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Texas Tech football vs. Arkansas odds: Liberty Bowl opening line, betting info
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- Texas Tech football vs. Arkansas odds: Liberty Bowl opening line, betting info
The Texas Tech football team finished the regular season 8-4 and the Arkansas Razorbacks are 6-6, but the Red Raiders are underdogs, at least for now, going into the Liberty Bowl .
Arkansas opened as a 2½-point favorite Sunday after the two teams were matched up. Consensus on the over-under is 59½ points.
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The Red Raiders and the Razorbacks, old Southwest Conference rivals, square off at 6 p.m. Dec. 27 at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium.
After the Southwest Conference admitted Tech in May 1956, the two programs played every year from 1957 through 1991. Arkansas left for the Southeastern Conference after the 1991 season and has played Tech only twice since. The two teams split a two-game series in 2014 and 2015, each winning on the road.
Since the regular season ended, Arkansas has been hit hard by the SEC's leading receiver and two defensive-line starters declaring for the NFL draft and six other starters — both offensive guards, a wide receiver, a tight end, a defensive end and a safety — reportedly mapping transfer-portal plans.
Though Texas Tech has 10 players who have announced plans to have their names in the portal, none was a full-time starter this season.
Texas Tech Red Raiders tight end Mason Tharp (80) and tight end Jalin Conyers (12) celebrate after a touchdown against the West Virginia Mountaineers in the first half at Jones AT&T Stadium and Cody Campbell Field.
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Though players with their names in the portal typically leave the program, they aren't disqualified from playing in a bowl game. Tech running back Cam'Ron Valdez and wide receiver Loic Fouonji were two examples last year, and Fouonji caught a touchdown pass in Tech's Independence Bowl victory over California before transferring to Vanderbilt.
"It's kind of been my policy the last couple of years is you've earned the right to play in this bowl game," Tech coach Joey McGuire said Sunday. "You're trying to make a decision if you're going to stay at Texas Tech, if you're going to leave. And so we're going to have some guys practice (Monday) that have their name in the portal.
"I go back to last year, Loic caught a touchdown pass to help us beat Cal and was in the portal. He earned the right to play in that game. These guys that are in there, if they choose to play in that game, I want them to, because guys, I want to win. I want to beat Arkansas, and if one of these guys can help us in this moment ... that's the whole deal, to win this game and go 9-and-4."
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech football vs. Arkansas odds: Liberty Bowl opening line, more
