Bowl games are special for many reasons.
Less than 62 percent of teams arꩵe invited. More than 83 percent of them are above .500. Sometimes, coaches even stick around. Sometimes, stars will suit up. Sometimes, stadiums are more than half-full.
The one certainty in the increasingly ♏antiquated system is countless pockets being lined. So, join in on the fun of profiting off NCAA athletes𝓀, too.
🙈As a bettor, there is no better way to give meaning to games, many of which lost meaning long ago.
Bahamas: Buffalo (-6½) over Charlotte: The 49ers’﷽ first-ever bowl appearance comes in the Caribbean. No team may ever best this version of “happ🧸y to be there.”
Frisco: Kent State (+6½) over Utah State: Jordan Love is hanging aꦯround for one final draft showcase after a mediocre junior year (17 touchdowns, 16 inter✨ceptions). The Golden Flashes could ruin it, having covered five straight games as underdogs.
Celebration: Alcorn State (+3) over North Carolina A&T: The Braves w🅰ill get revenge after last yea🌄r’s 24-22 loss to the Aggies.
New Mexico: Central Michigan (+3½) over San Diego State: The Aztecs’ past seven games have🥂 been decided by an average of 6.3 points and♔ they haven’t scored more than 20 points since October.
Cure: Georgia Southern (-4½) over Liberty: Robert Smith’s favorite bowl is the Flames’ firs🤡t ever. And at the time of printing, Hugh Freeze hasn’t been hit with an NCAA violation. There’s no way Liberty’s season could get any better. There’s no way it will against the only team to beat Appalachian State. Georgia Souther🔯n’s 11th-ranked rushing attack will cruise against a defense giving up over 208 yards per game on the ground.
Boca Raton: SMU (-3) over Florida Atlantic: Former Texas quarterback Shane Buechele and the Mustangs’ sixth-ranked offense will have little🌜 trouble winning a shootout on the road, where the Lane Kiffin-less Owls suffered two of their three losses. SMU hasn’t lost to an unranked team this season.
Camellia: Arkansas State (-2½) over Florida International: Isiah Thomas’ former employer only earned bowl eligibility by beating three 1-11 teams and an FCS opponent. On a day with seven bowls kicking off, Red Wolves wide receiver Omar Bayless — second in the na൩tion with 1,481 receiving yards — is a reason to watch.
Las Vegas: Boise State (+3½) over Washington: The program Chris Petersen turned into a power will cl🍎inch his farewell season as the most disappointing of his career.
New Orleans: Appalachian State (-16½) over UAB: For the second straight year, the Mountaineers enter their bowl without their head coach, following Eli Drinkwitz’s departure to Missouri. It didn’t matter last year, when they won by 32 with𓂃out Scott Satterfield.
Gasparilla: Marshall (+17½) over Ucf: The three-loss UCF Kni♉ghts won’t find it easy to find meaning in their first non-New Year’s Six Bowl in three꧋ years. Plus, Marshall coach Doc Holliday is 6-0 in bowls.
Hawaii: BYU (-2) over Hawaii: Home field is no advantage where everyone loves to visit. The Rainbow Warriors have lost three of their past four appearances in their home bowl — including last year’s 31-14 loss to Louisiana Tech — and interception prone Cole McDonald will throw a couple more against a defen🧔se with more picks than all but eight teams.
Independence: Louisiana Tech (+6) over Miami: The Hurricanes already threw this in the mailbox. Miami has lost eight of its past nine bowl games — including last year’s 35-3 embarrassment to Wisconsin — and enter this de facto road game off l𝄹osses to Florida International and Duke. The Bulldogs have won a bowl game in five straight years.
Quick Lane: Eastern Michigan (+11) over Pittsburgh: Pat Narduzzi enters with a🧸n 0-3 bowl record and without a win by more than 10 points this season. Eastern Michigan — 🌱playing less than 40 miles from its campus — knocked off bowl-bound Illinois in its last Power Five matchup.
Military: North Carolina (-4½) over Temple:𒁏 Mack Brown just secured a contract extension and top 20 recruiting class. Freshman quarterback Sam Howell will make the future even brighter, beginning by handing Temple’s Todd Carey his seventh straight bowl loss.
Pinstripe: Wake Forest (+3½) over Michigan State: The Spartans have lost their last🌺 five games against non-Rutgers teams. The Demon Deacons have lost three of their past four. How long until pitchers and catchers?
Texas: Texas A&M (-7) over Oklahoma State: The Ag💙gies haven’t beaten a team with a winning record this season, but have onl🤡y had opportunities against LSU, Clemson, Georgia, Auburn and Alabama. The Cowboys, and their 113th-ranked pass defense, aren’t in the same class.
Holiday: USC (+2) over Iowa: The frustrations over Clay Helton and a brutal recruiting class can take a break. Over the past three games, fresh🔯man Kedon Slovis has averaged 451 yards passing, with 12 touchdowns, one interception and a 79.8 completion percentage.
Cheez-It: Washington State (+3) over Air Force: Itꦛ’s almost 2020. The country’s top-ranked passing attack will prevail over the nation’s third-ranked run game. Also, Cheese Nips are better.
Camping World: Notre Dame (-3½) over Iowa State: So much for preferential treatment. After being placed in a thir🏅d-tier bowl against a 7-5 opponent, it’s easy to forget about Notre Dame, which won its 10 games by an average of 25.2 points.
