Bowl season doesn’t begin for more than a week, but action has been underway for days.
With so much time left until the kickoffs, the most attractive lines may never get better. Here’s an early look at bowl games bettors should target:
Boca Raton Bowl, Dec. 21: SMU (-3 ¹/₂) vs. Florida Atlantic
Lane Kiffin’s departure to Ole Miss doesn’t help. The bigger issue could be SMU’s 12th-ranked passing attack picking apart the Owls’ 73rd-ranked passing defense.
Independence Bowl, Dec. 26: Miami Fla. (-6½) vs. Louisiana Tech
No team in the nation struggles to find meaning in bowl games as much as Miami. The Hurricanes have lost eight of their past nine bowl games — including a 35-3 embarrassment against Wisconsin last year — and enter this matchup close to its opponent’s campus coming off losses to Florida International and Duke. Under Skip Holtz, the Bulldogs have won a bowl game in five straight years.
Texas Bowl, Dec. 27: Texas A&M (-6¹/₂) vs. Oklahoma State
The Cowboys are already without their starting quarterback and top wide receiver. The nation’s leading rusher, Chuba Hubbard, could sit, too, as he debates whether to enter the 2020 NFL Draft. You’ll hear about how the Aggies haven’t beaten a ranked team this season, but No. 25 Oklahoma State isn’t exactly a great comp for Texas A&M’s prior meetings against Clemson, Georgia, Alabama and Auburn.
Orange Bowl, Dec. 30: Florida (-14) vs. Virginia
After achieving the season’s most important goals of ending a 15-year losing streak to Virginia Tech and reaching their first ACC title game, the Cavaliers suffered a 45-point loss to Clemson. Against the highest-ranked opponent Virginia has ever faced in a bowl game, the No. 9 Gators bring the 10th-ranked defense and a group with seven wins by an average of 26.7 points with Kyle Trask at quarterback. Florida coach Dan Mullen also has won three straight bowl games, including last year’s 41-15 win over Michigan.
Citrus Bowl, Jan. 1: Alabama (-7) vs. Michigan
If Joseph Bulovas makes a 30-yard field goal, the Crimson Tide might be back in the semifinals. Instead, Alabama carries an awkward-looking double-digit ranking and won’t play for a national championship for the first time in the playoff era. Perhaps the public that is overwhelmingly betting on the Crimson Tide to rebound has forgotten that motivation was impossible to find the last time Alabama had its title aspirations killed before Christmas — also, at Auburn, via 2013’s Kick Six — as the Crimson Tide entered the Sugar Bowl as 15-point favorites and lost by two touchdowns. In the prior such situation under Nick Saban in 2008, Alabama was a 10-point favorite and was upset by Utah after falling into an insurmountable 21-0 hole.