St. Petersburg Bowl: Memphis-South Florida

It’s a home game of sorts for the South Florida Bulls when they play Memphis December 20 at Tropicana Field. At stake will be the inaugural St. Petersburg Bowl and while the Bulls are favored, they are just 1-3 ATS in the past four games against the Tigers.

Oddsmakers currently have the Bulls listed as 11½-point favorites versus the Tigers, while the game’s total is sitting at 55.

Steven Black rushed for three touchdowns to lead Memphis to an easy 45-6 win over Tulane in Week 14.

The Tigers covered the 14-point spread, while the final score played just UNDER the day’s posted total of 53.

South Florida fell 13-7 to West Virginia in Week 15, as 7-point road underdogs. That game’s 20 points fell well UNDER the posted total of 47.

Matt Grothe completed 18-of-33 for 189 yards, while rushing for 63 yards and a TD in the loss.

Team records:
Memphis: 6-6 SU, 5-5-1 ATS
South Florida: 7-5 SU, 4-7 ATS

Memphis most recently:
When playing in December are 2-2
When playing on turf are 6-4
After outgaining opponent are 6-4
When playing outside the conference are 3-7

South Florida most recently:
When playing in December are 1-5
When playing on turf are 4-6
After outgaining opponent are 7-3
When playing outside the conference are 9-1

A few trends to consider:
Memphis is 6-3 SU in its last 9 games
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of South Florida’s last 5 games
South Florida is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games