The College football season comes to a close with a bevy of intense bowl games starting this week and running through New Year’s day. There are 39 bowl games in all, leading up to the national championship game to be played on Monday, January 7th between the winners of the Cotton and Orange Bowls. There are also important matchups along the way, with the Sugar, Peach, Fiesta and Rose Bowls going on. We will try to break down the most critical matchups here to get you ready for a big week of bowl game action!
Find the best college football betting odds right here at Skybook. Read NCAA Football matchups and register now to enjoy the most exciting sports betting action on the web.
Peach Bowl: Florida Gators vs. Michigan Wolverines
Saturday, December 29th in Atlanta Georgia at 12 pm EST will be the setting for the 2019 Peach Bowl between the 10-2 Michigan Wolverines and the 9-3 Florida Gators. The Wolverines are the favorites at -6 -110 for this one, with the total at u51 ½ -110.
This will be the third time that these two schools have played in the past three years. The first was a 41-7 Michigan victory at the 2016 Citrus Bowl, followed by a 33-17 Wolverine victory in the 2017 season opener.
While Michigan has been able to handle mediocre competition with ease this season, they have not fared so well when faced with elite opponents. Their two losses this season came in their season opener against Notre Dame and ended the regular season with a loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes. While they are favored against Florida, it should be noted that they tended to drop high profile games this year.
On the other side of the ball, Florida has had success this season with first-year coach Dan Mullen. The Gators had impressive victories against Mississippi State, LSU and Florida State in 2018. Sophomore QB Feleipe Franks also put up impressive numbers, throwing for 2284 yards with 23 TDs and only six interceptions.
Orange Bowl: Oklahoma Sooners vs. Alabama Crimson Tide
Finally, the Orange Bowl is set to take place in Miami at 8 pm EST on Saturday, December 29th between 13-0 Alabama and 12-1 Oklahoma. No 1.-ranked Alabama is the favorite with a -14-110 spread and u77-110 total, while Oklahoma has a +14-110 spread and an o77-110 total.
Oklahoma, with their top-ranked offense (7513 total yards on the season), will try to force Alabama into a shootout in this game, because while they can practically score at will, they have not had such success on defense. They are decent against the run, but Alabama’s offense favors their passing game, which is where Oklahoma is weakest. They rank 69th among Division I teams in rushing yards allowed with 2037.
Alabama meanwhile is dominant on both sides of the ball, ranking 12th in total defense and 5th in total offense. They are first in the nation in Sack Rate, with the ability to nab an average of 3.2 sacks per game.
This game will come down to whether or not Oklahoma QB and Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray can dominate the Alabama Defense. Murray has 40 touchdowns on the season to go along with 4053 total passing yards. Oklahoma Offensive Coordinator Lincoln Riley has implemented a unique blocking strategy to where his line can transition from zone to gap blocking that should pose a challenge to the Alabama defense.
Cotton Bowl: Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. Clemson Tigers
At 4 pm EST in Arlington, TX the No. 3 ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish will take on the No. 2 ranked Clemson Tigers in Cotton Bowl Semifinal. The winner will get a chance to play for the National Championship.
Clemson, whose spread is -12 ½ - 107 with a total of o56 ½ -110, finds themselves in the College Football Playoffs for the fourth year in a row. They are ranked number one in defense and number seven in offense in the nation with a perfect 13-0 record. Their offense is concentrated mostly on running (they rank 6th in the Nation with 3377 yards rushing), but freshman QB Trevor Lawrence has done a marvelous job at giving them a passing threat as well. He has a 154.0 QB rating and his 24 touchdowns on the year have him tied for 28th overall in Division I.
Notre Dame is facing a +12 ½ -113 spread in this game and an o56 ½ -110 total. They also had a perfect record at 12-0, mostly thanks to an experienced defense led by coordinator Clark Lea, who took over this year after Mike Elko left at the end of 2017. His defense includes seven starters who were blue-chip recruits.
