The Missouri Tigers and Wake Forest Demon Deacons clash Friday in the college football Gasparilla Bowl from Raymond James Stadium. Wake Forest managed a 7-5 run this year. The Deacons lost to Duke in their last game. As for Missouri, they’re 6-6 after a win over Arkansas in their most recent appearance. Check back all season long for free college football picks at Sports Chat Place.

Wake Forest managed a nice 5-1 run over their first half-dozen outings this year, beating VMI, Vanderbilt, Liberty, Florida State and Army. The Demon Deacons went just 2-4 the rest of the way however, falling to Louisville, NC State, North Carolina and Duke.

In the Duke game back on November 26, the Demon Deacons were down by three points going into the second half. Wake Forest never made up the difference in a 34-31 loss. QB Sam Hartman put up 347 yards with three scores, and Justice Ellison had 42 yards rushing and a TD.

Over on the Missouri side, they were 2-4 after six games this year. The losses were to Kansas State, Auburn, Florida and Georgia. The Tigers went 4-2 over their final six outings, beating Vanderbilt, South Carolina, New Mexico State and Arkansas.

In the Arkansas matchup on November 25, the Tigers were down 21-20 at the break. Missouri scored nine points in the third and hung on for the 29-27 win. Brady Cook posted 242 pass yards with a TD, and also led the rush with 138 yards and a score.

The Demon Deacons are 5-1 ATS in their last six conference games and 6-2 ATS in the last eight after an ATS loss. Wake is 1-4 ATS in their last five in December.
Meanwhile, the Tigers are 5-1 ATS in their last six on grass and 5-2 ATS versus a team with a winning record. Missouri is 9-4 ATS in their last 13 Friday games.

PICK: I’m going to stick with Wake Forest. This should be a pretty great matchup, though. The Deacons have a few nice wins on the slate this year, and they’ve also been pretty competitive for the most part. That said, Wake has lost some close games to Clemson (six points in OT), North Carolina (two points) and Duke (three points). Still, considering the fact that Wake Forest has notched at least 21 points in every game this year, they can hang with just about anyone.

As for Missouri, they’ve got some big moments this year as well and should be quite competitive here. The Tigers haven’t been quite so electric on offense, but they’ve got a good defensive squad against comparable teams—plus they’ve scored 24 or more in three straight games. I like the Tigers to stay close with Wake covering at the end.