College Bowl Games Begin Saturday

The UTEP Miners are playing for their first bowl title in 47 years. (Photo credit: Phil Roeder / iWoman / CC BY)


NCAA football college bowl games season kicks off Saturday with five contests.

College bowl games present unique challenges for handicappers. Some teams have a full month between games, some teams have lost their head coach, some teams aren’t happy with the college bowl games they’re in and some teams are just thrilled to be there.

Before you make your bets, be sure to check out our nine college bowl games betting tips.

College bowl games betting odds for Saturday, Dec. 20

We visited the Ontario Proline site Friday morning to see what the odds for Saturday’s games were, but they hadn’t been posted yet. One of the many downsides to playing Proline is that they often don’t put up odds on games until the day of.

Here are the point spread odds for Saturday’s college bowl games:

 

One thing you need to know about each of Saturday’s college bowl games

New Orleans Bowl (Nevada vs UL Lafayette)

Lafayette is a two-hour drive from New Orleans, which might help explain why they’ve won this bowl game in each of the past three years.

New Mexico Bowl (Utah State vs UTEP)

Utah State is playing for its third bowl title in as many years, while UTEP is seeking its first bowl victory in 47 years. This game is a huge deal for the underdog Miners.

Las Vegas Bowl (Utah vs Colorado State)

Colorado State will be led by interim head coach Dave Baldwin after Mountain West coach of the year Jim McElwain left the Rams to take the head coaching job at Florida. Colorado State has lost its last 15 games against ranked opponents, and Utah is No. 22 in the country.

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl (Western Michigan vs Air Force)

This game features two of the biggest turnaround programs in college football. Air Force is 9-3 this year after going 2-10 last season, and Western Michigan rebounded from a 1-11 campaign last year to go 8-4.

Camellia Bowl (South Alabama vs Bowling Green)

This is the first-ever bowl appearance for South Alabama, which started its football program five years ago. Bowling Green is playing in its third straight college bowl game and 112th overall.