(22)Ball State Cardinals vs Tulsa U Golden Hurricane 
8:00 PM ET, January 6, 2009
Ladd-Peebles Stadium , Mobile , AL
ESPN, ESPN 360
Spread:  Ball State -3
Total:  77

My Pick:  Ball State is looking for their first bowl win in school history while Tulsa is looking to repeat last years GMAC bowl win.  Both offenses are extremely effective and both rank in the top 15 in the nation in total offense respectively.  For Ball State its a bit difficult at the moment as head coach Brady Hoke having recently accepting a job at San Diego State and will not be leading his team in Mobile on Jan 6th.  At the moment it is unclear who the coach will be, but you can bet they will stick with the same game plan they have had all year which is pound the ball with RB MiQuale Lewis and take the pressure off of QB Nate Davis to develop the pass.  In order to win their defense has got to step up and put the stop on Tulsa QB David Johnson who is an excellent pocket passer with a 64% completion rate.  The Cardinals D will also have to key on RB Tarrion Adams who is sporting a 5.8 ypc average and rushed for nearly 600 yards in his final 3 games.  On paper Tulsa is the better team and despite a final game loss to East Carolina, I think the Golden Hurricane look pretty good and should be able to keep enough pressure on the Cardinals defensively to get the W.  Take the points.

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