Cotton: Penn State (-6½) over Memphis: If the Nittany Lions could hold Ohio Sta𝕴te tᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚo its lowest output of the year, the seventh-ranked defense can slow an explosive, but unprepared offense — without coach Mike Norvell — facing its first Top 25 defense.
Peach: Oklahoma (+14) over Lsu: Even if star running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire is sidelined by a hamstring injury he suffered in Tuesday’s practice, Heisman winner Joe Burrow will win the shootout against runner-up Jalen Hurts. LSU’s defense is of greater concern, having allowed a total of 79 points — while pulling out one-score wins — against the twꦡo best offenses (Alabama, Texas) it f🍨aced this season.
Fiesta: Clemson (-2) over Ohio State: The Tigers’ soft schedule has minimized the praise, but Vegas rightly recognized the reigning champion, carrying a 28-game winning streak remains the team to beat. Clemson’s experience will pay off in the final minutes, wiᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚth Dabo Swinney’s third bowl victory over the Buckeyes.
First Responder: Western Kentucky (-3½) over Western Michigan: The first-ever First Respond💫er Bowl was canceled by lightning. They didn’t get the hint.
Music City: Louisville (+3½) over Mississippi State: The Bulldogs wouldn’t have become bowl eligible unless an Ole Miss receiver pretended to urinate🐻 in the end zone. The Cardinals wouldn’t have qualified without first-year coach Scott Satterfield, who led Louisville to a five-win improvement and went 3-0 in bowls at Appalachian State.
Redbox: California (-7) over Illinois: The Golden Bears defense has been the team’s backbon🔯e. Chase Garbers has been its heart, leading Cal to a 6-0 re🌜cord in games the oft-injured quarterback starts and finishes. Illinois is 0-2 since clinching its first bowl berth since 2014, closing the regular season with a home loss to 3-9 Northwestern.
Orange: Florida (-14½) over Virginia: The Cavaliers are out of their element, Donny. Virginia made history in a weak ACC, and will follow their 45-point loss to Clemson with a beating from the ninth-ranked🍒 Gators, whose seven wins with Kyle Trask have come by an average of more than 26 points.
Belk: Virginia Tech (-3) over Kentucky: In B꧙ud Foster’s final game as defensive coordinator, he simply has to stop the Lynn Bowden-led ground game. With at least one extra man in the box, the Hokies’ strong run defense should be able to silence an offense w🔯hich has completed three passes in the past two games.
Sun: Florida State (+4½) over Arizona State: Seminoles running back Cam Akers, along with Sun Devils staꦚrs Eno Benjamin and Brandon Aiyuk are resting up for the NFL Draft. If coaches don’t have to stick around, neither should the players.
Liberty: Navy (-2½) over Kansas State: Heavy money is on the Midshipmen for good reason. Navy’s top-ranked rushing attack faced a defense tied for 92nd in the nation in yards allowed per carr🎉y (4.8).
Arizona: Wyoming (-7) over Georgia State: Perhaps I’d feel better about the G-State’s ch🌱ances of topping a defense allowing less than 18 points per game if dual-threat quarterback Dan Ellington wasn’t playin♉g on a torn ACL.
Alamo: Texas (+7) over Utah: Kyle Whittingham is 11-2 in bowl games, but he’ll have trouble getting his players read꧟y after a blown playoff opportunity, like Kirby Smart experienced last year against Tom Herman (3-0 in bowls) and the Longhorns.
Citrus: Michigan (+7) over Alabama: Settling isn’t Nick Saban’s strong suit. Alabama is playing in a bowl without championship ramifications for the first time since entering as a 15-point favorite in the🍌 2014 Sugar Bowl and leaving with ⛦a 14-point loss. In 2008, the one-loss Tide were 10-point favorites and lost by two touchdowns.
Outback: Auburn (-7½) over Minnesota: P.J. Fleck can only perform so many miracles. The dream season will end with a third loss in four games, wi꧙th the Gophers’ pass protection issues setting up Auburn’s dynamic defensive front for a huge gam♛e.
Rose: Wisconsin (-2½) over Oregon: Here comes the warning to any NFL team mistakenly considering handing their franchise to Justin Her🦩bert🐓.
Sugar: Georgia (-7) over Baylor: Even if Charlie Brewer is under center, the Bears will have trouble entering the red zone. The Bulldogs won’t tak𓃲e this lightly after last year’s letdown.
Birmingham: Cincinnati (-7) over Boston College: Running back AJ Dillon has long been the difference-maker for the Eagles. But even if he chose to play, it wouldn’t have made a difᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚference.
Gator: Tennessee (-1½) over Indiana: Mediocre SEC trumps pedestrian Big Ten.
Idaho Potato: Ohio (-7½) over Nevada: While Nebraska hasn’t played in a bowl in three straight seasons for the first time sincౠe the early 1960’s, former coach Frank Solich is appearing in his fifth 𝓰straight bowl game. If only he’d done better than 58-19 with a national championship game appearance, in Lincoln.
Armed Forces: Tulane (-7) over Southern Miss: The Eagles have zero wins over teams in this guide. Perhaps being one of 12 teams averaging at least two turnovers per game had ꦉsomething to do with it.
Lending Tree: Miami (Ohio) (+14) over Louisiana-Lafayette: There is no doubt that Lending Tree will get a better return on its money than previous sponsors🧔 GMAC, GoDaddy.com and Dollar General.
Best bets: Louisiana Tech, Cal, Notre Dame, Clemson, Florida
This season (best bets): 102-124-3 (19-26)
2014-18 record: 641-612-10