College football returns with a roar on Saturday (Dec. 20) with the beginning of bowl season. Four bowl games, Eaglebank, New Mexico, St. Petersburg and Las Vegas kick-off this day followed by the New Orleans Bowl on Sunday, Poinsettia, on Tuesday and Hawaii Bowl on Wednesday (Christmas Eve). All total, seven bowl games will have been played before Christmas Day.
[Super sportsbook BetUS.com has all the betting lines and totals posted for this season’s college bowl games and are offering a generous sign-up bonus to help get you started.]Here we will provide a quick breakdown of each of these early pre-Christmas bowls, their match-ups and betting lines.
The EagleBank Bowl , with Bethesda, Maryland-based EagleBank serving as title sponsor, is the first NCAA-sanctioned bowl game ever to take place in Washington, D.C., and also kicks off the college football post-season lineup. For its inaugural game, the bowl has a great match-up between the Midshipmen of the U.S. Naval Academy (8-4) and the Wake Forest University Demon Deacons (7-5). The game will be played in RFK Stadium with kick-off set for 11 am ET. ESPN will provide television coverage.
Online oddsmakers at BetUS.com list Wake Forest the favorite by a 3-point chalk ATS and -140 on the moneyline with a 42 ½ total. Navy backers are getting +120 moneyline juice.
The New Mexico Bowl , at University Stadium in Albuquerque, N.M., is played between representatives from the Mountain West and WAC conferences. This game matches up Colorado State (6-6) of the MWC with Fresno State (7-5) of the WAC. The game will also be televised by ESPN.
BetUS.com lists Fresno State as a slight 3-chalk ATS and -145 money line favorite with a 60 total. Colorado State is getting +125 moneyline odds.
The inaugural MagicJack St. Petersburg Bowl, played Tropicana Field, matches-up teams from the Big East Conference and Conference USA. The University of South Florida Bulls (7-5) will represent the Big East and play the Memphis Tigers (6-6) of C-USA. The game will be televised by ESPN2 with kickoff set for 4:40 pm ET.
USF is a 12 ½-chalk favorite in this game with a 52 total.
The Las Vegas Bowl , at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev., traditionally matches a team from the MWC with a team from the PAC 10. The No. 10 ranked Cougars of BYU (10-2) will play the Arizona University Wildcats in this year’s game. Kick-off time for this ESPN televised game is set for 8 pm ET.
Oddsmakers like the Wildcats in this one by a 3-point chalk and -155 moneyline.
BYU backers are getting +135 moneyline odds. The total is holding at 61 ½.
One bowl is scheduled for Sunday, Dec. 21. The New Orleans Bowl , played in the New Orleans Super Dome, matches the Sun Belt Champion with a team from C-USA. Representing the Sun Belt is Troy University Trojans (8-4) going against the University of Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles (6-6).
Oddsmakers give the Trojans a 4-chalk edge ATS and -175 moneyline with a 55 total. Eagles backers are getting +155 moneyline odds.
On Tuesday, Dec. 23, The Poinsettia Bowl , to be played at Qualcom Stadium in San Diego, matching up No. 9 Boise State and No. 11 TCU, is ranked by experts as the fourth best of all bowl match-ups. Both the Broncos and Frogs could have easily been BCS picks but fell just short of Utah, the school getting the at-large BCS berth. The BSU/TCU match-up is also a clash between rival conferences, WAC and MWC.
Oddsmakers expect this game to be a close one with a slight 2 ½ -chalk tilt to TCU. The Horned Frogs are also -130 moneyline favorites with a 46 total. BSU is getting +110 moneyline odds. ESPN will provide television coverage with kick-off set for 8 pm ET.
One of the more interesting pre-Christmas bowl games is the Hawaii Bowl , matching-up the UniversityHawaii Warriors with the embattled Fighting Irish of Notre Dame to be played at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, H.I., at 8 pm ET Wednesday and televised on ESPN.
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Notre Dame finds itself a +1 ½ chalk underdog to the Warriors in this game with a 48 total. Hawaii is also a -125 moneyline favorite while Notre Dame backers are getting +105 moneyline odds as the underdog.
