Troy paid a steep price for its Sun Belt Conference championship game win two weeks ago. A half-dozen players were injured. WR Emanuel Thompson, a big playmaker in last year’s bowl, has not returned since breaking his arm in the regular-season finale. The Mean Green were the proverbial happy-to-be-here team in their bowl last season after they rebounded from a 1-11 train wreck in 2015. This time, they are here to win.

NEW ORLEANS BOWL (New Orleans, La.) -- Give me the Trojans to top the Mean Green in the New Orleans Bowl. Nothing against what was a fantastic season for North Texas, but Troy is a fringe Top 25 team this year and will cap it off with its 11th win of the year. Running back Jordan Chunn has been solid for Troy (10 TDs) and Brandon Silvers has been effective in the passing game, but this game will be decided when the Trojans are on defense. The Mean Green passing attack is solid (291 YPG), but Troy's ball-hawking secondary (15 picks) will make a couple of big plays to put it away.

NEW ORLEANS BOWL (New Orleans, La.) -- Troy averaged nearly 40 points while winning its last six games, and remember, this is the team that won at LSU on Oct. 1. The Mean Green are no slouch, having won eight of their last 10. But they're a tier below the Trojans, who also should have a crowd edge in New Orleans. In my simulations, the Trojans are winning by two touchdowns and covering 64 percent of the time. Lay the points.

NEW ORLEANS BOWL (New Orleans, La.) -- This is going to be a really good game that features a contrast in styles. You have the uptempo style of Troy and the run-game excellence of North Texas. Troy puts a ton of pressure on your defense?s ability to adjust. In what could be a track meet, I'd put my money on the guys who can really run. Lay the points with the Trojans.