BYU Cougars vs SMU Mustangs Point Spread Picks

BYU opened with a 41-13 rout of Southern Illinois. The defense was sharp, though the book is still open on QB Jake Retzlaff, who took over as the starter in the last four games of 2023. Four of BYU's last six road games have gone UNDER the total. SMU has two games under its belt with the defense allowing an average of 15.5 points per game. They stepped up twice last season against Top 25 teams and played well defensively, losing 28-11 to Oklahoma while beating No. 22 Tulane, 26-14. The Mustangs are on a 10-6 run UNDER the total. Take BYU/SMU UNDER the total. 

Both teams finished 7-5, but SMU would appear to have the motivational edge as it hasn't won a bowl game since 2012 and coach Rhett Lashlee would like to get a win in his first year as a head coach. The Mustangs finished the regular season on a high note winning four of their last five, including 34-31 over Memphis on Nov. 26 when Tanner Mordecai threw for 228 yards on 22 of 38 with two touchdowns and no interceptions. Mordecai has 3,306 passing yards with 31 TDs and nine picks this season and plans to declare for the NFL Draft although so far he still is playing in this game. BYU's quarterback situation is unsettled as Jaren Hall injured his ankle against Stanford two weeks ago and he is very questionable for the New Mexico Bowl and his backup, Jacob Conover, entered the transfer portal and left the program. That leaves three other QBs who have played little or none this season. BYU is 2-6 ATS its past eight bowl games, including a 31-28 loss to UAB in the 2021 Independence Bowl. Take SMU as a Max Play.