College football bowl season kicks off with seven games on Saturday's slate, and we offer our best college football player props and best bets for Saturday's bowl games based on the best NCAAF odds.
There are plenty of intriguing matchups on Saturday's college football bowl game slate, starting with Jacksonville State looking for a win in its first bowl appearance against Louisiana after an 8-4 inaugural campaign in C-USA.
Elsewhere, MAC champion Miami (OH) could have its best team since the days of Ben Roethlisberger and does battle against an Appalachian State team that won its first six bowl games at the FBS level (it is 6-1 in bowls entering this week).
As part of our look at all college bowl game odds, here are our college football player props and best bets for Saturday's bowl game slate (odds via our best college football betting sites; pick confid ence based on a 1-to-5-star scale).
College bowl game best bets for Saturday
- Ethan Garbers (UCLA) Under 1.5 passing touchdowns (+102 via FanDuel) ????
- Jaydn Ott (California) Over 105.5 rushing yards vs. Texas Tech (-115 via DraftKings, bet365) ????
- Georgia Southern-Ohio Under 49.5 (-110 via BetMGM) ????
- Louisiana +3.5 vs. Jacksonville State (-114 via BetRivers) ????
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College football schedule and odds for Saturday
Odds via DraftKings
- Georgia Southern (-3.5) vs. Ohio
- Howard vs. Florida A&M (-6.5)
- Jacksonville State (-3) vs. Louisiana
- Miami (OH) vs. Appalachian State (-6.5)
- New Mexico State (-4) vs. Fresno State
- UCLA (-4) vs. Boise State
- California vs. Texas Tech (-3)
College bowl game player props for Saturday
UCLA's sputtering offense was a big reason it lost three of its final four games, as it averaged just eight points per game in those losses. That is especially concerning since only one of those poor offensive games came against a top-four Pac-12 scoring defense (Arizona), as the other two were against Arizona State and California defenses that allowed 31.8 points per game or more.
Bruins quarterback Ethan Garbers started two of those games and threw for just one touchdown between them. He had multiple passing touchdowns in two of his three starts but has also been limited to 155 passing yards or fewer in three consecutive appearances.
Garbers left the regular season finale against California due to a right forearm injury, which like ly affected his preparation for this bowl game. Boise State allowed the second-most passing yards per game (251.9) of all Mountain West teams this season, but we expect it to control the time of possession with running back Ashton Jeanty. Jeanty was the FBS leader in scrimmage yards per game and goes up against a UCLA defense that lost coordinator D'Anton Lynn to rival USC.
We are jumping at the opportunity to get plus-money odds on this wager at FanDuel, as DraftKings and bet365 offer -115 odds for Garber to have one or fewer passing touchdowns.
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California has a new play-caller (Mike Bloesch) for this game following the loss of Jake Spavital to Baylor. We expect Bloesch to lean heavily on the team's best skill-position player in his first time on the job.
Jaydn Ott was the Pac-12's leading rusher (and 13th in the country) with 1,260 rushing yards this season, and he exceeded this projected total in three of the final five games. Ott is a true bell-cow back with more than three times the amount of carries as the next-closest player on the team, and has attempted 20-plus runs in five straight games.
He should carve up a Texas Tech defense that ranks 107th in Stuff Rate and 97th in Line Yards.
We are making this wager at DraftKings or bet365, as FanDuel has a slightly higher O/U of 107.5 rushing yards.
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College bowl game picks for Saturday
This line jumped the fence from Ohio -1.5 to Georgia Southern -3.5 once the news broke that Ohio quarterback Kurtis Rourke entered the transfer portal. That leaves starting quarterback duties for Parker Navarro. However, whi le the total has plummeted even further from 54.5 to as low as 48.5 at DraftKings and FanDuel after the news, we are still making the Under a confident four-star play.
Rourke was the 2022 MAC Offensive Player of the Year, and his loss cannot be understated. He ranked 21st in EPA/Play percentage and guided the Bobcats to a No. 21 ranking in Passing Success Rate. In addition, wide receiver Miles Cross, who is second on the team in yards (599) and receptions (47), also entered the transfer portal. Joining them were running backs Sieh Bangura and O'Shaan Allison, who combined for 818 snaps this season.
Instead of backing Georgia Southern on the point spread, we are much more confident in the Under, given all this roster turnover. In addition, we trust an Ohio defense that ranks fifth nationally in scoring defense (15.4 points per game allowed) and one with a secondary that ranks in the top 16 in EPA/Pass Allowed and Passing Success Rate.
Plus, we want no part of fading an Ohio team that is 19-7 under head coach Tim Albin, so we instead expect the Under to cash for the 10th time in the Bobcats' 13th game.
BetMGM is the only shop offering a total higher than 49, providing the most value for Under backers. Be sure to use our BetMGM bonus code: SBRBONUS for the best price.
There is a big experience mismatch and home-field advantage in the New Orleans Bowl, which both favor Louisiana.
Jacksonville State was not even supposed to be allowed to play in a bowl game in its first season at the FBS level, but it was extended an invitation when there were not enough bowl-eligible teams. Meanwhile, Louisiana is practically playing in its backyard at the Caesars Superdome, and is in its 11th bowl appearance since 2011.
Thus, while Gamecocks head coach Rich Rodriguez is coaching his 12th bowl g ame (he is 5-6 SU in the previous 11), his players are not as used to the preparation it entails as much as those from the Ragin' Cajuns.
Though the two teams' strength of schedules is comparable (Louisiana's SOS is 127th, Jacksonville State's is 129th, per Jeff Sagarin), the Sun Belt arguably prepared Louisiana much better for this game, with 12 of 14 teams appearing in bowl games. Meanwhile, Jacksonville State's defensive numbers are buoyed by weak C-USA competition, with just two teams ranked in the top 52 in yards per play.
BetRivers is the only of our best sports betting apps where one can back the underdogs at more than a field goal, as all of our best sportsbooks are in unison with a spread of +3.
College football best bets made 12/13/2023 at 4:09 p.m. ET.
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