In bowl season you’ll find teams that get in thanks to a strong finish to the season. The Hilltoppers did just that finishing off the year with three straight victories. Yet all three of those wins came against teams that had extended layoffs due to COVID-19. Today expect more of the Hilltoppers team that struggled out the gate to begin the year. Grab Georgia State to capitalize on both sides of the football.

Western’s offense late in the regular season improved from horrible to lousy. In bowls, where points tend to flow freely, the Hilltoppers still lack the oomph to hang with an opponent than ranks 43rd in yards per play — with an average more than a yard better than Western. The Panthers covered in their last three games and hung tough with Group of Five heavyweight Appalachian State, falling by four points. Their season opener was ages ago, but the result speaks loudly — an overtime loss to Louisiana, ranked 16th in the final AP poll.

LENDINGTREE BOWL -- The Under has hit in six of Georgia State's nine games, and its defense finished third in the Sun Belt in yards per play since the start of November (5.12). Western Kentucky's defense finished third in Conference USA in the same metric (4.99). Toss in what should be chilly weather and you have the recipe for a low-scoring slugfest.