Free 2013 Alamo Bowl Picks
Date: Monday, December 30th, 2013
Time: 6:45 pm
Network: ESPN
Game Line: Oregon -14.5 (@ JustBet)
Over/Under: 67
Free 2013 Alamo Bowl Picks for Monday Night: It will be the last game for Mack Brown as head coach when he leads the Texas Longhorns against the #10 Oregon Ducks in the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.

By most standards, it’s been somewhat of a disappointing season for Oregon. The Ducks finished at 10-2 this season but had two disappointing losses that somewhat overshadowed their season. In early November, they were physically dominated by Stanford for a second straight season losing 26-20. The loss was a lot worse than the score would indicate. Two weeks later they found themselves in the running for a BCS bid, but where blown out by Arizona 42-16, as Arizona rushed for 304 yards in one of the worst defeats Oregon had experienced in quite some time. The next week they were pushed to the limit by in-state rival Oregon State, winning 37-36. The Ducks have a potent offensive attack, as they average 294.7 yards passing and 278.3 yards rushing per game. They rank 3rd in the nation in scoring, averaging 46.8 points per game. Oregon’s defense ranks 47th in the FBS allowing 381.3 yards per game, and 4.69 yards per play.

Texas went 8-4 this year and despite another winning season, Mack Brown was forced to resign as head coach a week after the final game of the season, a 30-10 loss to Baylor. They had a rocky start to the season, starting 1-2 with losses to BYU (41-20) and Ole Miss (44-23). After a change at defensive coordinator, the Longhorns strung together six straight wins which included a big win against Oklahoma 36-20. Their win streak ended being beat soundly by Oklahoma State 38-13. They rebounded off the loss to thump Texas Tech 41-16, yet couldn’t end the season on a strong note, losing to Baylor in the season finale.

When you look at these two teams, you would automatically think that Oregon would absolutely dominate Texas. Oregon’s offense is explosive, and Texas’ offense isn’t really anything to write home about. If you asked me if Oregon would beat Texas nine out of ten times, I’d whole-heartedly agree. But, this game in San Antonio isn’t one of those nine times. Most of the time games in college football are won by the better team, but sometimes it’s the won by the team with more intensity. Oregon had BCS aspirations, they had national championship hopes. Well, the Alamo Bowl certainly isn’t in that category. I don’t think you’re going to get the focused effort out of Oregon on Monday evening. I do think you’ll get the best effort of the year from Texas. It’s Mack Brown’s final game in the state of Texas, and the players will want to send Mack Brown out on a positive note. I don’t think Texas is just going to cover, I think they’ll win outright. The Longhorns have shown at times this year they can play at a high level. They were 13 point underdogs to Oklahoma, and played their most inspired effort of the year, especially on defense. I think we’ll see that same team show up on Monday, as they send Mack Brown off with a very memorable win.

2013 Free Alamo Bowl Picks: Texas +14.5 Under 67
2013 Alamo Bowl Score Prediction: Texas 33 Oregon 2