Eastern Michigan vs. Liberty University

Lending Tree - Mobile, AL
Bowl games are often about which teams want to be here. Liberty was 10-1 last season and had high expectations for 2021 but went just 7-5. Coach Hugh Freeze admitted this week, "I don't feel like I got the most out of our team this year." After facing a Top 12 team (Coastal Carolina) in last year's bowl, they have the same record as Eastern Michigan for this Lending Tree Bowl. Eastern Michigan brings a balanced offense (31 ppg) into this one and is 21-11 ATS against winning teams, 23-9 ATS following a loss. Eastern Michigan won three of its final five games to get to this bowl, including beating Western Michigan (22-21) as a +6 dog and Toledo (52-49) as a +9 dog. Eastern Michigan is also motivated to get its first bowl victory since 1987. They've come close the last five years playing in three bowls and losing all three by a total of 10 points in scores of 34-30, 23-21, and 24-20. Eastern Michigan is 15-6 ATS in non-conference games, 28-13 ATS as an underdog, plus 22-7 ATS versus teams that force one or fewer turnovers per game. Play Eastern Michigan.