Saturday is the busiest day of bowl season, but don’t overlook the Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl, which will pit Fresno State against Miami (Ohio) at Arizona Stadium in Tucson.
We can’t promise this will be a barnburner, but if you’re someone who enjoys a defensive chess match in this era of air-it-out offenses, boy, do we have a battle for you.
Fresno State is a 5.5-point favorite, with the Over/Under sitting at 41.5 points, one of the lowest totals during bowl season.
Miami (Ohio) vs. Fresno State odds, prediction
On the field, these two teams are mirror images of one another.
The Bulldogs and Redhawks won’t ever be confused with the 1999 St. Louis Rams, but they don’t need to put up prolific numbers on offense to get results. Both of these defenses will do the talking Saturday.
Fresno State was supposed to undergo a pretty hard reset in 2025 with Matt Entz taking over after a stint in charge at North Dakota State and as an assistant at USC.
Entz walked into a program in transition, as the Bulldogs made their fourth coaching change since 2017.
He clearly had a vision of stabilizing the defense and worrying about the offense later.
Fresno State allowed the 17th-fewest yards per play in FBS and was the 43rd-best defensive team in the country this season, per SP+.
Miami (Ohio) has been a picture of stability in the ever-changing college football landscape.
Betting on College Football?
Chuck Martin has been in charge of the Redhawks since 2014, and he’s made it pretty clear how he wants his teams to play: Take care of the fundamentals, limit mistakes and lean on the defense to keep you in the game.
The Redhawks were able to ride that identity to the MAC Championship, where they fell, 23-13, to a similar team in Western Michigan. Like the Bulldogs, the Broncos were nails without the ball in 2025, easing the burden on a tepid offense.
I think there’s a lot we can take from the MAC Championship Game and apply to the Arizona Bowl. Fresno State is a better version of Western Michigan, which was a better version of Miami (Ohio).
Lay the points.
The Play: Fresno State -5.5 (-110, FanDuel)
Why Trust New York Post Betting
Michael Leboff is a long-suffering Islanders fan, but a long-profiting sports bettor with 10 years of experience in the gambling industry. He loves using game theory to help punters win bracket pools, find long shots, and learn how to beat the market in mainstream and niche sports.
