Our 2012 bowl predictions kick off on Saturday, December 15th with the New Mexico Bowl, and we are set to make our New Mexico Bowl predictions, tips, and keys to the game for the duel between the Nevada Wolf Pack and the Arizona Wildcats.

2012 New Mexico Bowl: Nevada Wolf Pack vs. Arizona Wildcats
2012 New Mexico Bowl Location: University Stadium, Albuquerque, NM
2012 New Mexico Bowl Date/Time: Saturday, December 15th, 1:00 p.m. (ET)
2012 New Mexico Bowl On TV: ESPN, Watch ESPN

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Key #1: Stefphon Jefferson cannot wear down
It’s really tough to imagine just how many times Jefferson has carried the ball this year for the Wolf Pack. He is averaging touching the rock over 30 times per game in the Pistol offense, and he is going to have be going full bore against this Arizona defense from start to finish. The Wildcats allowed 189.8 yards per game this year on the ground to opponents, and the only comparable teams to this Nevada club that they played were the Oregon Ducks (228 rushing yards allowed), Oklahoma State Cowboys (200 rushing yards allowed), and UCLA Bruins (308 rushing yards allowed). We know that it isn’t just Jefferson that is going to be carrying the ball on Saturday, as QB Cody Fajardo is going to be doing so as well, but it is Jefferson that has to keep those chains moving on a regular basis, and he is also going to be tabbed with making sure that the Wolf Pack stay on schedule with down and distance. They’ll make their big plays, and Jefferson will be part of that, but Jefferson has to keep running the ball and running it hard for the full 60 minutes.

New Mexico Bowl Odds at WagerWeb Sportsbook
Nevada Wolf Pack +9
Arizona Wildcats -9
Over/Under 77
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Key #2: Austin Hill must stretch the field
The Wildcats are a team that can run the football and run the heck out of it, too. We already know that RB Ka’Deem Carey will get his yards and his touchdowns from in close, but to move the pigskin in chunks, it’s going to require a solid effort from WR Austin Hill. QB Matt Scott averaged 7.2 yards per pass attempt this year, including 24 touchdowns. Hill was not just the leading receiver for the team with 73 catches, 1,189 yards, and nine scores, but he also led the team in yards per catch with 16.3. Hill had a few absolutely massive games this year, including 139 yards against Toledo, 125 yards against Okie State, 165 yards against Stanford, and 259 yards against USC. He hasn’t had a 100+ yard game since the end of October, but this could be the secondary that he could torch. The Wolf Pack did only allow 218.3 passing yards per game this year, but there were a lot of games that were played against teams that run it more than they throw it. The last truly excellent quarterback/receiver tandem that Nevada saw this year was against the Fresno State Bulldogs when QB Derek Carr threw for 220 yards and two TDs and WR Davante Adams had nine catches, 120 yards, and trip to the end zone.

Key #3: The Wolf Pack have to be a bit unpredictable
Predictability has been a major problem for Nevada over the course of the last several bowl games. The team has only won one bowl game since the 2005 Hawaii Bowl, and a lot of these games have featured terrible offensive showings. For example, Nevada has averaged just 17.0 points per game in its last six bowl games this year. The problem the Wolf Pack have is that they run a unique offense that is just too darn simple. It doesn’t take all that long to figure out this offense if you study enough game tape, and though there isn’t always enough time to figure out in preparation for this offense in just one week’s time, getting ready for a bowl game with 16 extra practices is a totally different story. The Pack have to be thrilled that they are playing one of the first bowl games of the year this year though, as it only gives Head Coach Rich Rodriguez two weeks to figure out how to counter this fantastic offense. Still, Fajardo and the gang are going to have to show some more creativity in this one, or once the Arizona defense gets settled, it could really figure out how to wreck havoc on this Pistol attack.

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The Sheraton Hawaii Bowl is a Christmas Eve classic every single year, and here at Bankroll Sports, we are set for our Hawaii Bowl keys to the game, which will help you with all of your Nevada Wolf Pack vs. Southern Miss Golden Eagles predictions and picks!

Hawaii Bowl: Nevada Wolf Pack vs. Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles
Hawaii Bowl Location: Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, HI
Hawaii Bowl Date/Time: Saturday, December 24th, 8:00 p.m. (ET)
Hawaii Bowl Television Coverage: ESPN, ESPN3.com

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Key #1: The Wolf Pack must find running room with the Pistol
The days of QB Colin Kaepernick, RB Vai Taua, and RB Luke Lippincott are long since over with for the Wolf Pack, and now, they have to take a team that really is completely new offensively into the Hawaii Bowl against a team that ranks No. 20 in the land against the rush. Though QB Cody Fajardo has played well under center since he has come in place of QB Tyler Lantrip, he is still just a freshman and badly needs to be kept out of as much danger as possible. That leaves RB Lampford Mark to get the job done on the ground, and though he is averaging 5.6 yards per carry, he doesn’t have the same type of explosiveness that backs before him at Nevada have had. If the ground game is stuffed, there is no hope for the Wolf Pack to pull off this upset.

