. “We expect some tricks in special teams. They had a couple of fake punts this year; they had a fake field goal from (Eric) Weddle last year. We know that, with that extra time, there's a possibility that exists that they can use some trick plays. We just have to prepare for them on defense. That's the hard part for a defense going into a bowl situation is you have to anticipate and prepare for just about anything to happen.

Tulsa finished the regular season with an 8-4 overall record and a 5-3 mark in Conference USA (third in the West Division). Kragthorpe, who is 29-21 in his fourth season with the Golden Hurricane and for his career. He has previous coaching experience as an assistant with the Buffalo Bills, Oregon State, Northern Arizona, North Texas and Texas A&M.

  Bet on the Armed Forces Bowl at BetRoyal and receive 50% in sign-up bonuses!

Tulsa had a pair of first-team all-Conference USA selections in senior offensive tackle Jeff Perrett and junior linebacker Nelson Coleman … Six other Golden Hurricane players were named to the conference’s second team … Tulsa quarterback Paul Smith ranks 25th in the nation in scoring offense and 26th in pass efficiency. Golden Hurricane running back Courtney Tennial is ranked 15th in the country in scoring. 

With Utah’s invitation to play in the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl, Kyle Whittingham becomes just the second coach in the school’s 113-year football history to play in back-to-back bowls in his first two years at the helm. Whittingham, who steered Utah to a 38-10 victory over Georgia Tech in the 2005 Emerald Bowl, is assured of his second-straight winning record. Utah went 7-5 in his first year as the head coach, and his current squad enters the bowl with an identical mark. Named head coach on Dec. 8, 2004, Whittingham has been a member of the Ute staff since 1994.

Utah is a slight 1 ½ point favorite over Tulsa with a game total of 49. The Utes are also the public favorite with 60% of the wagering action going on the Utes. Both Utah and Tulsa have fared well covering the betting line ATS this year. The Golden Hurricane cashed in 6-of-11 games ATS while Utah was even better cashing in 7-of-11. The UNDER cashed in 8-of-11 games Tulsa played while the OVER cashed the most cashing in 7-of-11 Utes games.

---