Minnesota vs. Virginia Tech Prediction Tonight: Duke's Mayo Bowl Picks & Odds
The Minnesota Golden Gophers take on the Virginia Tech Hokies in one of the college football bowl season's final non-College Football Playoff games, the Duke's Mayo Bowl, tonight. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET (ESPN) from Bank of American Stadium in Charlotte, N.C.
Our Minnesota vs. Virginia tech prediction, part of our college bowl game predictions this week, expects the Golden Gophers to take advantage of the uncertainty around the Hokies' offense. Our best college football betting sites list Minnesota as an 8.5-point favorite in tonight's first-ever meeting between the two schools.
Our college football bowl game opt-out tracker has you covered with the latest opt-out news and the impact on the college bowl game odds.
Minnesota vs. Virginia Tech prediction & best pick: Duke's Mayo Bowl
College football picks based on the odds from our best college football betting sites. Odds subject to change.
- Against the spread pick: Minnesota -8.5 (-115 via FanDuel) vs. Virginia Tech ⭐⭐⭐
- My best pick: Max Brosmer Over 1.5 passing touchdowns (+170 via bet365) ⭐⭐⭐
Minnesota vs. Virginia Tech ATS prediction
Minnesota to cover the spread: -8.5 ⭐⭐⭐
Best odds: -115 via FanDuel | Implied probability: 53.49%
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Minnesota’s dominance in bowl games
When it comes to bowl games and the unique preparation for the game with a long layoff, no one seems to have mastered that better than Golden Gophers head coach P.J. Fleck.
Minnesota has won all five bowl appearances since the 2018 Quick Lane Bowl with Fleck at the helm. And its seven-game winning streak overall in bowl games is the longest active streak in the country (excluding national championship appearances).
Fleck is two bowl wins away from tying all the previous Golden Gophers head coaches’ combined win totals with seven. And overall, his .594 win percentage is third-best all-time among Minnesota head coaches with a minimum of 45 games.
Uncertainty at quarterback for Virginia Tech
The fact that this line jumped four points from -4.5 to -8.5 suggests that Virginia Tech will be without starting quarterback Kyron Drones. Drones and No. 2 quarterback Collin Schlee were injured to finish the regular season.
It is possible the Hokies have Pop Watson under center in this bowl matchup, which would add to a total upwards of 14 starters that Virginia Tech could be without.
If Schlee is the starting quarterback, not much about his three starts are inspiring, as he completed 26 of 49 passes for 346 yards and a 3:1 TD:INT ratio.
FanDuel is the only top sports betting site offering a spread of -8.5, as all other competing sportsbooks are at -9 or -9.5.
Minnesota vs. Virginia Tech best pick
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Max Brosmer Over 1.5 passing touchdowns ⭐⭐⭐
Best odds: +170 via bet365 | Implied probability: 37.04%
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Brosmer threw for multiple touchdowns in the regular season finale against Wisconsin, snapping a streak of three games with just one touchdown pass.
While the Golden Gophers have typically been known as a ground-and-pound team under Fleck, Brosmer has had a great season throwing the football.
Brosmer needs nine completions to break the school record of 258 set by Adam Weber in 2007. In addition, his 17 touchdown passes are the ninth-most in a season by a Golden Gophers quarterback. If he gets to 20, he would be the fifth in school history to reach that mark.
This would be a more confident four-star play if Virginia Tech’s defense did not rank sixth nationally in red zone score percentage defense (71.1%).
But when opponents do score in the red zone against the Hokies, it is often with touchdowns, as Virginia Tech’s red zone touchdown percentage defense ranks outside the top 40.
Brosmer has thrown multiple touchdown passes in five games this season, so I am taking a flier on his generous +170 odds to do so again. Making this wager at bet365 offers a slightly better return than Caesars, which offers +165 odds to back the Over.
Minnesota vs. Virginia Tech odds
See all of this week's college football odds and NCAAF scores.
Minnesota vs. Virginia Tech live odds
Minnesota vs. Virginia Tech opening odds:
- Minnesota: -4.5 (-110 via BetMGM)
- Virginia Tech: +4.5 (-110 via BetMGM)
Minnesota vs. Virginia Tech odds movement
Minnesota opened up as a 4.5-point favorite when this line opened at BetMGM on Dec. 8. The spread has moved in the Golden Gophers' favor significantly in the weeks since, likely due to the unfortunate position Virginia Tech finds itself in post-opt-outs. The line reached as high as Minnesota -10 on numerous occasions, but as tonight's kickoff approaches, the market has settled a bit.
The Golden Gophers are 8.5-point favorites at our best live betting sites for tonight's Duke's Mayo Bowl.
Minnesota vs. Virginia Tech injuries
Duke's Mayo Bowl expert picks
Duke's Mayo Bowl game info
- When: Friday, Jan. 3
- Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. ET
- Where: Bank of American Stadium (Charlotte, N.C.)
- How to watch: ESPN
- Weather: 26 degrees, 3% chance of precipitation, wind 10 mph WNW
College football betting odds pages
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- FanDuel Promo Code | Read our FanDuel Review
- DraftKings Promo Code | Read our DraftKings Review
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