College football fans will be treated to plenty of pre-Christmas Eve action with seven bowl games on tap for Saturday, and we offer our top college football player props and best bets for Saturday's bowl games based on the best NCAAF odds.
The impact of the transfer portal, player opt-outs, and coaching shifts has defined this bowl season, giving rise to numerous intriguing betting lines.
On Saturday, Troy takes on Duke in the Birmingham Bowl as a touchdown favorite, despite Duke having held a spot in the AP top 25 rankings for a considerable part of the season. Likewise, James Madison, making its first bowl appearance since transitioning to the FBS level, faces a betting market fade against Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl due to opt-outs and coaching changes despite its 11-1 record.
As part of our look at all college bowl game odds, here are our college football player props and best bets for Saturday's seven-game slate (odds via our best college football betting sites; pick confidence based on a 1-to-5-star scale).
College football best bets for Saturday
- Chevan Cordeiro Over 1.5 passing touchdowns vs. Coastal Carolina (-115 via bet365) ????
- Braylon McReynolds Over 94.5 rushing yards vs. Eastern Michigan (-110 via DraftKings) ???
- Air Force ML vs. James Madison (+107 via BetRivers) ????
- Northwestern +6.5 vs. Utah (-110 via Caesars) ????
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College football schedule and odds for Saturday
(Odds via DraftKings)
- Duke vs. Troy (-7.5)Northern Illinois vs. Arkansas State (-3)
- Utah State (-2.5) vs. Georgia State
- Air Force vs. James Madison (-1.5)
- Eastern Michigan vs. South Alabama (-17)
- Utah (-6.5) vs. Northwestern
- Coastal Carolina vs. San Jose State (-10.5)
College football player props for Saturday
San Jose State is one of 10 FBS schools with an active six-game winning streak or longer. Quarterback Chevan Cordeiro is a big part of that success, with multiple touchdown passes in five of those six wins. He should again be heavily involved in the offensive game plan in his return to his native Hawaii and has an excellent chance of throwing at least two touchdown passes; the Over on San Jose State's team prop of 3.5 touchdowns is juiced to -165 at DraftKings.
Coastal Carolina is coming off its worst defensive performance of the season, allowing 56 points and 481 total yards to James Madison, and Dukes quarterback Jordan McCloud threw for 324 yards and five touchdowns.
The Chanticleers entered that game ranked 11th in pass success defense compared to 118th in rush success. So, though they've allowed a 16% big-play percentage against inside zone runs this season, we also expect Cordeiro to get in on the fun with his receiving corps largely intact entering this game.
DraftKings and bet365 offer the same -115 odds for Cordeiro to throw for multiple touchdowns.
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The 17-point spread in this game is tied for the largest for remaining bowl games and likely means that South Alabama will not have to throw the ball much in the second half against Eastern Michigan.
South Alabama also gets the rare opportunity to play this bowl game on its home turf, which bodes well for McReynolds' chances of success after starting running back La'Damian Webb averaged 119.5 rushing yards per game over his final four home games, eclipsing 95 yards in each of then.
McReynolds ran for only 161 yards this season, appearing in just three games since the opener. However, with Webb ruled out with a toe injury, the coaching staff will likely want to take a look at the back of the future in McReynolds, and we expect a workload similar to what he had against Texas State when he carried 19 times for 79 yards.
This is only a three-star play as we are unsure about how much fellow running back Kentrel Bullock will be involved after recently returning from injury. However, Eastern Michigan's defense went into its regular-season finale against Buffalo ranked 109th in rush success and 114th in line yards, so we expect the Jaguars' offensive line to push the Eagles' defensive front around early and often.
We are making this wager at DraftKings, as our other best sports betting apps charge slightly higher -115 juice for the same number.
College football game picks for Saturday
James Madison used its hosting of “ESPN's College Gameday” to do much politicking for the NCAA to overturn its ruling to keep the Dukes out of a bowl game. However, most of the luster of playing in a bowl has worn off after numerous defensive players entered the transfer portal.
Six of JMU's defensive starters are in the portal, and five of them played at least 432 snaps this season. In addition, most Dukes players have never seen a triple-option attack before, and none would likely argue it is fun practicing and preparing for it for multiple weeks.
Meanwhile, Air Force returns to the site of last year's 30-15 blowout bowl win over Baylor, during which it ran for 276 yards and possessed the ball for over 40 minutes.
Dukes quarterback Jordan McCloud is set to play in the game even though his name is in the transfer portal, but JMU is without head coach Curt Cignetti, who took the job at Indiana, which put a further wrench into the Dukes' preparation.
Thus, we expect the consistency of Air Force and its program to win out, but it also does not hurt to have a defense that ranks second in EPA/pass and in the top 11 in third and fourth-down success to help limit James Madison's offense.
BetRivers is the only one of our best sports betting sites offering better than +105 odds to back the underdog.
Northwestern comes into this game with tons of momentum, winning three straight (including road wins at Wisconsin and Illinois) and covering six in a row. The Wildcats are led by Big Ten Coach of the Year David Braun, who should have a motivated bunch after not appearing in a bowl since 2020, while Utah has lost four consecutive bowl games.
The Utes are a physical, defensive team, but among their dozen-plus players in the transfer portal or who have opted out are both starting safeties (Sione Vaki and Cole Bishop), who between them have played over 1,200 snaps. Meanwhile, defensive lineman Jonah Elliss is out with a season-ending injury.
This is not the same vaunted Utes defense that led them to the Pac-12 Championship Game in four of the previous five seasons, and we expect a Northwestern offense that ranks in the top 20 in finishing drives to take advantage.
We have our choice of three of our best sportsbooks that are offering a line of +6.5 at standard -110 juice, as BetMGM and bet365 also offer this price along with Caesars.
College football best bets made Thursday at 6:33 a.m. ET
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