LIBERTY BOWL -- I'm looking for the three-game ATS sweep on New Year's Eve, hitting on both Mississippi State and Ball State, and we love Army now that the spread is this high. Not long ago, it was at 7. Yes, the Black Knights are completely one-dimensional and WVU is good against the run. But Army REALLY wants to be in this bowl game, and West Virginia probably doesn't much care. The Mountaineers also have lost leading tackler Tony Fields to an opt out. Meanwhile, Army's defense is stout, so this should be a low-scoring close game. Service academies usually do well in bowls because they are so disciplined and don't make mistakes. Since 2005, the academies are 19-8 ATS in bowls. WVU, meanwhile, is 0-6 ATS in its past six bowl games. NOTE: Army just ruled out a ton of key guys, but like at a sportsbook one can't retract their bet so we stick with this pick.

Based on their last two outings, the Black Knights should receive more than a touchdown. They scrounged out just one TD in each. Granted, the ineffectiveness came against ground-oriented rivals Navy and Air Force, but West Virginia, ranked 24th in the FBS against the run, should find clues to gum up the triple-option attack. While Jeff Monken is 3-0 straight-up in bowls as Army coach, counterpart Neal Brown had the same spotless record at Troy. Brown’s current team went 6-3 ATS, and last year’s, his first in Morgantown, avoided an ATS defeat in its last three outings.