Plays For The GameAbove Sports Bowl And SERVPRO First Responder Bowl

Two Bowl Plays

I just mentioned in an article I published about the Rate Bowl that it just is not possible for me to do an individual article on each Bowl Game. Not only from a timing standpoint, but other factors are in play as well. As a work around, as much as possible, I'm going to write some articles about Bowl Games in bulk. For example, here I'm going to do a play on the GameAbove Sports Bowl between the Central Michigan Chippewas and Northwestern Wildcats, and also the SERVPRO First Responder Bowl between Florida International and UTSA.

GameAbove Sports Bowl - Central Michigan vs. Northwestern, 1:00 ET

Central Michigan put together a decent season, ending the regular season with a 7-5 mark, and assuring themselves that even if they lose this game, they can have a winning season. Looking at their schedule, the Chippewas had a mixture of some talented opponents in addition to their typical MAC games. They lost two of their first three games, getting blown out by both Pittsburgh and Michigan. Their other losses were in conference with Akron and Western Michigan beating them while hosting, and then Central Michigan losing to Toledo at home. Northwestern needs this win in order to have a winning season. It isn't the end of the world if they lose it, but they are rightly favored in the game, and it would be a surprise if they dropped it. They were 6-6 for the season with their losses coming from the likes of Tulane (College Football Playoff team), Oregon (CFP team, as well), Nebraska, USC, Michigan, and Illinois. Three of those last four losses were road games. As I've mentioned many times in these articles, playing on the road in college is tough. To give them some credit, three of their last four losses were all one-score games. The only listed opt-out for the game is a defensive lineman for Central Michigan, so both teams are pretty much full strength. I think there are levels to these teams, and I do think Northwestern is significantly better than Central Michigan. Being that this game is in Detroit, this probably is more of a home game for the Chippewas. I'd expect this to be a slower-paced game, though, and therefore am backing the under 42.5. 

Nov 22, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; The Northwestern Wildcats celebrate after their victory against the Minnesota Golden Gophers at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images

SERVPRO First Responder Bowl - Florida International vs. UTSA, 8:00 ET

Florida International comes into the game with a 7-5 record, but they finished right around the middle in their conference standings. They did win their last four games of the season, and did it with a mixture of both of their quarterbacks playing. Before that winning streak, they were just 3-5, suffering losses to Penn State, Delaware, UConn, Kennesaw State, and Missouri State. There are a lot of Bowl eligible teams in that list, so you can show them a bit of respect in their losing those games. For UTSA, they finished their regular season schedule at 6-6. The Roadrunners lost their opener to Texas A&M, but actually put up a reasonable fight. They then lost at home the next week to Texas State which was a bit of a surprise. They dropped games to Temple, North Texas, South Florida, and Army. Again, those are good teams that they are losing to, so you can't fully knock them. This game does have a fairly long list of people sitting out. There are a good number of defensive backs for Florida International that will miss the game, and there are a few defensive players overall that will sit out for UTSA. If you're going to have all of these defensive backs missing games, the total should be high - and it is at 60.5. I like the over, but I prefer the UTSA team total over 32.5. I think they have the right guy in Owen McCown to air it out and take advantage of the defensive backs missing. 

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