RUTGERS -2.5

For a number of different reasons I believe the value in this game is on Rutgers:

The Knights, who will be playing about 100 miles from campus, reached their third bowl game in five years. They didn’t make it to one last year, however, and lost their previous two.

This is a spot that the Knights have struggled in already this season; UCF is 0-1 ATS when playing with 2 weeks or more of rest; over the last two seasons they are a poor 1-4 ATS.

On the other side of the field: The Scarlet Knights will try to make it four bowl victories in a row when they face the Knights for the first time in the St. Petersburg Bowl on Saturday night.

Rutgers (8-4) made it to yet another postseason game this year after going 8-5 and beating North Carolina State 29-23 in the PapaJohns.com Bowl in 2008.

Rutgers got off to a poor start this season with a 47-15 loss to Cincinnati, the eventual unbeaten Big East champion. The Scarlet Knights then won seven of eight to crack the poll at No. 25, but lost 31-13 at last-place Syracuse on Nov. 21 and fell out immediately.

That defeat was the first of two in the Scarlet Knights’ last three games. Rutgers dropped its finale 24-21 to then-No. 24 West Virginia on Dec. 5 and earned the St. Petersburg Bowl berth after going 3-4 in the conference; however I expect a concerted effort on both sides of the ball on Saturday as Rutgers will look to close its season strong.

Rutgers’ ground attack is led by sophomore Joe Martinek, who rushed for 923 yards and a team-high nine touchdowns while averaging 4.8 yards per carry.

Keep in mind, Rutgers is 4-2 ATS its last six overall.

Bottom line: Expect the Scarlet Knights to settle down and take advantage of their opportunities; look for RUTGERS to move to 4-1 ATS this season when the line is +3 to -3 and for UCF to fall to 1-1 ATS in the same position.

*9* RUTGERS.