Hawaii Bowl Odds at Wager Web Sportsbook
Nevada Wolf Pack +7
Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles -7
Over/Under 62
Click Here to Bet The Hawaii Bowl Picks!

Key #2: Southern Miss has to respond well to Fedora’s last game
Often times, teams that are about to lose their head coach go through some severe reactions. In this case, Fedora is going to be on the sidelines before he heads off to Chapel Hill to take the job with the North Carolina Tar Heels, and you can bet that the Eagles are going to want to send him out as a winner. The fact that he was able to take this program to arguably a bad loss against UAB away from being in the BCS is remarkable, as Conference USA teams don’t historically challenge for BCS bowl bids, and emotions have to be kept in check.

Key #3: Chris Ault needs to change things up just a bit
Bowl history for the Wolf Pack hasn’t been all that special. Since 2005, the team has played in a bowl game every year, including twice here in the 50th state. That being said, in spite of the fact that Nevada almost always has an offense that ranks in the Top 25 in America, the results aren’t always great. It barely walked away with a victory over a very suspect Boston College club in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl last year, and that was the fourth time in the last five bowl games in which this team has failed to exceed 20 points in its bowl game. Ault has been fantastic for years and years in Reno, but the truth of the matter is that teams that have a hard time trying to figure out how Pistol attack with just a week of preparation in the regular season have historically figured it all out by the time the team’s bowl game has come around. Fedora is a smart cookie defensively, and if he was really able to figure out how to frustrate the passing attack of QB Kevin Kolb and the Houston Cougars, we’re afraid that without some new wrinkles for this game, the Pistol doesn’t stand a chance.

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It’ll be a college football betting dichotomy on Sunday night in San Francisco, as we get our chance to sink our teeth into one final appetizer before the main course and the BCS National Championship Game on Monday. The Nevada Wolf Pack will look to run over the Boston College Eagles in a game that should be a ton of fun at Candlestick Park. These two teams have a lot to prove, but they are complete opposites of one another. Don’t be surprised if these three keys to the game prove to make the difference on which club beats the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl odds.

Key #1: The Eagles have to flex their defensive muscles
We know that the Nevada offense is going to get its yards and its points, but there is no reason to think that a month and a half of preparation for this game isn’t enough for the Eagles to be able to put up a great fight here in San Francisco. This is a team that prides itself on the fact that it hasn’t allowed a team to score more than 16 points against it in basically half of a season, and though that clearly won’t stay the case after the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, it is a fantastic goal. BC had the No. 1 ranked rushing defense in the land this year at just over 70 yards per game, and Head Coach Frank Spaziani is doing a lot of things to be able to help this team out. RB Montel Harris is sure to carry the ball at least 20 times in this game (more on this later), which should chew up some clock and keep the Pistol loaded on the sidelines for Nevada.

Key #2: Colin Kaepernick and Vai Taua have to want to go out victorious
QB Colin Kaepernick and RB Vai Taua have done a lot of things in their illustrious careers here in Reno. Kaepernick became the first man from a non-BCS conference to have at least 20 TDs both on the ground and through the air in the same season this year, and he is only the third to be able to pull off the feat in the history of major college football regardless of conference affiliation. He has thrown for 9,906 yards and 81 TDs, and has rushed for 4,091 yards and 59 TDs in his great career. Taua is now out of the shadow of the man he used to split the backfield with, RB Luke Lippincott. He accounted for 1,750 yards and 22 TDs this year, giving him 4,524 yards and 44 TDs on the ground with another 58 receptions for 561 yards and eight TDs as a receiver. These two have been a part of the only trio of rushers to ever have 1,000+ yards in the same season when they pulled off the feat last year, and they have averaged over 500 yards of offense per game in each of the last three seasons. What they have not done, though, is win a bowl game. In fact, you have to go back to the 2005 Hawaii Bowl in an OT victory against the UCF Knights to find the last win in a bowl game. This team was shut out three years ago by the New Mexico Lobos and was held to just 10 points against the SMU Mustangs last year. It would be a real travesty to see these two leave college without tasting what a bowl victory is like.

Key #3: Chase Rettig has to take care of the pigskin
We don’t care who you are. If you are turning the ball over and making little mistakes against the Wolf Pack, you’re going to lose. Just ask the Boise State Broncos how well they did when they were making dumb mistakes in the second half against these guys. We’ve already talked about the importance of RB Montel Harris, as he is sure to have his touches and will keep this offense moving. This junior has already accounted for 3,599 yards and 27 TDs on the ground in his career, and this is going to be a real showcase game for him here in San Francisco. However, the man of the hour on this offense is QB Chase Rettig. Just a freshman, Rettig was sort of thrown into the fire this year when neither QB Mike Marscovetra nor QB David Shinskie could get the job done. Rettig basically has half of a season of experience now as the team’s starting quarterback, and he threw for 1,117 yards and six TDs against seven picks. He doesn’t have to be a hero, but Rettig is going to have to make a few plays here and there just to keep this offense going. If Nevada is forcing him into some dumb, freshman mistakes though, the Eagles are in a boatload of trouble.