Sam Avellone
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The midweek college football bowl action gets underway on Tuesday night when the Memphis Tigers and the West Virginia Mountaineers meet in the Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl. The Tigers finished the season 10-2, just missing out on an opportunity to play for the AAC title. As for the Mountaineers, they limped into bowl eligibility with a 6-6 record. Being the only bowl game of the day, we’ve added even more excitement to tonight’s action with our Memphis vs West Virginia Same Game Parlay picks. Let’s get right to it, but don’t forget to check our our college football picks and CFB predictions for EVERY College Football Playoff and bowl game.
Over 58.5 (-115)
Mario Anderson (MEM) over 141.5 rushing + receiving yards (-114)
West Virginia +8.5 (-184)
Memphis vs West Virginia Same Game Parlay odds: +391
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Over 58.5 (-115)
There’s not too much to like about either of these defenses. Memphis finished the regular season 71st in PPA per play allowed outside of garbage time despite playing a strength of schedule that ranked 114th. Meanwhile, West Virginia ended up 123rd in PPA per play against a strength of schedule ESPN graded 56th. These struggles in efficiency were evident on the scoreboard. Memphis gave up nearly 23 points per game, while West Virginia yielded 31.1 with its best linebacker in Josiah Trotter on the field. The Mountaineers will be without Trotter in this game, as he entered the transfer portal.
Down the stretch of the regular season, these defenses really struggled in scoring situations. In fact, Memphis and West Virginia have given up at least 4.5 points per scoring opportunity since Week 9, both ranking in the bottom 20 nationally in that metric. The Tigers and the Mountaineers have been abysmal defensively in the red zone too, both yielding a touchdown on more than 67% of red-zone trips – good for bottom 25 nationally. Expect both offenses, led by veteran quarterbacks, to finish drives with points throughout this game just as they’ve done in recent weeks. For reference, Memphis and West Virginia are top 40 in points per scoring opportunity, averaging at least 4.4 points per trip inside the 40 since Week 9.
Read our full Memphis vs West Virginia prediction for the Frisco Bowl
Mario Anderson (MEM) over 141.5 rushing+receiving yards (-114)
This is a massive number, but Mario Anderson is the fulcrum of the Memphis offense – producing nearly 1,600 total yards to go along with 19 total touchdowns. He has carried the ball at least 22 times in 5 of Memphis’ last 6 games, clearing 135 rushing yards in each of the 5. Furthermore, he is one of the most heavily-targeted running backs in the country. According to PFF, Anderson had the 6th-most targets and the 5th-most receptions this season, while averaging 6.3 yards per reception. Expect him to continue to be heavily involved against a West Virginia defense that is 68th in PPA per rush allowed and 96th in rush success rate outside of garbage time since Week 9. Trotter’s absence improves this matchup for Anderson even further.
West Virginia Mountaineers +8.5 alternate spread over Memphis Tigers (-184)
While the Mountaineers parted ways with coach Neal Brown, there is some excitement surrounding this program with the re-hiring of Rich Rodriguez. He won’t be on the sidelines for this game, but the Mountaineers are in good hands with offensive coordinator Chad Scott, who has been with the program since 2019.
Scott clearly has the respect of his offense, as I have yet to see any of the Mountaineers’ key offensive pieces opt out of this game as of late Monday afternoon. That means we should see quarterback Garrett Greene, running backs Jahiem White and CJ Donaldson Jr, and pass-catchers Hudson Clement and Kole Taylor in this game. Assuming that is the case, I think the Mountaineers have plenty of firepower to hang with the Tigers, especially given Memphis’ defensive struggles against a poor strength of schedule. For what it’s worth, West Virginia scored at least 30 points in every road game outside of its season finale against Texas Tech, while Memphis has only 1 win against a team with a winning record.
