Toledo will pull away from Bowl­ing Green

Here is how The Blade sports columnist David Briggs sees the Toledo-Bowling Green rivalry football game shaking out Tuesday night:

In a Team A vs. Team B vacuum, the Battle of I-75 would figure to be a lot more interesting than the 15½-point spread suggests.

Team A (Toledo) is playing for nothing — the Rockets already clinched a berth in the Mid-American Conference championship game — while Team B (BG) is playing for everything: bowl eligibility, an outside shot at the MAC East title, the fate of humanity.

An inspired performance by Team B will be enough to offset a natural letdown by Team A, right?

But, of course, games aren’t played in a vacuum.

This one will be contested at the Glass Bowl by 18-year-old to 22-year-old college students who, well, tell any one of them that nothing is on the line (tell Rockets fans, too!).

Expect a proud BG team to keep it tight for a while, especially if Toledo QB Dequan Finn is still limited running.

But, in the end, there’s a reason the Rockets have won 11 of the last 12 rivalry meetings. They usually have the better team.

This year is no different (really, there’s not a single area in which I’d give the Falcons the edge). Give me the Rockets to roll but not quite cover.

Pick: Toledo 31, Bowling Green 17.

Contact David Briggs at dbriggs@theblade.com or on Twitter @DBriggsBlade.