The set-up: After back-to-back 10-4 seasons, the Temple Owls lost head coach Matt Rhule to Baylor plus more than a few key players. Geoff Collins guided the team to a 3-1 finish down the stretch to secure a fourth straight bowl berth for the team's seniors, the winningest class in school history. Collins will see a familiar uniform on the opposing sideline Dec. 21 in St. Petersburg, Fl. when the Owls take on Florida International in the Gasparilla Bowl. Collins was the defensive coordinator for the Golden Panthers in 2010, as FIU captured a conference title and went on to win the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl. As for FIU, Butch Davis took over a program which had five consecutive losing seasons and led the Panthers to an 8-4 record and the school's first bowl appearance since 2011.

Temple: The Owls turned to Frank Nutile at QB for the season's final five weeks. With the exception of one bad game against undefeated UCF (four INTs), the junior finished with nine TDs and just two INTs down the stretch in the other four games. The Owls' running game is pretty sad (136.0 YPG ranks 100th) and the team comes in averaging only 24.8 PPG (93rd). Defensively, Temple ranks 73rd in allowing 27.7 PPG

FIU: Butch Davis had head coaching stints at North Carolina and the Cleveland Browns in addition to his time at Miami, has a veteran at QB in senior Alex McGough, whom he calls "one of the best QBs that I've been around at all levels of coaching." McGough threw for 296 yards and three touchdowns against UMass in the regular-season finale, helping FIU set a school record for total yards (674) while matching the mark for wins in a season (eight). The Panthers racked up 379 rushing yards and six TDs on the ground, with Alex Gardner and Napoleon Maxwell each scoring twice and McGough adding 108 yards and a touchdown.

The pick: Davis may be a bit too effusive regarding McGough, who has passed for 2.791 yards with 17 TDs and eight TDs (hardly spectacular numbers). FIU averages 27.5 PPG (74th) and allows 28.5 PPG (79th) but is getting a TD here in a stadium located in Florida. The key for Temple may wind up being its ability to stop FIU inside the red zone. The Panthers led the nation in scoring percentage in the red zone with 39 scores in 40 trips while the Owls' red-zone defense was far from great, holding their opponent scoreless on just 13 percent of red-zone trips. The good news for Temple is that its offense started clicking towards the end of the season, averaging 32.8 PPG over the team's last four games. FIU should be pumped to be back in a bowl game but Temple is the better team and plays in a tougher conference. Make the Owls an 8* play.