King of Props: Miller Time on NYE

The semifinals of the College Football Playoff will be contested on New Year’s Eve for the second straight year. Long before revelers are excitedly counting down with hopes that the next year will be a better one, returning participant Michigan (No. 2) takes on upstart TCU (No. 3) in the Fiesta Bowl at 4 p.m. Eastern. While the numbers indicate the undefeated Wolverines deserve to be favored by slightly more than a touchdown, we’re backing a player on the other side for our top prop:

The bet: Over 9½ receiving yards for TCU running back Kendre Miller (DraftKings)

Because he produced an impressive 1,342 yards on the ground and the Horned Frogs were often leading, Miller didn’t need to do much through the air this season. But his role in the passing game figures to expand against a stout Michigan defense that allows the third-fewest rushing yards in the country.

With his team trailing Kansas State for most of the Big 12 Championship, Miller actually was thrown four passes. Yet he ended up with just a single receiving yard in the overtime loss because one of his two catches went for minus-5. Still, Miller has seen multiple targets in each of the last four games and cleared this number in three of them.

The most recent time TCU played a team ranked in the Top 5 was a game against No. 4 Oklahoma last year. Miller was held to 3.7 yards per carry, but he recorded four receptions and took a screen pass 53 yards for a touchdown.

Count on him posing a similar threat to Michigan.