BEST LINE: Bet365 +120

Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl – Sam Boyd Stadium, Las Vegas, NV

Posted Friday at 2:00 PM EST.

Saturday December 20, 2014 – 3:30 PM EST.  The Colorado State Rams were flirting with a possible New Year’s Day Six Bowl berth had it not been for the painful interjection of arch rival Air Force. The Falcons stunned the Rams 27-24 in Fort Collins, shocking Colorado State and most of the college football world. The loss was tough to bear and the Rams perhaps are even more dissuaded upon the news that their head coach Jim McElvain will be leaving Colorado Springs to take the now vacant Florida Gators head coach position. How will this all play out? That remains to be seen, however the Rams have one more big game to play this season and they figure to go out with strong effort.

The Utes have been flirting with top-15 positioning throughout the course of the year, but they simply fell apart down the back stretch. Despite boasting one of the nation’s best defensive lines and a top rushing defense, Utah managed to surrender 153 points in their final five games and lose three of those five contests. Utah had an opportunity to potentially win the Pac-12 South, but squandered this opportunity in their demise. Seemingly the Utah defense was exposed against Oregon, as the Ducks dissected Utah’s vaunted defense. The Arizona Wildcats would follow up with a similar feat two weeks later as they diced up the Utes for over 500 yards of total offense. Despite their hallowed rushing defense, the Utes surrendered over 250 yards on the ground in both affairs. In addition, the Utes are currently ranked 92nd in the nation against the pass.

The bad news for Utah is that Colorado State has the current eighth-ranked passing attack in the FBS. Colorado State is a machine, a team that averages 35.9 points per game and 326.2 yards per game through the air. The Rams have one of the best offenses in the country, averaging just under 500 yards per game in total. This is of course a staple of the Mountain West, a conference where the Rams hail from. The Utes are simply not a team that gets our money, and, although this isn't our favorite underdog spot this bowl season, laying anything against decent teams with the self-destructive Utes is never on our menu. Rams outright.