TEXAS SPORTSWIRE
LOUISVILLE (9-3 SU/5-7 ATS) vs MIAMI OHIO (12-1 SU/9-4 ATS)
The Louisville Cardinals from Conference USA meet the Miami-Ohio RedHawks of the MAC in the GMAC Bowl in Mobile, Alabama. Louisville finished the season with two wins both SU and ATS. In their season finale, they beat Cincinnati 43-40 as -2? point road chalks and prior to that they topped Houston 66-45 as -11? point home chalks. QB Stefan LeFors and RB Eric Shelton lead the Cardinals offense. Lefors passed for almost 3,000 yards with 15 TD's (only 7 interceptions) and rushed for 356 yards. Shelton finished 48th in the nation in rushing with an 84 ypg average. Shelton has been injured with a neck injury, but has returned to practice and is listed as probable. Offensively, Louisville ranks 6th in the nation, averaging 488 ypg, but their "D" has been suspect all year as they rank 87th, allowing 414 ypg. Last year the Cards met the MAC's Marshall Thundering Herd in the GMAC and lost 38-15 as +2? point underdogs. For the first time since the 1986 California Bowl, Miami will play in a postseason bowl game. The RedHawks are 5-2 all-time in bowl games, including back-to-back-to-back Tangerine Bowl wins in 1973-75. Miami-Ohio comes into this one having won 12 straight games since opening the season with a 21-3 loss at Iowa as +10? point underdogs. QB Ben Roethlisberger leads a Miami-Ohio offense that ranks 4th in the nation in total "O", averaging 493 ypg. Roethlisberger has tossed 33 touchdowns and threw for 4,110 yards this season, with 10 interceptions. Miami is the first MAC team to score 500 points in a season and ranks fifth nationally in scoring average, (42.5 points per game). The RedHawks will be facing the nation?s 13th highest-scoring offense in Louisville, which puts up 35 points per game. Miami has not been held to fewer than 33 points in its last 12 games. The Miami defense ranks a respectable 26th in the nation, allowing 329 ypg. Head coach Terry Hoeppner is 3-2 versus C-USA, with all five games coming against Cincinnati. Despite a convincing 49-27 (-7) win over Bowling Green in the MAC Championship game, the RedHawks held steady in both polls, remaining 14th. The ranking is the highest ranking for Miami since the 1975 team finished 12th in the final polls. Miami currently has one regular season opponent ranked among the top 25 - Iowa is ranked No. 12 in the coaches poll and No. 13 in the AP Polls. The RedHawks are 30-3 all-time when carrying a national ranking. Miami University earned its most all-Mid-American Conference individual honors since 1997, as nine players were named all-conference. Miami was good against the spread this season, going 9-3 ATS and finished the season on a 4-1 ATS run, while Louisville was on a 1-7 ATS run before finishing the season with two ATS wins. Miami and Louisville played on common opponent this season; Cincinnati. Miami beat Cincy 42-37 as -7 point home favorites on September 27th, while Louisville topped the Bearcats 43-40 (-2?) on the road in their season finale.
OVER ROVER!!!!!