This Saturday, the SMU Mustangs will be taking on the Pittsburgh Panthers (Big East) in the 2012 BBVA Compass Bowl at Legion Field.

The Mustangs have reached the bowl with a 7-5 record after defeating Rice 27-24 in its season finale. SMU began the year 5-1 with its only losing to the Texas A&M, but stumbled down the stretch. Head coach June Jones is in his fourth year with the program and has led the Mustangs to a 23-29 record during his tenure. SMU is playing in its third consecutive bowl game after going 25 years without a postseason appearance.

SMU ranks last among FBS schools in turnover margin (minus-1.42), with 31 giveaways overall. Making matters worse is the loss of junior RB Zach Line, who had 1,244 yards rushing and 17 touchdowns before suffering a season-ending toe injury. Senior WR Cole Beasley (79 rec., 954 yards) paces a solid air attack.

The Panthers will be playing the Compass Bowl for the second year running after defeating Kentucky 27-10 in 2011. Pittsburgh will be led by interim head coach Keith Patterson – who will then leave to become defensive coordinator at Arkansas State-.  The movement comes after coach Todd Graham resigned in early December to take the Arizona State job. Patterson served as the team's defensive coordinator as it finished 6-6.

The Panthers, currently -3.5 point favorites on WagerWeb.com, lost star tailback Ray Graham to a torn knee ligament against UConn in October and since then, it was an even bigger struggle for the offense to do anything with QB Tino Sunseri behind center. Pitt needed a 33-20 win over Syracuse in the final game of the season to become bowl eligible, but at least salvaged the season.

SMU and Pittsburgh have split their previous five matchups, 2-2-1. The two schools have not played since the Mustangs eked out a 7-3 victory in the 1983 Cotton Bowl, the lone meeting between the two since 1948.

The Panthers should be able to snatch this game as Sunseri has been more consistent than McDermott in their most recent outings, and McDermott is not going to have any easy day against the Panthers' talented defensive front.

Here's the actual betting odds from wagerweb.com:

SMU Mustangs:  +3.5
Pittsburgh Panthers: - 3.5
Total:  u 47-110

Here are some NCAA Betting Trends from Inspin.com:

Pittsburgh Panthers Trends:

Panthers are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games following a ATS win. 100.00 %
Panthers are 5-0 ATS in their last 5 games as an underdog. 100.00 %
Panthers are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games as an underdog of 10.5 or greater. 100.00 %
Panthers are 3-0-1 ATS in their last 4 games as an underdog of 3.5-10.0. 100.00 %
Panthers are 5-0 ATS in their last 5 games overall. 100.00 %
Panthers are 10-2 ATS vs. a team with a winning record. 83.33 %

SMU Mustangs Trends:

Mustangs are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games after allowing less than 100 yards rushing in their previous game. 85.71 %
Mustangs are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games as an underdog of 10.5 or greater. 71.43 %
 Mustangs are 2-5 ATS in their last 7 games after allowing less than 275 total yards in their previous game. 28.57 %
Mustangs are 7-18-1 ATS in their last 26 games as a favorite. 28.00 %
Mustangs are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 non-conference games. 20.00 %

For additional College Football information, please click here.

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