The following paragraph was written on Wednesday morning before the Potato Bowl.
“It’s not how you start, but it’s how you finish” (Michael Phelps said that once?) That’s my thoughts on my first set of bowl picks. I started out 0-2 last Saturday, but then had a raging comeback and finished up going 5-3 ATS and 6-4 if you count the two over/under picks I made. I’m 3-0 so far this week, so I’m kind of on a hot streak right now. What goes up must come down though, so beware of my upcoming picks, because I have no idea when this streak is going to crash and burn. I’m not going to do much of an opening here because I have a lot of picks to get to, and let’s be honest, the reason you’re reading this is for the picks.
This next paragraph was written on Saturday morning before the Hawaii Bowl.
First off, I have to apologize for not putting up a blog for the past couple days. Second off, it’s a really good thing I didn’t because my small hot streak has officially crashed and burned. I extended it with going with Idaho +16 on Wednesday night, but then it got bad on Friday. I went with all the favorites ATS: Old Dominion, Lousiana Tech, and Troy. All of them won (would have made for a nice moneyline parlay), but none of them covered. Ouch. So while I feel bad because I haven’t been able to post in awhile (husband stuff, marriage is awesome though, seriously), it’s actually a good thing for anybody that actually takes my advice, because it would have been really bad advice.
So this is how this is going to work the rest of the Bowl Season. I’m going to give you a pick on every bowl game, but I’m not going to analyze each one. I don’t have time to do all that, and you don’t have enough time to read all of that action. I will only elaborate on the games that I feel most confident/opinionated about.
Before we get to the picks, just a quick reminder, I don’t actually gamble real money, because gambling is illegal in Nebraska. If I could gamble legally, these would be the picks I would go with. All of the lines and totals are set at time of publishing (odds coming from oddshark), and will not change as the week goes on. So get’em while their hot! Here we go, Bart’s Best Bets Baby!
College Football Bowls: December 24-29
- Hawaii vs. Middle Tennessee: Middle Tennessee (-7.5)
I’m not sure if anyone will watch this game, I definitely won’t. With all of the NFL games going on today I’m afraid this game is just going to get lost in the shuffle, and it’s probably a good thing. Hawaii isn’t a good football team. The only reason they got in a bowl game with an under .500 record is because the Bowl Game is called the “Hawaii Bowl”. Even though this is a home game for Hawaii, Mid Tennessee is just a better football team and they should win this one going away.
- Miami-Ohio vs. Mississippi State: Miami-Ohio (+14.5)
Here’s the deal with this game. I know nothing about Miami-Ohio other than the fact that Big Ben played his college ball there. What I do know is that Miss. St. is allergic to playing anything close to defense. I sat through the whole Arkansas vs. Miss. St. game earlier this year (more on Arkansas in a later blog) and Arkansas didn’t punt once the whole game. NOT ONCE! I’m sure Mississippi State will pull this one out, but they don’t play enough defense to win by more than two touchdowns. Sorry Stingray Steve, I love you, but you’re team sucks.
- Maryland vs. Boston College: Boston College (+2.5)
- NC State vs. Vanderbilt: Vanderbilt (+6)
- North Texas vs. Army: Army (-10)
For the troops.
- Temple vs. Wake Forest: Temple (-11.5)
Finally a game worth writing about. You guys know by now that I love Temple football. They posted an incredible 12-1 record ATS this season and I don’t see them ending it here. I know their coach is on his way to Baylor (good luck with that), but I don’t think that will discourage this team from going out there and laying the wood to Wake Forest. Wake Forest doesn’t even average 20 points per game, and they definitely won’t score that much against Temple’s dominant defense.
- Minnesota vs. Washington State: Washington State (-10)
I honestly have no idea what’s going on with the Minnesota football program right now, but I do know that it has to be a huge distraction. This game is going to come down to one thing: scoring touchdowns. Guess what? Minnesota isn’t as good at scoring touchdowns as Washington State. That along with the fact that I love Mike Leach makes me really like Wazzou in this one.
- Boise State vs. Baylor: Boise State (-8.5)
I’m done trusting any Big 12 out there. I’ve been let down too many times by that conference. Let’s go Broncos!
- Pittsburgh vs. Northwestern: Pittsburgh (-5.5)
Enjoy this one with some Primanti Bros. and Yuengling.
- West Virginia vs. Miami: West Virginia (+2.5)
I may be stupid, but I really don’t think Miami is all that great. I know I just got done saying that I wasn’t going to trust a Big 12 team, but let’s be real, West Virginia is still in the Big East in Bob Huggins mind. When someone musters up the guts to tell Bob Huggins that they are in the Big 12 now, I will officially put them in that conference.
- Utah vs. Indiana: Utah (-7.5)
- Texas A&M vs. Kansas State: Kansas State (+2.5)
In Bill Snyder I trust. That’s all I got.
- USF vs. South Carolina: USF (-10.5)
- Arkansas vs. Virginia Tech: Arkansas (+7)
It was a grind having to root against Arkansas all year. I’m a sympathetic guy, and I feel bad for hating on them all year, so I’m going to be a big Arkansas fan in this one. Woo Pig!
- Colorado vs. Oklahoma State: Colorado (-3)
Colorado hasn’t played in a bowl game since 2007, so I think they’re probably pretty excited about it. Colorado ended up going 10-2 ATS this year and I’m hoping they can make it 11-2. This should be a fun game to watch with a lot of scoring. Also, never trust a football coach with a mullet.
Current Bowl Record: 6-5-1
Double COVERage 