Armed Forces Bowl Picks: Missouri vs. Army

Missouri Tigers (6-6 SU, 3-9 ATS) vs. Army Black Knights (8-4, 6-6), 12/22/21

When: 8 pm ET Wednesday, Dec. 22

Where: Amon Carter Stadium

TV: ESPN

Point Spread: Army -3.5 (Bet using Bitcoin >>> Many of our sportsbook advertisers payout via BTC within an hour!)

Over/under: 58

Coming off a very disappointing loss in their regular-season finale, the Black Knights of Army shoot for better fortunes when they meet up with the SEC’s Missouri Tigers in the Armed Forces Bowl Wednesday, Dec. 22 in Fort Worth.

Army was having a great season until it lost to Navy. Now the Knights hope to bounce back against a Mizzou team we don’t believe deserved a bowl invitation.

Which way are we going here with our free college football betting pick?

Armed Forces Bowl Betting Odds

College football’s bowl season betting lines opened Army as a three-point favorite for this Armed Forces Bowl, with an over/under of right around 60.5. Early betting action then edged the Knights to -3.5 and dropped that total to 58.

According to Sagarin’s ratings at USAToday.com Army should only be favored by one point for this game.

Armed Forces Bowl Betting Preview

Missouri played a very mediocre 6-6 this season and just 3-5 in SEC play. The Tigers started 2-1, the wins coming against Central Michigan and FCS Southeast Missouri, and they later set at 4-5. But Mizzou managed back-to-back wins over 6-6 South Carolina and 6-6 Florida to become bowl-eligible before losing its season finale Arkansas 34-17.

Nonetheless, the Tigers are back in a bowl for the first time since 2018.

Missouri also began this season with certain expectations, after going 5-5 last season. But the Tigers under-performed and lost their first seven games against the spread. And while they covered against Georgia, that was only because they were getting 40 points!

On the season Mizzou only out-gained three of its 12 opponents but out-rushed four of its last five foes.

Army, meanwhile, played 8-4 this season but finished on a sour note with that ugly loss to a lesser Navy team. The Black Knights started 4-0, beating nobody of great note, then lost three straight to, although two of those were close decisions to Wisconsin and Wake Forest. Army then won four straight, including an overtime decision at rival Air Force, but then finished with a thud, losing outright to Navy 17-13 as a seven-point favorite.

Army led the Midshipmen 13-7 at the half but gave up a touchdown on the opening drive of the second half and never recovered. For the game, the Black Knights only managed 124 yards on the ground after averaging about 300 all season long.

Nonetheless, Army is back in a bowl for the second year in a row.

The Black Knights also out-rushed nine of their 12 opponents this season,

Missouri leads the all-time series with Army 3-1. Most recently, back in 1982, the Tigers beat the Knights 23-10.

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College Football Betting Trends

• Missouri played 4-6 SU, 3-7 ATS vs. teams that made bowls this season.
• Army played 5-3 both SU and ATS against teams that made a bowl this season.
• Missouri is 7-2 SU, 5-4 ATS its last nine games vs. Group of 5 opponents.
• Army is 2-9 SU but 6-5 ATS over its last 11 games vs. Power 5 opponents.
• Army is 3-1 both SU and ATS in bowl games under Coach Monken.
• Service academy teams are 3-2 SU, 4-1 ATS over their last five appearances in the Armed Forces Bowl.

Totals Report

The Over is 7-5 in Tigers games this season, which are averaging 64 total points.

The Under is 7-5 in Black Knights games this season, which are averaging 56 points.

Free Armed Forces Bowl Betting Pick

Army out-rushed opponents this season by a per-game margin of 287-112, while Missouri got out-rushed 229-180. Also, while it’ll be a couple of weeks between games, we do expect a bounce-back effort from the Black Knights here, following the loss to Navy. And finally, Missouri needed a win over Southeast Missouri State just to become bowl-eligible, and that’s not a good sign. We’re giving the points here with Army. Note: Don’t forget to check out this week’s NFL football picks!