GoDaddy.com Bowl Preview: Kent State, Arkansas State See Whose Run Will Hold Up

GoDaddy.com Bowl, Sunday, 9 p.m. ET, ESPN

Why it exists: Because the Sun Belt Champion has to play a bowl game somehwere

The teams: Kent State and Arkansas State

How Kent State got here: After losing to Kentucky by 33 points in the second game of the season, the Golden Flashes rebounded to win 10 straight and move to the cusp of crashing the BCS. That included a 12-point victory at Rutgers to give Kent State a patina of respectability -- at least until Northern Illinois came along in the MAC Championship Game and dropped Kent State in double-overtime. That sent the Huskies to the Orange Bowl -- where they lost to Florida State -- and Kent State here. The Golden Flashes have a great running game, churning out 228.3 yards per game, but are seriously lacking in the passing attack. They're also average to above-average in the defense-challenged MAC, including allowing 419.9 yards per game in total offense.

How Arkansas State got here: The Red Wolves went 2-3 in their first five games, including fellow Sun Belt Conference member Western Kentucky, but bounced back like Kent State to string together seven wins and claim the conference title. Ryan Aplin led the way, going 255-of-376 for 3,129 yards passing and 23 touchdowns against just four interceptions. Aplin also rushed for 443 yards and six scores. In all, ASU generated 481.8 yards per game, 15th in the FBS. Arkansas State had the conference's best scoring defense and its second-best total defense, but that only puts the Wolves a little bit above average across the FBS. The return game could be a little bit better, but that's about the only area you can find where Arkansas State doesn't rank in the top half of the Sun Belt.

College football fans care because: Except for the BCS National Championship Game on Monday, this is the last college football game of the year.

SEC fans care because: We can all wonder how in the world Kent State lost to Kentucky.

Watch this game if...: You're tired after a day of the NFL playoffs of seeing boring offense. Because you won't see anything boring here

cocknfire's pick: Arkansas State 34, Kent State 28

Line: Arkansas State by 2.5 to 3