There’s no greater gift during the holidays than the gift of college football on television at all times. There is at least one bowl game every day this week and we get to see some matchups we wouldn’t normally see during the regular season like Army taking on an SEC team or a team from Gainesville, Florida taking on a team from Orlando, Florida in Tampa, Florida. We have one bet for you for every day of the week, so let’s get to the picks.
Myrtle Beach Bowl
Old Dominion vs. Tulsa
Monday, December 20 2:30 PM ET
The Bet: ODU +8.5 (-110, DraftKings)
A pair of 6-6 teams will try to end the year on a winning note when the Old Dominion Monarchs face the Tulsa Golden Hurricanes. Old Dominion must have had +50000 odds of playing in a bowl game after falling to 1-6 with a blowout loss at home to Western Kentucky but the Monarchs bounced back with five straight wins against Conference USA teams to finish the regular season at .500. ODU was an underdog in three of those games and covered an -8.5 home spread in their 56-34 win over Charlotte to close out the regular season. Tulsa played Oklahoma State close, was respectable against Ohio State and gave Cincinnati a game. Tulsa has only one win all season by more than 7 points this year, so this line is too big for the Golden Hurricanes.
Idaho Bowl
Kent State vs. Wyoming
Tuesday, December 21 3:30 PM ET
The Bet: Kent State +3 (-110, DraftKings)
Wyoming started the season 4-0 and scuffled to a 6-6 finish. Kent State opened the season 1-3 and then rode a hot streak to the MAC East title and a spot in the MAC Championship Game. While the Golden Flashes lost the conference title game to Northern Illinois, they are still 5-3 in their last eight games, compared to Wyoming’s 5-3. Wyoming actually beat Northern Illinois 50-43 on the road this year, in terms of common opponents, though Kent State also beat the Huskies 52-47 during the regular season. These teams are even enough that we’ll take the points.
Armed Forces Bowl
Missouri vs. Army
Wednesday, December 22 8:00 PM ET
The Bet: Missouri +4
Army’s best known game this season was the epic 70-56 loss to Wake Forest but since then their defense has been excellent, allowing 17 points or less in five straight games. The Black Knight won four of those games with their lone loss coming against Navy. Missouri’s first two losses were by a touchdown each, but since then have four 17+ point losses, all to SEC teams. It’s strange to see a service academy team being favored against an SEC team, and we’ll take the SEC team here.
The Florida Gators will look to make it a clean 4-0 this season against fellow Florida teams as they have already knocked off FAU, South Florida, and Florida State. Central Florida also beat South Florida and has a win over FCS Florida team, Bethune Cookman. These teams have not played for 15 years, but will certainly be on the list of bowl teams giving 100% to defend their state pride. When in doubt, take the points this bowl season, so UCF is the play.
Hawai’i Bowl
Hawaii vs. Memphis
Friday, December 24 8:00 PM ET
The Bet: Hawaii +8.5 (-1111, Sugar House)
The sport wanted Hawaii to play in the Hawaii Bowl so badly that they added an extra bowl game to accommodate the teams that would be inconvenienced by it and allowed a 6-7 Hawaii team to play in a bowl game. Hawaii ended the season scoring 88 points in two wins over Colorado State and Wyoming. Memphis is 3-6 since their upset of what is in hindsight a quality Mississippi State team. There are too many points here for a Memphis team taking the longest trip of the college football season, so Hawaii is the play.
Georgia State ended the regular season with three wins including an upset at Coastal Carolina and a blowout at Troy to finish 6-2 in the Sun Belt. Ball State rallied with a win over Buffalo in their final regular season game to become bowl eligible. Georgia State has not only won six of their last seven games, they have covered in six of their last seven.Ball State has only covered in one of their last five games. We’ll take the team headed in the better direction, the Georgia State Panthers.
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