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Armed Forces Bowl 2012 picks and predictions: Air Force a unanimous pick

The Air Force Falcons are 3.5-point favorites and the unanimous pick of several college football prognosticators heading into the Armed Forces Bowl.

Ron Chenoy-US PRESSWIRE

A pair of potent offenses will clash in Fort Worth, Texas on Saturday, when the Air Force Falcons battle the Rice Owls in the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl. Experts have weighed in with their picks and the Falcons are a unanimous pick to knock off the Owls.

Air Force (6-6) struggled to close out their regular season, dropping three of their last four games and closing out the slate with a 48-15 blowout loss at the hands of Fresno State. The Falcons averaged a jaw-dropping 328.8 rushing yards per game behind a potent triple-option attack led by senior running back Cody Getz and senior quarterback Connor Dietz. They should have little trouble putting up big numbers against at Rice defense that allowed 193.2 rushing yards per game in 2012.

The Owls (6-6) are carrying positive momentum into Saturday's game, after finishing the regular season with four wins in a row. Their appearance in the Armed Forces Bowl is the university's first postseason appearance since 2008.

Yahoo! Sports picks Air Force to come out on top 31-28, while Scout.com has the Falcons toppling the Owls by a score of 34-27. NBC Sports' College Football Talk thinks that Air Force will have little trouble with Rice, picking the Falcons to win, 28-14. Oddsmakers tab the Falcons as 3.5-point favorites after opening as 1-point favorites.

Kickoff at the Armed Forces Bowl is scheduled for 10:45 a.m. CT. The game will be televised on ESPN.

Photographs by jamesbrandon, jdtornow, phlezk, flygraphix, mcdlttx, tomasland, and literalbarrage used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.