By Dave Johnson – Betting Expert and Professional Oddsmaker

 Florida International Golden Panthers (8-4) vs. Marshall Thundering Herd (6-6)

The Golden Panthers and Thundering Herd will face off tonight in the Beef ‘O’ Brady Bowl in St. Petersburg, Florida. This will be the first time the two teams play each other.

FIU is in their seventh season in the FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision); last year they defeated Toledo in the Little Caesars for their first ever postseason victory. Head Coach, Mario Cristobal, is 24-35 in five seasons at Florida International but has seen his team has shown tremendous promise over the past two years.

Florida International is led by quarterback, Wesley Carroll, who has thrown for 2,224 yards with 14 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. His favorite target has been wide receiver T.Y. Hilton who has 64 receptions and 7 TD’s on the year.

The rushing game is fueled by running back, Kedrick Rhodes, who averages 5.0 yards per carry. Rhodes suffered an ankle injury last month, but is listed as ‘probable’ to start the game.  The Golden Panthers as a team have rushed for 1,805 yards, or just over 150 yards per game.

The Thundering Herd will have their hands full stopping FIU, but they do have a playmaker who has the potential to stop teams in their tracks.  Senior Vinny Curry has 11 sacks and was the Conference USA defensive player of the year.

Freshman quarterback, Rakeem Cato, leads the offense and has totaled 1,833 passing yards and 13 touchdowns this season.  He could be in store for a big day vs. the FIU passing defense ranked 65^th in the nation allowing 226.67 yards per game.

Let’s take a look at the current line on the game:

Florida International: -4 (-110)

Marshall: +4 (-110)

Over/under:48 (-110)

(Odds as of 9:00 a.m. EST 12/20/2011)

The College Football odds above are at Wagerweb.com, a leading offshore sportsbook and highly recommended sponsor at inspin.com. The betting odds do change so please check their website here for instant updates

Odds Analysis:

The NCAAF betting odds on this game have remained fairly consistent over the past few weeks. The opening line was -4-110 and has shown very little movement. However, the betting public consensus has shown strong support in favor of Florida International.

Currently, the ratio of FIU to Marshall money is 74%/26%. If this trend continues throughout the day, it is possible FIU will close as a -4.5 or -5 point favorite.

The total on the game is currently posted at o/u 48-110, but opened a little higher. The opening total of o/u 50-110 was played UNDER by the wiseguys and driven down to 48-110.

The betting public however, doesn’t share the same confidence in the UNDER as do the wiseguys. At the current time, the OVER is being bet by the public at a large ratio of 87%. If the consensus on the OVER continues, expect the total to rise back to o/u 50 by kick-off.

Winning Betting Trends:

100% winner –Under is 9-0-2 in Golden Panthers last 11 games as a favorite of 3.5-10.0.

86% winner –Thundering Herd are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games in December.

86% winner – Under is 6-1-1 in Golden Panthers last 8 games overall.