Fiesta Bowl: LSU Tigers vs. UCF Knights
The UCF Knights make their return to the Fiesta Bowl on New Years’ Day 2019 in Glendale, AZ to take on LSU. The Knights won the 2014 edition of the Fiesta Bowl by beating Baylor 52-42 behind QB Blake Bortles. This year they will rely on Darriel Mack at QB to outgun LSU’s RB duo of Nick Brossette and Clyde Edwards-Helaire.
Neither of these teams is known for their offense. LSU only topped the 40 point mark in two games this year. Meanwhile, UCF finished the season at fifth in Offensive S&P, but QB McKenzie Milton suffered a knee injury in November that will keep him out of this game. Darriel Mack Jr. will be taking snaps in his absence. In his first game taking over for Milton, he rushed for six TDs to beat Memphis in the AAC Championship game.
Bet on the Fiesta Bowl right here at Skybook.ag, Register Now or Log In to enjoy the best college basketball betting odds.
Mack will get help from a capable running back trio in Greg McCrae, Adrian Killins, and Taj McGowan. Those three combined for 19 TD on the season. They had done the bulk of the offensive load in helping the Tigers become the first SEC team to appear in a Fiesta Bowl since 2000 when Tennessee made its second consecutive trip.
Still, LSU remains the favorites at -7 ½ with a total of 55 ½ for the game.
Rose Bowl: Washington Huskies vs. Ohio State Buckeyes
Buckeyes Head Coach Urban Meyer will try to end his career in style, taking on the Washington Huskies at 5 pm Eastern time at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA. Meyer has announced his retirement as a head coach after this season. He leaves the position with the highest winning percentage among all active coaches with a minimum of five seasons at an FBS program.
Thus, 12-1 Ohio State will have extra incentive to pummel the 10-3 Washington Huskies in this bowl game, and they are favored to do so with a -7+106 spread and a u58-110 total. The Buckeyes were a wagon on offense this year, ranking third in the Nation on total offense with 7,134 total yards. QB Dwayne Haskins lead the nation in passing yards with 4,580.
Enjoy the best Rose Bowl betting odds right here at Skybook.ag, Register Now or Log In to enjoy the best football betting action online.
This will also be the final game for Huskies QB Jake Browning and RB Myles Gaskin. Both have held starting positions through their four years at the school. However, the name of the Huskies game is Defense, where they have limited opponents to 201 total points throughout the season, which is good enough for 8th in the nation. In total defense, they rank 17th in the nation in total defense, having given up 3923 yards overall. Washington is facing a +7-126 spread and an o58-110 total.
Sugar Bowl: Texas Longhorns vs. Georgia Bulldogs
The Bulldogs blew their chance to wrap up an SEC title when they lost to Alabama earlier this year, but that did not prevent them from qualifying for the Sugar Bowl, where they are heavy favorites against the Texas Longhorns, who are appearing in their first New Year’s Six bowl game since the 2010 Rose Bowl. The 11-2 Bulldogs are ranked No. 5, while the 9-4 Longhorns are No. 15. The game will take place at 7:45 PM EST in New Orleans.
Against the spread, this season, Georgia is 8-5, while Texas is 5-7 with a push. However, the Longhorns have not been able to cover in their past two games, including the regular season finale with Kansas. They also lost to Oklahoma 39-27 in the Big 12 Championship game last Saturday. For this game, the Bulldogs are the favorite at -12 ½. The total is u58-110.
Texas, whose spread is +12 ½ -110 with a total of o58-110, will rely offensively on their sophomore QB Sam Ehlinger, who threw for 3,125 yards this season, scoring 25 passing touchdowns compared to only five interceptions. He is also a considerable part of their running game, having compiled 418 yards and 13 rushing touchdowns this year.
Bet on the Sugar Bowl right here at Skybook.ag, Register Now or Log In to enjoy the best college basketball betting odds.
Georgia meanwhile will be trying to rebound from a heartbreaking 35-28 loss to Alabama on Saturday despite holding a 28-14 lead at the half. That loss caused them to drop in the rankings from No. 4 and keeping them out of the playoffs for the national championship.