They're coming fast and furious now! We've hit the peak of #BowlSeason with games coming one after another leading up to the New Year's Six and College Football Playoff. Let's not waste any time channeling our regular season concept of the 'Saturday Seven' and go rapid-fire on each of the second-tier bowl games Thursday and Friday.
Pinstripe Bowl: Syracuse vs. Minnesota (-10.5, 42.5)
Minnesota opened -7, and the line has slowly risen since early December as Syracuse has been the victim of more opt outs, notably star tailback Sean Tucker. Is that enough for the Golden Gophers to steam up over -10?
As strange as it sounds, it benefits Syracuse that the near-nationwide deep freeze has subsided. The Orange's plan should be for Garrett Shrader to throw the ball, focusing on star sophomore receiver Oronde Gadsden.
Regardless of who plays quarterback for Minnesota, the team should run Mohamed Ibrahim repeatedly and dominate the trench. But Syracuse should score just enough in a low-total game to hang inside the inflated number.
Pick: Syracuse +10.5
Cheez-It: Oklahoma vs. No. 13 Florida St. (-9.5, 65.5)
My projection was Florida State -3. However, before a bet could be made, Oklahoma's opt outs started to flow quicker than the Red River. The Sooners will be without star tailback Eric Gray, both offensive tackles, and a handful of other impact players.
Oklahoma's season was a disappointment largely due to a defense that now has to deal with an engaged and underrated Florida State. The Seminoles don't have any notable opt outs and finished the campaign with five straight wins, scoring at least 38 points in each. Jordan Travis and Trey Benson could make a run at 50 points against the Sooners' defense, at which point laying a big-ish number won't feel as daunting.
Pick: Florida State -9.5
Alamo Bowl: No. 12 Washington vs. No. 21 Texas (-3.5, 67.5)
We let the cat out of the bag in Part 2 of the bowl best bets when we included Washington in a round-robin underdog moneyline parlay for bowl season. With Texas' pair of deadly running backs both opting out and Hudson Card transferring, a lot is on Quinn Ewers' shoulders. That hasn't meant great results for the Longhorns this season.
The quarterback we want to be riding is Michael Penix. He led the country in passing yardage this season and has a chip on his shoulder after getting left out of the Heisman conversation. Penix is playing in his first bowl game and is fired up about showing off a Huskies' offense that was red-hot to end the campaign. I make the Huskies a slight favorite, so +3.5 feels like a steal.
Pick: Washington +3.5
Duke's Mayo Bowl: North Carolina State vs. Maryland (PK, 46.5)
Taulia Tagovailoa is in, but that's pretty much the extent of top talent available on Maryland's offense. Meanwhile, Dave Doeren has done more with less at the quarterback position, managing four wins after Devin Leary went down for the season.
Ben Finley, whose been in the program for three campaigns, took the reigns late in the season. With a full slate of bowl practices under Finley's belt, the Wolfpack can do just enough to support an opportunistic defense.
Pick: North Carolina State PK
Sun Bowl: Pittsburgh vs. No. 18 UCLA (-5.5, 53.5)
Pittsburgh has already come clean about its star opt outs. UCLA's potential missing pieces appear shrouded in mystery. The biggest name is Bruins' star quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson, whose potential absence would validate why this line is under a touchdown.
Pat Narduzzi has made a career of putting together an effort with less talent than the opponent, and I expect the same here. If Thompson-Robinson and tailback Zach Charbonnet don't suit up in El Paso, we should see this line dip to close to a field goal.
Pick: Pittsburgh +5.5
Gator Bowl: No. 20 South Carolina vs. No. 19 Notre Dame (-2.5, 51.5)
How much is a star tight end worth?
South Carolina closed the regular season with wins as 21-point underdogs to Tennessee and 14-point 'dogs to Clemson. So, you can imagine bettors' excitement when the Gamecocks opened as 4.5-point underdogs to Notre Dame, whose quarterback immediately opted out of the season. Losing Drew Pyne shouldn't be a big deal, but star tight end Michael Mayer heading to the NFL sent this line crashing through a field goal.
The Irish can be considered a viable bet now that they're no longer significant favorites. As one of the premier teams in the country, Notre Dame should have enough depth to cover for what it lost on offense and be buttoned up in special teams so that it isn't victimized by "(Shane) Beamer ball."
Pick: Notre Dame -2.5
Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl: Wyoming vs. Ohio (-2, 42.5)
A MAC-Mountain West showdown pits two conferences that have been better than expected this postseason. Air Force caught a Baylor team that didn't care for the cold. Fresno State took down a thoroughly disinterested Washington State group. League champion Boise State had trouble stopping North Texas, so we're not getting too excited about the 3-3 MWC.
Miami (Ohio) battled a good UAB team before league champ Toledo and Eastern Michigan (against MWC San Jose State) handled business. Bowling Green lost its starting quarterback in the first quarter of the Quick Lane Bowl and still competed with scrappy New Mexico State.
A MAC championship finalist, Ohio should be able to take care of Wyoming. The Cowboys might have the least talent of any team going bowling.
Pick: Ohio -2
Matt Russell is a betting writer for theScore. If there’s a bad beat to be had, Matt will find it. Find him on Twitter @mrussauthentic.
