The 2018 Quick Lane Bowl features programs playing their best football of the year as the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and Minnesota Golden Gophers meet Dec. 26 at Ford Field. Kickoff is set for 5:15 p.m. ET. Both clubs had their share of struggles but flourished down the stretch. Minnesota (6-6) beat Purdue and Wisconsin by 51 combined points despite being an 11-point underdog in both contests. The Yellow Jackets (7-5) won six of their last eight to overcome a rough start and earn the bowl invitation, which will also mark the final game for head coach Paul Johnson, who is stepping down after this season. The Yellow Jackets are 5.5-point sportsbook favorites in the latest Minnesota vs. Georgia Tech odds, up from an opener of -4.5 in most markets. The over-under for total points scored has dropped to 57 from an initial offering of 60. Before you lock in your own Georgia Tech vs. Minnesota picks, be sure to check out the 2018 Quick Lane Bowl picks and predictions from SportsLine's Josh Nagel.
A Nevada-based expert with 20 years of experience in the sports wagering industry, Nagel specializes in handicapping college athletics. He has had another strong year, hitting 61 percent of his spread selections for SportsLine members. He heads into bowl season on a blistering 20-6 run with his against the spread picks.
What's more, he has had a keen eye for the tendencies of these programs and boasts a record of 8-3 on picks involving Minnesota or Georgia Tech. In Week 10, Nagel advised SportsLine members that Purdue (-10.5) was due for a letdown spot when it visited Minnesota coming off a last-minute win against Iowa. He recommended a strong play on the underdog Golden Gophers, and they dominated from the outset in a 41-10 outright victory. Anyone who has followed him is way up.
Now, he has analyzed the 2018 Quick Lane odds from every angle and has released a confident point-spread pick that is only available at SportsLine.
Nagel has factored in the impressive job that Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck has done thus far in building this program. Many of his young players performed beyond expectations this year, and Minnesota has a strong recruiting class arriving next season.
He will have two solid options at quarterback. Zack Annexstad proved to be resilient and a capable playmaker. But when he went out with an injury, fellow freshman Tanner Morgan stepped up and the offense responded. Morgan proved to be reliable in the clutch, with the fifth-best passer rating in the country (120.1) on third and fourth down.
But just because the Gophers have a high ceiling doesn't mean they'll cover the Quick Lane Bowl spread against a Georgia Tech team that has won four of its past five games.
The Yellow Jackets started 3-4, a stretch that included three straight losses and three defeats by double-figures. But they recovered to win four straight, with road wins against North Carolina and Virginia Tech, followed by home victories against Miami and Virginia.
The difference came from increased production on offense, as the Yellow Jackets averaged 36 points per game during the winning streak, which ended with a season-ending loss to rival Georgia. Tech's triple-option attack has led to eight players reaching 100 rushing yards, topped by quarterback TaQuon Marshall with 896 and 11 scores.
Nagel has analyzed this matchup from every possible angle, and while we can tell you he's leaning under, he has unearthed a critical x-factor that causes one side of the spread to hit hard. He's only sharing what it is, and who to back, at SportsLine.
Who covers Minnesota vs. Georgia Tech? And what critical x-factor makes one side a must-back? Visit SportsLine now to see Josh Nagel's pick for the 2018 Quick Lane Bowl, all from the senior analyst who's 8-3 on picks involving these two teams, and find out.
