NCAA Football
2025-12-29 - Georgia Southern at Appalachian State
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
United States : College Football Birmingham Bowl
Monday 29th December 2025 - Scheduled 2pm
7pm (British Time)
Preview
It is rare to have two Conference teams face off in the Bowl Game season, but even more so when the two teams actually play in the same Division. That is the case in the Birmingham Bowl after the Appalachian State Mountaineers (5-7) took the opportunity to play in a Bowl Game after so many teams decided to withdraw from consideration.
This is a repeat of a regular season game against Georgia Southern Eagles (6-6) who finished 4-4 in the Sun Belt Conference, while the Mountaineers were 2-6. That includes the Eagles getting the better of the Mountaineers in the regular season when building up a big lead and managing to hold onto that against the Appalachian State rally.
The 'Deeper than Hate' rivalry between the teams is almost certainly going to provide motivation, although both could be without some key players who are thinking about leaving in the transfer portal.
It is a spread much different to the one that was set for the regular season game and that is largely down to the fact that the Appalachian State Mountaineers will be without key players on the Offensive side of the ball. The unexpected invite will have contributed to that and the Mountaineers may struggle to keep up with Georgia Southern in the game.
Perhaps the Mountaineers can look to try and push the run against an Eagles Defensive Line that have struggled up front for much of the season? The problem is that Appalachian State only managed 77 ground yards in the loss to Georgia Southern in the regular season and so it is hard to imagine much will have changed considering the continued struggles in 2025.
They did throw the ball well in the regular season loss, but asking a third string Quarter Back to replicate those successes may be challenging and the Mountaineers will need to find a way to slow the Georgia Southern Eagles down on the other side of the ball.
The Eagles would have been mentally preparing to play in a Bowl Game as soon as they reached the six win mark in the regular season and that is a factor that may give them a slight edge. Georgia Southern have yet to win a Bowl Game and that is going to provide a huge amount of motivation for the Eagles, while they do look like they could match up well with Appalachian State on this side of the ball.
It is the Line of Scrimmage where the Georgia Southern Eagles can may hay and they should be able to rip off some big gains on the ground throughout this Bowl Game.
However, what makes Georgia Southern really dangerous is the balance they have between the run and the pass and they will be able to expose gaps in this Mountaineers Secondary.
There was plenty of balance in the meeting in the regular season and the Georgia Southern Eagles may use the knowledge of that game to set up a really good plan to dominate this rivalry on a big stage.
Appalachian State will be motivated by the rivalry, even with key Offensive players missing, but they may not be able to contain Georgia Southern and ultimately look short of the experience to keep up on the scoreboard when all is said and done.
Prediction
Lay the points with the favourite in this repeat of a regular season game between two rivals out of the Sun Belt Conference.
The Pick :
Appalachian State 17-30 Georgia Southern
