Florida Atlantic Owls vs Troy Trojans Point Spread Picks

It has to be a tough pill to swallow for this Troy team that has ruled the roost in the Sun Belt Conference in years past. The Trojans enter this contest at just 2-7 on the season. It should be enough to allow them to take out their frustrations at home vs. a far inferior Florida Atlantic team that has taken the donut on the season at 0-9. The Owls are not only 0-9 on the season, but they have lost eight of the nine contests by more than 11 points including their last five in Sun Belt action. On the season they have scored a grand total of 110 points (12.2 points per game). The Owls have been prey to all including, first and foremost, teams with a losing record who smell a win. FAU is 1-10 ATS in their last 11 vs. a losing team, and have posted an ugly 3-14 ATS mark in their last 17 conference games. They are also just 1-6 ATS in their last seven vs. Troy. The fade is on, so Troy is the play.

Troy and Florida Atlantic hookup in Sun Belt action in a matchup of what were supposed to be the top two teams in the conference. Florida Atlantic saw that dream vanish on the last play of the game at MTSU. They outplayed MTSU all game but lost it on a hail mary as time expired. As a result, the Owls are definitely the team in need here. They finally broke through on Troy last year, and have most of those parts back from last year. Meanwhile, Troy has a new QB and they lost several key players. Most will gauge this Owl team on a mediocre performance at MTSU, and their poor showing to date. What most fail to realize is this will be only the Owl's second home game since November 10th of last year! The competition they have faced this year has been absolutely brutal (Texas, Michigan State, Minnesota). This is an experienced team, and coming home after four of five on the road. I expect the Owls to play well and likely win this one outright.

This game is for all the marbles in the Sun Belt, with the winner moving on to the New orleans Bowl vs Memphis. Florida Atlantic comes in with valuable experience gained in games vs South Florida, Oklahoma State, Minnesota and Kentucky. They actually beat Minnesota and took S. Florida deep into the 4th quarter with the game in balance. They have posted a good 5-1 mark in league play, the only blemish an OT loss to UL Monroe. Troy had a difficult out of conference schedule as well, and ran the table in the Sun Belt, without to many close games. Florida International possesses a good passing game, and one thing Troy has struggled with is keeping teams out of the endzone when they get close, as they have allowed 18 rushing TDs. Florida International has the ability to score some points, and keep this one a lot closer than it may look.