National Funding Holiday Bowl

Bowl History: First, this Holiday Bowl is not to be confused with the one played in Saint Petersburg, Florida (1957 to 1960)! The current Holiday Bowl is played in San Diego, California @ Qualcomm Stadium and is not connected to the former Bowl in any way, shape, or form! The present day Holiday Bowl was founded in 1978 and has been played annually since its inception. There have been a host of sponsors: SeaWorld (1986-90), Thrifty Car Rental (1991-94), Plymouth (1995-97), Culligan (1998-2001), Pacific Life Insurance Company (2002-09) Bridgepoint Education (2010 to 2012), National University (2013-2014) and now National Funding (2014-2016}! The current, official name for the Bowl is National Funding Holiday Bowl! The first game pitted Navy against BYU, a game won the by the Midshipmen, 23-16, on December 22, 1978! The defending Champion from last year’s game is Wisconsin, who beat USC, 23-21, on December 30, 2015! The Bowl conference tie-ins are currently the Big 10 & PAC 12 and the Bowl Payout is $2,825,000. 00!

Teams: Minnesota 8-4 (B-10) Washington State 8-4 (P-12)

Bowl Location: Qualcomm Stadiun, San Diego State

Day, Date & Time: Tuesday, December 27, 2016, 6:00 p.m. CST

Network: ESPN

Best Win(s): Minnesota beat Colorado State (7-5) 31-24 & Northwestern (6-6) 29-12; Washington State beat Stanford 42-16, Arizona 69-7, & Cal, 56-21

Worst Losses: Minnesota Penn State 29-26 in OT @ Happy Valley; Washington State lost to Eastern Washington 45-42 & Washington, 45-17!

Common Opponents: Oregon State: WSU won 35-31 while Minnesota won 30-23

Vegas Hotsheets Favorite: Washington State -10

Offensive Team Data: Minnesota ; Total Yards,  364 YPG; Passing Yards,  177 YPG;  Rushing Yards,  186 YPG; Scoring Average,  30 PPG, Turnovers,  1.33 TPG; Percent of 3rd Down Conversions, 39.8%; Percentage of all scores in Red Zone, 87% & Percentage of TD’s in Red Zone, 67%

Offensive Team Data: Wash State ; Total Yards,  498 YPG; Passing Yards, 371 YPG;  Rushing Yards, 127 YPG; Scoring Average  40 PPG, Turnovers,  1.42 TPG; Percent of 3rd Down Conversions, 48.8%; Percentage of all scores in Red Zone, 82% & Percentage of TD’s in Red Zone, 72%

Defensive Team Data: Minnesota ; Total Yards,  353 YPG; Passing Yards, 228 YPG;  Rushing Yards,  124 YPG; Scoring Average,  23 PPG, Turnovers,  2 TPG; Percent of 3rd Down Conversions, 39.2%; Percentage of all scores in Red Zone, 93% & Percentage of TD’s in Red Zone, 67%

Defensive Team Data: Wash State ; Total Yards,  417 YPG; Passing Yards,  284 YPG;  Rushing Yards,  133 YPG; Scoring Average,  27 PPG, Turnovers,  1.83 TPG; Percent of 3rd Down Conversions, 41%; Percentage of all scores in Red Zone, 83% & Percentage of TD’s in Red Zone, 72%

Sully’s CFP Game Simulator is a statistical analysis / predictor of how these teams will preform, based solely on their numbers, when they face off on the gridiron! Keep in mind, these stats were established against different teams and conferences and these differences must be taken into account to get a complete picture when attempting to predetermine a winner. If you are interested in how the Simulator works … read this part … if not … skip it! The process used is … we take Arizona’s total yards on offense, add it to what Nevada gives up on defense, …  get a total and then divide that number by 2 … to get the mean. We then invert the process by taking Nevada’s total offense, add it to what Arizona gives up on defense, get a total and divide that number by 2  to get the second mean… the greater number (with the exception of Turnovers) is then determined to have the advantage ( please note …. statistical advantage). We repeat this process in each of the eight statistical categories assessed!  That said… here are the results of the Head to Head Analysis:

Total Yards Advantage: Wash State 425.5 to 390.5

Passing Yards Advantage: Wash State 299.5 to 230.5

Rushing Yard Advantage: Minnesota 159.5 to 125.5

Scoring Advantage: Wash State 31.5 to 28.5

Turnovers Advantage: Minnesota 1.58 to 1.71

3rd Down Conversions Advantage: Wash State 44 to 40.4

Red Zone All Scores Advantage: Wash State 85.5% to 85%

Red Zone TD’s Only Advantage: Tie 69.5% Minn. Wash. State

The Game Simulator Says: Wash State 6, Minnesota 3 in the numbers game Washington State wins (32-29) but does not cover. Take Minnesota and the 10 points

Individuals to Watch: Minnesota’s RB, Rodney Smith, 1084 yards & 11 TD’s; WSU Luke Falk, 37 to 10 Ratio & 4204 Passing Yards, 350.3 YPG (4th in the country), & 37 TD’s

Sully Says: Minnesota has the 69th rated pass defense, allowing 228.2 YPG and this is easily the best passing game (4th in the nation) the Gophers have faced in 2016! WSU can’t run the ball (114th in the land) and the Gophers have the 54th best run offense in the FBS. Take the Gophers and the 10 as they upset the Cougers outright!