The college football bowl season starts Saturday with four big games beginning with the inaugural Eagle Bank Bowl at 11 am ET followed by the New Mexico Bowl, 2:30 pm, St. Petersburg Bowl, 4:30 pm and Las Vegas Bowl at 8 pm. Here we will check the sports odds and make a few comments along with some predictions.
The Eaglebank 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.
BetUS.com , the number one sportsbook dealing in sports odds and online sports wagering, has Wake Forest listed as a 3-point chalk ATS and -140 moneyline favorite with a 42 ½ total.
I like Wake Forest giving the points in this game. The Demon Deacons solid run defense should play havoc with Navy’s –mostly run- only offense. If Wake builds much of a lead, Navy will have a hard time playing catch-up. If there is a problem for Wake, it’s the offense that has struggled scoring points. This could play into the hands of UNDER bettors. The last four games Wake Forest played went UNDER 50 points.
Sports-Odds.com College Football Bowl Predictions: Wake Forest covers -3.
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.
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.
If you must bet this game; play the total OVER 60. I expect these two teams to run up and down the field on each other putting up points. If you want to pick a side; go with Fresno -3.
Sports-Odds.com College Football Bowl Predictions: Fresno State -3, OVER 60.
The inaugural MagicJack St. Petersburg Bowl, played at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla., 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. USF is a 12 ½-chalk favorite in this game with a 52 total.
Giving 12 ½ point to the Tigers might be a bit much. Memphis hasn’t had much problem keeping in ballgames. Memphis has experienced some defensive issues but USF has had problems scoring points. The Bulls should win the game SU but the Tigers will keep it inside of two touchdowns.
Sports-Odds.com College Football Bowl Predictions: Memphis +12 ½.
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.
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.
Arizona and BYU are probably the day’s best match-up, however; oddsmakers got it wrong. I like the Cougars to win and cover +3.
Sports-Odds.com College Football Bowl Predictions: BYU +3
