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

Click Here For The Rest Of The 2011-12 Bowl Game Schedule And Other Bowl Game Previews

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.

Click Here to get the best college football picks that you’ll find on the internet, including our Hawaii Bowl picks and the NCAA football picks for the rest of the bowl game odds.

This Exclusive Sportsbook Bonus Offer Is Available From Bankroll Sports Only
Click Here For An Exclusive 100% Signup Bonus (Up to $500) @ BetUS!
Credit Card Deposits Are Also Accepted @ BetUS Sportsbook & Casino!

The Louisville Cardinals fought long and hard all season long to beat the college football odds often enough to make it to the Beef O’Brady’s Bowl in St. Petersburg, FL. The Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles had an up and down season, but they were certainly one of the best teams in a very respectable Conference USA. These two are going to be in the Sunshine State on Tuesday, December 21st to continue the bowl season. Check of these three keys to the game for these two teams as they get ready to wage war against each other and before you make your Beef O’Brady’s picks.

Key #1: Bilal Powell must be strong for the Cardinals
Louisville thought that it was going to be a team that was based on the pass all season long, but Head Coach Charlie Strong really found a diamond in the rough in the form of Bilal Powell. Powell, who hadn’t rushed for even 400 yards in a season prior to this, busted out for easily the biggest year of his life, rushing for 1,330 yards and ten TDs. The rushing attack was great for the Redbirds all season long, averaging 181.9 yards per game, ranking No. 32 in the land. With Adam Froman dealing with a leg injury, Powell is going to be the man in charge of this offense. Southern Miss had one of the best defenses in Conference USA this year against opposing ground games, allowing just 109.8 yards per game. One way or the other, this is going to be the biggest key for both teams, as Powell won’t just be providing points to the game, but will be keeping that potent SMS offense off of the field.

Beef O’Brady’s Bowl Odds at BetUS Sportsbook
Louisville Cardinals -2.5
Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles +2.5
Over/Under 57
Click Here to Bet on Your Beef O’Brady’s Bowl Picks!

Key #2: The “better” SMS defense has to be the one that comes to play
We’ve mentioned how great the Golden Eagles were against the rush this year, but part of the reason for that is because teams have been destroying their secondary all year long. They gave up 248.8 yards per game through the air, ranking No. 103 in the nation. This defense was torched for at least 41 points five times this year, including basically every game against a rock solid offense. Louisville, at least by Big East standards, didn’t have a great ‘O’ this year, but there’s no telling what could happen when you pit these teams against each other from these different conferences, especially when you’re talking about bowl games with weeks and weeks to prepare for the games. However, we know if the bad ‘D’ that allowed 56 points to the Tulsa Golden Hurricane in the finale of the regular season, the Golden Eagles really don’t stand even half of a chance of winning this game.

Key #3: The passing game has to get something going for the Golden Eagles
This is going to be a fantastic showdown between these two units. The Golden Eagles have one of the most dynamic offenses in the country, and the argument could be made that this might be the best SMS offense in the school’s history. There weren’t a ton of teams that averaged at least 200 yards per game both through the air and on the ground. QB Austin Davis has rushed for 436 yards and has thrown for 2,898 yards. He really only had a few games to really be disappointed with, and for every game that was a dud, he had at least one that was a real stud effort. The ground game for the Golden Eagles is likely to at least something going, as there are just too many good rushers on this team, including RB Kendrick Hardy, RB Desmond Johnson, and RB Tracey Lampley, all of which had at least 350 yards on the year. Davis needs to be a rock in this one and work the ball around to all of his targets. The Big East wasn’t a fantastic passing league this year, which probably skews some of the numbers for the Louisville passing defense. Still, this is no mistake the Strong came over from the University of Florida and immediately made this defense a formidable one. The Cards averaged allowing just 162.5 yards per game this year, ranking No. 9 in the country.

It’s the morning of the first kickoff of the year in the college football betting world, and here at Bankroll Sports, we are zooming in on the props on the card on Thursday that are worth backing. Be sure to sign up for an account at Hollywood Sportsbook for the best NCAA props on the internet!

Dion Lewis (Pittsburgh Panthers) Over/Under 132.5 Rushing Yards
Lewis is arguably the top running back in the nation this season, especially if Alabama’s Mark Ingram is really hurt for any period of time. The Panthers are taking on a relatively stout front seven for the Utes, even though former DE Koa Misi has since graduated and is playing with the Miami Dolphins. The simple fact of the matter is that HC Dave Wannstedt had a heck of a lot more confidence in his former QB Bill Stull than he will in his current one, QB Tino Sunseri. Until that trust is formed, we expect a man that he does trust, Lewis, to get a ton of carries. That being said, he’s probably going to end up Over 132.5 Rushing Yards -115 at Hollywood Sportsbook.

Jereme Brooks (Utah Utes) Over/Under 5 Receptions
Brooks posted four games of at least five catches in his last five games of the season last year, but that doesn’t mean that we like his chances in this one. With Lewis carrying the ball so frequently for the Panthers, the Utes aren’t going to have as much time with the pigskin as they are used to. The last time they played a team with this type of makeup, the TCU Horned Frogs held Brooks to just one reception. That clearly won’t cut it today. Brooks might be the top receiver on this team, but with the ferocious pass rush coming to get QB Jordan Wynn, we aren’t so sure that he is going to have enough time to get rid of the football, particularly up the field. Go with Brooks Under 5 Receptions -125 at Hollywood Sportsbook.

South Carolina Gamecocks Over/Under 30.5 Points
The Gamecocks have already lost TE Weslye Saunders for this game, and there could be more problems on the horizon for them as well before kickoff due to some suspensions. Regardless of whether there are anymore SC players that end up sitting this one out or not, we have to listen to a fantastic head coach in Larry Fedora when he says that this is one of the best front sevens that he has ever coached at Southern Mississippi. That’s saying something considering the fact that the Golden Eagles allowed 392.5 yards per game last season. However, keeping South Carolina Under 30.5 Points -115 at Hollywood Sportsbook shouldn’t be that difficult considering the fact that this is an offense that hasn’t been all that explosive over the course of time with QB Stephen Garcia under center.

Will Either Teams Score in the First 6 Minutes? (USC/Hawaii)
Of course they will. The Trojans are set to come out for blood in this game, and we can’t imagine that it is going to take more than six minutes for QB Matt Barkley to find the scoreboard in the first game of his sophomore season. This is a prop that should probably either be lined at -250 or so, or should be knocked down to about 4:00 or 4:30 or so. Hawaii’s only method of moving the football is through the air, which should result in a lot of clock stoppages as well. It’s an added bonus that the Warriors could score in the first six minutes, but we have no doubt that USC will. One team will score in the first six minutes (-140 at Hollywood Sportsbook) of this game!