Foster Farms Bowl Betting: Maryland Terrapins vs. Stanford Cardinal Odds, Pick

The Stanford Cardinal will be playing close to home when they square off against the Maryland Terrapins in the Foster Farms Bowl at Levi’s Stadium on December 30. The Cardinal are 4-1 against the spread in their last five bowl appearances and will be taking on a Maryland team that is looking for its first postseason victory since 2010.

Foster Farms Bowl point spread: The Cardinal opened as 13-point favorites; the total was 47.5. (Line updates and matchup report)

Odds Shark computer prediction: 32.0-23.2 Cardinal

Why the Terrapins can cover the spread

The Terrapins had the same regular-season record this season as they did in 2013, when they finished the year with a 31-20 loss to the Marshall Thundering Herd as three-point underdogs in the Military Bowl. However, last year they dropped four of six down the stretch before facing Marshall and did not even appear in a bowl game in 2011 or 2012.

This season, Maryland came up with a pair of road wins in its last four games to become bowl eligible, beating the Michigan Wolverines and Penn State Nittany Lions as underdogs both times. Even though the Terps lost their regular-season finale at home to the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, they have not dropped consecutive games all year.

Why the Cardinal can cover the spread

This may not be one of Stanford’s better teams compared to the last few seasons, but David Shaw remains one of the best head coaches in the country and will have his players ready to play in this bowl game. The Cardinal finished the regular season strong with road wins against the California Golden Bears and UCLA Bruins, who were six-point favorites and lost 31-10.

They will not have to travel far to Santa Clara and should have more of a home-field advantage than most teams at this time of year because the school is so close. Stanford’s competition in the Pac-12 was better as well, giving the team another edge of not only playing better teams but beating them to get here.

Smart Pick

Shaw has taken over where former Cardinal head coach Jim Harbaugh left off with the Stanford football program. He has done a good job despite losing several big-time players recently. Ironically, this game will be played at Harbaugh’s home stadium with the San Francisco 49ers, and that can only work in the Cardinal’s favor.

Stanford's familiarity with the surroundings should not be underestimated, along with the experience the players have gained while participating in some bigger bowl games over the past few years. Maryland’s first year in the Big Ten went better than expected but still did not prepare this team to beat an opponent as good as Stanford in this spot.

For that reason, bet the Cardinal to take care of business in its own backyard and cover.

Trends

• Stanford is 17-8 straight up in its last 25 games.

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