Duke vs Troy odds: Birmingham Bowl point spread released

It’s not as common to see Power Five teams taking on Group of Five programs in bowl games, but that will be the scene for the Birmingham Bowl as the Duke Blue Devils take on the Troy Trojans.

Despite hailing from the Sun Belt Conference, the Trojans are actually 5.5-point favorites over Duke according to FanDuel, with the point total sitting at a low 44.5 points. But let’s take a closer look at one of the more interesting matchups of this year’s bowl season.

How to watch Duke vs Troy

Time: December 23 — 12 p.m. ET
Channel: ABC, FuboTV
Location: Birmingham, AL

The Duke and Troy programs are both in very different places ahead of their showdown in the Birmingham Bowl.

Duke’s head coach Mike Elko parted ways with the program to take the job as Texas A&M‘s head coach, with star quarterback Riley Leonard going down a similar path be entering the NCAA transfer portal ahead of the offseason.

Elko and Leonard are two major losses for the Blue Devils in their final game of the season, helping lead Duke to a 4-0 start to the season highlighted by their upset win over Clemson. Their hot start was followed by injuries riddling Leonard’s season, with him only appearing in seven games this year and the Blue Devils dropping the remainder of their games against ranked opponents.

Their 4-0 start was followed by a 3-5 finish to the season, highlighted by the impressive play of their defense that was able to hold opponents to just 19.8 points per game. But they may not even be the best defense in this matchup.

Troy is fresh off of their second straight Sun Belt Championship win, defeating Appalachian State 49-23 on Saturday to also helped extend their record to an impressive 11-2 following a 1-2 start to the season.

The Trojans’ defense has been one of the best in the nation all season, ranking ninth in scoring holding opponents to 17.2 points per game and highlighted by an elite front seven and an impressive secondary to compliment them.

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Their offense features the Sun Belt’s Offensive Player of the Year award winner Kimani Vidal, who ranks second in the nation in rushing yards with 1,582 yards on the ground this season with 14 touchdowns. And to make matters worse for Duke, Vidal is fresh off of his most impressive performance of the season, rushing for 233 yards and an FBS conference championship record five touchdowns in the Sun Belt title game.