Alamo Bowl: Northwestern vs. Missouri Preview

The Missouri Tigers tumbled all the way down to the bowl ladder to the Alamo Bowl with their Big 12 title game loss to Oklahoma. Now they will settle for a match against Northwestern December 29 at the Alamodome against the 9-3 Huskies. Oddsmakers currently have the Tigers listed as 13-point favorites versus the Wildcats, while the game's total is sitting at 66. C.J. Bacher threw for two touchdown and Stephen Simmons ran in another as Northwestern beat Illinois 27-10 in Week 13. The Wildcats won as 3-point underdogs, while the combined score played UNDER the day's posted total of 54.5. Missouri was defeated 62-21 by Oklahoma in the Big 12 title game as 16.5-point underdogs last time out. The 83 points made it OVER the posted total of 79. Chase Daniel threw for 252 yards with three touchdowns in a losing effort for Missouri. Team records: Northwestern: 9-3 SU, 6-5 ATS Missouri: 9-4 SU, 5-7 ATS Northwestern most recently: When playing in December are 0-3 When playing on turf are 4-6 After outgaining opponent are 8-2 When playing outside the conference are 8-2 Missouri most recently: When playing in December are 2-6 When playing on turf are 7-3 After being outgained are 7-3 When playing outside the conference are 9-1 A few trends to consider: The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Northwestern's last 5 games Northwestern is 9-3 SU in its last 12 games Northwestern is 4-2 ATS in its last 6 games Missouri is 16-5 SU in its last 21 games Missouri is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games