BCS Bowl games kick off New Year’s Day

Dec. 31, 2007/By Rob Gerein

Bettors won’t have to wait too long into the New Year for BCS Bowl games, as the Rose Bowl kicks off Tuesday afternoon, immediately followed by the Sugar Bowl.

The Illinois Fighting Illini take on the USC Trojans in the Rose Bowl (5 pm ET, ABC), while the Hawaii Warriors battle the Georgia Bulldogs at the Louisiana Superdome in the Sugar Bowl (8:30 pm ET, FOX).

The Trojans are 14-point favorites against Illinois at BodogLife, while the over/under total is 50.

USC is 10-2 SU and 7-5 ATS. The Trojans are 6-1 SU and 5-2 ATS in their past seven games. Illinois is 9-3 SU and 7-4 ATS, and is 9-2 SU in its past 11 and 7-3 ATS in its past 10.

In its last game, USC held UCLA to 167 yards and forced four turnovers in a 24-7 win. The Trojans failed to cover the 18.5-point home spread. Illinois beat Northwestern 41-22 in its last game, covering the 14-point home spread.

Meanwhile, Georgia is favored by 8 over Hawaii, with the total at 69.

Hawaii is 12-0 SU and 4-6 ATS. In spite of the Warriors’ undefeated record, they have failed to cover the spread in five of their past seven games.

Georgia is 10-2 SU and 7-4 ATS. The Bulldogs are 5-0 SU and 4-1 ATS in their past five.

The Warriors scored 14 points in the fourth quarter last time out to beat the Washington Huskies 28-21, failing to cover the 13.5-point spread at home.

The Bulldogs had 219 yards rushing in a 31-17 win over the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in their last game, easily covering the 3.5-point spread on the road.

The Fiesta Bowl (Wednesday), Orange Bowl (Thursday) and BCS National Championship Game (Jan. 7) round out the five BCS bowl games.

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