Minnesota Golden Gophers vs Texas Tech Red Raiders Point Spread Picks

The Texas Tech Red Raiders have always been known for offense, especially in the Mike Leach years. It came as a surprise to find them in the top 15 over the first half of the season on defense. Through six games the Red Raiders were 5-1 and allowing 16.3 points per game. Then the wheels fell completely off. While the competition got stronger, no one expected to see a team in the top 15 on defense go on to allow 47.3 ppg in their last six games. That was a 31 ppg increase, and four of the six teams scored 52 or more. Minnesota lost their last two games to come limping in as a bare-bones qualifier at 6-6. This is a team that needed three QBs to get through the season, and struggled to score that is until they got up against a vulnerable defensive team like Purdue where they scored 44 points. I could certainly see them having similar success vs. Texas Tech which makes the almost two TDs loom large here. The Red Raiders have not been a good Bowl team at 1-5 ATS in their last six and at neutral-sites, and are just 2-8 ATS in their last 10. Take the points and Minnesota.