Examining Three Must Watch College Football Odds Bowl Games

Posted by Kenny Bell on Monday,December 14, 2015 6:06, EDT in

Not counting the CFP championship game, there are a record 40 other bowl games to take place at the end of the 2015-16 College Football betting season. That means that the bowls need 80 teams to fill that slot. Normally, there is a rule in place requiring teams have six wins (a maximum of one against an FCS opponent) in order to be eligible for a bowl game. However, only 77 teams made it to six wins this year, which means that three of those slots will be filled by teams that are 5-7.

Reviewing Three Bowl Games You Should Put in Your NCAA Football Betting Calendar

NCAA guidelines dictate that, when there are not enough teams with six wins, the five-win teams with the highest Academic Progress Rate scores fill the slots. This year, those three teams are Nebraska, Minnesota and San Jose State.

Cure Bowl

San Jose State heads to Orlando to take on 6-6 Georgia State in the Cure Bowl. The San Jose State offense shows a great deal of balance, and their 5-7 record may be somewhat deceiving, as they only lost to BYU by one and lost a close game at Nevada in overtime. They will bring a real test for Georgia State, as Georgia State loves to throw the ball, but the Spartans have the #2 pass defense in the nation, permitting only 154 yards per game. They do have some problems stopping the run, but Georgia State struggles with that part of their offense. Georgia State did throw for over 300 yards a game this season, with 26 touchdown passes and only 11 interceptions. However, given the stronger schedule that San Jose State faced, I like them to win this one.

Foster Farms Bowl

Nebraska meets UCLA in the Foster Farms Bowl. The 8-4 Bruins have a number of advantages on offense, ranking #2 in standard downs sack rate, meaning their quarterback will have plenty of time to pass the ball. Nebraska will have the edge on defense, as their short-yardage rushing defense was #2 in the nation, and their adjusted line yards given up was #5 in the nation. Nebraska does have their win against Michigan State to tout, but it’s fair to say that UCLA had a tougher schedule in the Pac-12 this season. If the game comes down to special teams, UCLA senior kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn has been solid this year, going 20-23 on field goal attempts, while the Cornhuskers’ kicker, sophomore Drew Brown, has gone just 20 f or 206.

Quick Lane Bowl

The Minnesota Golden Gophers head to the Quick Lane Bowl to take on the Chippewas of Central Michigan (7-5). Minnesota had a chance to send their game to Michigan to overtime but made a curious decision to go for it on fourth-and-goal when a field goal would have tied it. They also placed TCU close in the season opener. Their head coach, Jerry Kill, had to retire mid-season because of complications resulting from epilepsy. Even so, they are in a bowl game thanks to some solid academic work, and defensive end Theiren Cockran is ready to have a huge game. He led the Gophers in sacks as a sophomore but has struggled to have the same impact in the seasons since then. However, he will be motivated to finish his career strong, and the Central Michigan offensive line already surrenders more than two sacks per game. For the Chippewas, quarterback Cooper Rush could cause havoc against the Gophers’ defense, as long as he can deal with corners Briean Boddy-Calhoun and Eric Murray. The Gophers were #5 in passing defense in the Big Ten this year, but Rush has thrown more than 3,700 yards this season, making for an interesting matchup.