Top College Football Bowls Betting Picks For Second Round

Posted by Kenny Bell on Tuesday,December 20, 2016 9:04, EDT in

The college football bowl season really gets cranked up this week with at least one game each day other than Christmas. You can find some individual bowl previews here at MyBookie, but here is a quick look at three games this week I recommend and their college football odds.

Top College Football Bowls Betting Picks For Second Round

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl: Idaho vs. Colorado State (+13)

CSU is the home team here even though the game is being played in the state of Idaho on the blue turf of Boise State on Thursday. The Vandals (8-4) finished third in the Sun Belt Conference this season and make their first bowl appearance since a 43-42 win over Bowling Green in the 2009 Humanitarian Bowl. This is Idaho’s next-to- last year of Sun Belt and FBS competition before transitioning to the FCS Big Sky Conference in 2018. The Rams (7-5) are from the Mountain West Conference. Last year, they lost to Nevada 28-23 in the inaugural Arizona Bowl. Nick Stevens threw for 310 yards and a touchdown for the Rams and he’s the team’s starting QB this year. Stevens has flourished since returning to the lineup in mid-October, completing 71.4 percent of his passes and throwing 14 touchdowns to just one interception. Idaho and Colorado State haven’t played since 2010. The Rams have a 4-3 all-time advantage over the Vandals. The Rams and Vandals have one common opponent: UNLV. The Rebels lost at home to Idaho 33-30 in overtime on Sept. 24. They lost at home to CSU 42-23 on Oct. 22. Go Colorado State here.

Armed Forces Bowl: Louisiana Tech vs. No. 25 Navy (+6)

This game is Friday. Louisiana Tech lost the Conference USA title game to Western Kentucky. Conference USA has the best bowl record of any conference since 2011 (18-8). Navy dropped the AAC championship game to Temple — then was stunned by Army. Louisiana Tech is third in the nation in passing; Navy is third in the nation in rushing. Bulldogs QB Ryan Higgins has been named the Conference USA MVP by the league’s coaches. Higgins has thrown for 4,208 yards and 37 touchdowns this season, ranking third among FBS players with 351 yards per game. Tech junior receiver Carlos Henderson became the first player ever named as the league’s offensive player of the year and special teams player of the year in the same season. Henderson has 21 touchdowns — 17 receiving, two rushing and two on kickoff returns.

The Midshipmen were arguably the hottest team in November, scoring a Football Bowl Subdivision-best 52.8 points per game during that month. Then, injuries to quarterback Will Worth and running back Toneo Gulley in the AAC championship loss to Temple derailed the end of the season. QB Zach Abey has been thrust into a starting job and shouldered most of the offense in the loss to Army. Take Tech here.

Bahamas Bowl: Eastern Michigan vs. Old Dominion (-4)

Also on Friday and the only bowl game outside the USA. EMU has had a remarkable turnaround behind junior QB Brogan Roback, who has thrown for 2,394 yards while completing 59.2 percent of his attempts, spreading the ball around to a deep arsenal of targets that included 10 players with double-digit reception totals. It’s EMU’s first bowl game since 1987. The Eagles tied the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) mark for biggest turnarounds in 2016, improving from a one-win season in 2015 to seven victories this season. It’s the first-ever bowl for Old Dominion. From 2009-10, ODU was not eligible for the FCS playoffs, and from 2013-14, the Monarchs were not eligible for a bowl because of NCAA transitioning rules. The Monarchs will come into the Bahamas Bowl with a five-game win streak and wins in eight of the last nine games. ODU has the top rushing offense in C-USA, averaging 199.1 yards per game behind junior running back Ray Lawry, who ran for 1,112 yards (102.0 yards per game), six 100-yard rushing games and 11 touchdowns. Go ODU here.