Cotton Bowl Texas A&M vs. LSU Spread Settles In At -2
The Cotton Bowl Texas A&M vs. LSU spread had moved up to -2 in favor of the Tigers after opening at -1. Nearly 95 percent of the online sportsbooks featured the -2 line now. Close to 90 percent of the spread action was going towards LSU, making it possible we could see the line move up to -2.5 by game time. The Tigers were getting more than 80 percent on the money line. The total was set at 49 with balanced action.
What To Look At: Texas A&M is 0-3 in the past two seasons against the conference, but the Tigers' defense will make life hard on the Aggies' offense. There's a silver lining for Texas A&M, though. Les Miles will be without his mojo: This game is on artificial turf. -- David Ubben of ESPN.com
LSU has only lost to number one-ranked Auburn and a highly ranked Arkansas team during this past regular season.
"We are very excited about going to Dallas for the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic," director of athletics and vice chancellor Joe Alleva told LSU's official website. "Once it looked like we were out of the running for a BCS bowl game, we turned our attention to Dallas and getting into the Cotton Bowl.
"This is the bowl that our players and coaches wanted to play in."
Texas A&M defeated Oklahoma 33-19 and beat the other participant in the Big 12 title game, Nebraska, 9-6.
"We have played one of the toughest schedules in the country and it is appropriate we will face a great challenge from a quality LSU program," director of athletics Bill Byrne said. "It should make for one of the best matchups in the bowl season."
Aggies Tough Time On Neutral Field: On a neutral field Texas A&M is just 0-7 Against The Spread.
Aggies Trouble Against The SEC: Versus the SEC, the Aggies are just 0-5 ATS in their last 6 games.
Aggies Tough Time As An Underdog: On a neutral field as an underdog, they are 0-5 ATS and 0-5 Against The Spread as an underdog overall. The Tigers, on the other hand, are 9-3-1 ATS in their last 13 games as a favorite of 0.5 to 3.0.
Positives For The Aggies: Following a Straight Up win, the Aggies are 5-0, which shows a positive winning trend coming into the Cotton Bowl. Likewise they are 6-0 ATS in their last 6 games overall.
Why LSU Has a Major Advantage Here: The main reason why LSU is getting more than 80 percent of the public backing probably has to do with this stat: The Aggies have only one a single Bowl game out of their last six. Expect LSU to win here.
- Don Shapiro, Gambling911.com