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NCAA Football Betting Predictions: Bowl Game Opening Line Report and Picks

by Jason Radowitz - 12/21/2020

Grayson McCall Coastal Carolina Chanticleers

At the start of the season, college football had 43 postseason bowls ready to go. Due to COVID, opt outs and different regulations in select states, we’ve seen more than a bunch cancelled. We’re now down to 28 bowl games, and we’ll see if that can hold up.

With these cancellations, we’re getting bowl games featuring teams with two wins in 10 games, like South Carolina. It’s ridiculous. We’ll remember this season for sure.

South Carolina will play UAB in the Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl after achieving a 2-8 record. Not only did they go 2-8 on the season, but South Carolina also fired their head coach after some terrible performances this season.

On the outside looking in, Army, a team that went 9-2 on the season, has had their bowl game cancelled. Head coach Jeff Monken just wants a chance to play but has struggled figuring anything out.

There was a surge of Pac-12 teams opting out of bowl opportunities, and other teams threatened to opt out if they were paired with Army for a game.

It’s a shame because teams that were fighting for a College Football Playoff spot started opting out of the postseason once they ended up losing games.

Insert USC and Boise State into that category.

Both teams just played for a conference championship. However, because they lost, they opted out of playing a bowl game. But you know 100 percent if they had won the championship in the Pac 12 or Mountain West, respectively, they’d be in the mix to play a bowl game.

The entire bowl situation is unfair to teams that deserve it and want to play in it but can’t. Some seniors will have their final opportunities stripped away because other teams are embarrassed by their losses.

On the other hand, the CFP committee added their top four teams into the playoff, including Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State and Notre Dame.

There have been so many arguments for different teams to get a chance like Cincinnati, who went undefeated, beat three Top 25 opponents, and won a conference title. Maybe they deserve a shot, along with San Jose State and Coastal Carolina, who are still both undefeated.

What else can these teams do?

Ultimately, they’ll have to finish the season with another win in a bowl game and the ask the question we’re all asking.

What if…?





FBC Mortgage Cure Bowl - Liberty vs Coastal Carolina (-6.5, 59.5): Coastal Carolina will finally get a chance to play Liberty, who opted out of their game a month ago due to COVID inside the program. Liberty hasn’t played in a month, while Coastal Carolina was tested against BYU and Troy and got wins in both. It would be a storybook ending for Coastal Carolina to get this win. They’ve got the better passing game and defense that should be able to shut down a Liberty team that hasn’t played in quite some time. Seeing Coastal as a below-seven-point favorite is intriguing. We all want to bet on the right side of history. Pick: Coastal Carolina

Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl - South Carolina vs UAB (-6.5, 47.5): South Carolina has two wins all season but will play in a bowl game against UAB. UAB’s defense has been very impressive all season long, but they haven’t faced SEC talent. But look… We’ve seen what happened to LSU when they had to play a bunch of freshman and sophomores this season. South Carolina will likely have a lot of opt outs in this game. It’s embarrassing that they’re even playing a game. Pick: UAB

Camellia Bowl - Marshall vs Buffalo (-3.5, 53.5): Marshall had a great start to the year, but Grant Wells, freshman quarterback of Marshall, has struggled in his last two games. I don’t think it’ll be hard for Marshall to score in this game. Marshall’s defense has looked solid all season long but will have a tough task trying to stop Buffalo’s powerhouse offense. Yes, Marshall’s defense is much more of a challenge than any team in the MAC conference. However, that doesn’t take away from the fact that this offense has been really competitive and can do a whole lot of damage. The over is the play in this game. However, if I had to pick a team, I’d quietly roll with Buffalo.  Pick: Buffalo

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