BOCA RATON BOWL -- The departure of coach Lane Kiffin negates FAU’s home-field edge. With Kiffin headed to Ole Miss, the most high-profile figure in this game is SMU QB Shane Buechele, who directs the nation’s No. 6 scoring offense. The matchup has all the makings of a shootout, and Buechele and his sidekicks, RB Xavier Jones and WR James Proche, are more dangerous than their counterparts on the Owls. Take SMU.

BOCA RATON BOWL -- One of the things about bowl season you have to consider is a team's motivation. Well, how motivated to you expect FAU to be? Not only has their coach left for Ole Miss, but FAU is playing this game in its home stadium. Not exactly the kind of reward you hope for in a bowl trip. Plus, while FAU won C-USA, the AAC is a much better conference, and SMU performed very well in it. The Mustangs have just a little too much on the offensive side of the ball for the Owls.

BOCA RATON BOWL -- SMU's defense faded over the last quarter of the season, and that is a concern in this matchup of explosive offenses. FAU has played better defense in the second half of the season, and its offense is just as explosive as SMU’s. That’s why I like the over in this game, but I'll lean toward the better defense against the spread.