NCAA football revolved around a number of season-ending matches before the influx of bowl contests in recent years. One of these contests started 35 years ago in Shreveport, Louisiana was the Independence Bowl. The sports book has this at Missouri -5 with the over/under at 52 ½.


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Missouri enters into the game with a 7-5 total record and a 5-4 record in the Big 12. The Tigers are headed by tenth year head coach Gary Pinkel who has amassed an 84-54 record on his watch. Special mention must be made to the rushing offense of the Tigers as they have averaged 236.3 yards per game that is ranked 11th in the nation. Coming off of a three-game winning streak, Missouri has done favorably versus ranked squads this year with an astonishing 5 contests versus them. Leading the Tigers behind center is sophomore scrambling Quarterback James Franklin.

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The North Carolina Tar Heels enter the fray with an identical 7-5 total record and a poor 3-5 record in the ACC Coastal division. North Carolina is in a state of transition in the head coaching department. Southern Miss head coach Larry Fedora has been declared as the new head coach to be effective after Fedora’s bowl game with the Golden Eagles versus Nevada in the Hawaii Bowl on December 24th. Interim head coach Everett Withers has done a decent job in transferring from his defensive coordinator post to head the North Carolina Tar Heels this season. With UNC announcing Fedora’s employment, Withers is rumored to be signing up for Urban Meyer’s coaching staff in Columbus after the Independence Bowl. Following UNC let go Butch Davis back in July, Withers lead the North Carolina Tar Heels on an interim basis. The North Carolina Tar Heels have averaged 23.5 ppg on defense and 28.3 ppg on offense. UNC is led by dependable sophomore Quarterback Bryn Renner. Renner’s 161.2 rating is now 9th among the country’s top quarterbacks and his 68.8 completion percentage rates 13th top in the nation.