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Temple had to wait a week or so longer than every other bowl team to find out its eventual opponent. It remains to be seen whether or not UCLA was worth the wait. Of course, when you haven’t been to a bowl game in 31 years, like the Owls, waiting an extra week should just be a minor inconvenience. With that in mind, Temple, which finished 9-3 SU and 8-3 ATS in 2009, should be highly motivated to take on the Bruins. Head coach Al Golden’s team comes in with a 5-1 ATS mark in road games. UCLA is a familiar bowl team, having gone 3-8 SU and 4-7 ATS in bowl games since 1994, including 2-7 ATS as a favorite. In addition to that, the Bruins face the challenge of having to trek cross-country from Los Angeles to Washington, DC for this.
StatFox Forecaster: UCLA 26, TEMPLE 20

(223) UCLA vs. (224) TEMPLE
StatFox John says: As tough as the scheduling circumstances in this
game were for UCLA, having to wait for the conclusion of the Army-
Navy game, and as much as the Bruins will have had to travel and as
poorly as the Pac-10 has done as a big favorite in bowl games, I
can’t get past one simple thought: This is a Pac-10 team taking on a
MAC club. There will be all kinds of talk about motivation of Temple,
and lack thereof on the side of UCLA, but when it comes down to it,
the Bruins’ players will be bigger, stronger, and faster and thus will
win rather easily. Look for a double-digit victory by UCLA.

Play: UCLA



Wisconsin still has not-so-distant and not-so-pleasant memories of its last trip to the Champs Sports Bowl. That came last December when
the Badgers were spanked 42-13 by Florida State. For 2009, Miami, Fla. is the opponent, and though head coach Bret Bielema’s team is two games better than it was a year ago, the Hurricanes still present an imposing challenge. Miami is a three-point favorite and comes in sharing the exact same 9-3 SU and 6-6 ATS record as Wisconsin, having played one of the country’s tougher schedules featuring eight bowl teams (5-3 SU). With the win last year, the ACC has now built a six-game winning streak in this bowl series, however, both of these teams have been involved in underdog-dominated bowl games of late.

StatFox Forecaster: MIAMI 32, WISCONSIN 26

[LLXC]

From gg's tracking:

OVERALL: 6-5