Troy vs Duke Prediction, Odds and Picks

The Troy Trojans will play the Duke Blue Devils in the Birmingham Bowl on Saturday at noon ET.

Troy (11-2) won the Sun Belt Conference with a 49-23 win over Appalachian State in the championship game. Duke (7-5) ended their season with a 30-19 win over Pitt after a stunning loss to Virginia the week prior.

Troy vs Duke: Game Details

Matchup: Troy Trojans (11-2) vs Duke Blue Devils (7-5)

Date & Time: Saturday, Dec. 23 at noon ET

Venue: Protective Stadium

Troy vs Duke: Betting Odds

Spread

Troy -8 (-110)

Duke +8 (-110)

Moneyline

Troy -340

Duke +270

Total

Over 45 (-112)

Under 45 (-108)

Troy vs Duke: Picks

The Troy Trojans' offense is led by running back Kimani Vidal, who was a key reason for Troy winning the Sun Belt championship. In this game, the Trojans should look to run the ball quite often, so take Vidal to go over his rushing yards in the Birmingham Bowl. In his last five games, Vidal is averaging 118 yards per game and over that stretch is averaging 21.6 carries.

Duke, meanwhile, has plenty of key players out as quarterback Riley Leonard transferred to Notre Dame while head coach Mike Elko took Texas A&M's job. The Blue Devils will rely on quarterback Grayson Loftis but the pick is for him to throw an interception in this game.

Troy has a solid defense and has recorded an interception in five of their last nine games, while Loftis has thrown an interception in three of his last four games.

Troy vs Duke: Head-to-head

Duke is 2-0 all-time against Troy with the last meeting coming in 2014 as the Blue Devils won 34-17 on the road.

Players unavailable

With bowl games, several players sit out because of the NFL Draft or transfer portal and the Birmingham Bowl is no different.

Troy

• OG Kobe Williams (Transfer Portal)
• LB Jayden McDonald (Tranfser Portal)

Duke

• QB Riley Leonard (Tranfser Portal)
• EDGE RJ Oben (Tranfser Portal)
• DL Aeneas Peebles (Tranfser Portal)
• LB Dorian Mausi (Tranfser Portal)
• DB/KR Jaylen Stinson (Tranfser Portal)
• RB Jordan Waters (Tranfser Portal)
• RB Jaquez Moore (Tranfser Portal)
• DB Brandon Johnson (Tranfser Portal)
• C Scott Elliott (Injury)
• S Terry Moore (Injury)

Troy vs Duke: Prediction

Duke is set to miss several key starters on both offense and defense in this game, which should set up Troy to get a blowout win here.

The Trojans had a great season in the Sun Belt Conference and will have most of their players playing on Saturday. Troy's offense will be able to pick apart this Blue Devils defense, while Duke will struggle on offense with so many starters not playing.

Prediction: Troy wins by double-digits.