Picking Your Bowls
- Dante aka Rico Beddo Graffiani
- Dec 22, 2022
- 5 min read
Hey there Sofies, this is Dante or Rico Beddo, your newest blogger here at the SofaKing best sports blog going.
With things getting busy next week with the holidays and also the Tournament of Champions, El Commish asked me to go ahead and start today with advising on some of the upcoming bowl games so you can concentrate on your family, presents, and prepping the Jackets for the B'-ville Bruins (+29.5).
So without any further ado, here we go on some bowl games of interest. Before we get going, let's take care of some legal and responsible advice here. All lines are based off of the Barstool Sportsbook and may be different at other sites, casinos or friends of the family. These posts are for entertainment purposes only, should you make picks based off of the advice you read here and are successful, please feel free to show a little love my way. And finally and most importantly, if you do choose to gamble, gamble responsibly. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.
Guaranteed Rate Bowl, Tuesday, December 27 9:15 PM CT
Phoenix, AZ
Oklahoma State (+3.5) vs. Wisconsin
O/U 62.5
OK, this game sucks. Neither team really wants to be there, for that matter most teams other than the final four want to be where they are but there is sponsorship money and SWAG bags available, so what the heck- Arizona's weather beats the heck out of what we got going on right now.
OSU is feeling the effects of the transfer portal, particularly because their starting QB, Spencer Sanders decided he's had enough of hearing who's a man and mullets. This doesn't leave much of an option for Coach Gumby and his gang of misfits.
Wisconsin is fresh off of hiring a new coach, who won't be on the sidelines but will be in attendance and is also feeling the effects of the transfer portal, mainly by recently acquiring former OU QB Nick Evers after their starting QB Graham "Fred" Mertz transferred to Florida.
This presents an interesting situation for the Badgers. Will they play hard for the outgoing coach? New QB under center for them as well, will he rise to the occasion against OSU? Will they try to show out for the new coach, basically getting a tryout before spring ball starts up.
Either way, Wisconsin is going to be Wisconsin. They have always been a team that will punch you in the mouth and run the ball up the middle, occasionally they will throw the ball with some success but their game is the ground.
OSU on the other hand is a team that plays as big as the game is. They will show up against rivals or big games against OU or Texas but take a lot of plays off against teams in games that really don't have a huge resume against them; see Central Michigan a few years ago.
For that reason, I'm taking the Badgers and giving the 3.5 and taking the under 62.5. OSU doesn't have much of a threat in whichever QB they play. Wisconsin will keep things simple and use their cheese curd lovin' linemen to bully the Clownboys defense.
Wisconsin- 26
OSU- 3
Cheez-It Bowl, Thursday, December 29 4:30 PM CT
Orlando, FL
Oklahoma (+9.5) vs. Florida St.
O/U 66
Brent Venables and company will be fired up for this game. Hell, BV gets fired up to open mail so his excitement to coach a football game should come as no surprise. His Sooners, however, will be overmatched for what will probably be the last time in Venables' career in Norman.
OU has been the kings of shoulda, coulda, woulda all season long. It started with the excitement around Brent's hiring day but as the games started to get closer, losing some that should've been won, the morale of the fan base and rumored to be some players began to wane.
Gabriel and the offense will benefit in getting some extra work in before the game but it won't be enough against a FL St team that is currently ranked 13 in the country and possessing wins over LSU, Florida, and Miami.
Granted there is no TCU, Texas, or Baylor on their schedule, the Noles are a better football team at this point. It will be a shootout, but Florida State will cover the spread and the over will be taken care of by the third quarter.
Florida St- 57
OU- 36
Arizona Bowl, Friday, December 30, 3:30 PM CT
Tucson, AZ
Ohio (+1) vs. Wyoming
O/U 42.5
MAC conference runners-up, Ohio Bobcats will travel to Tuscon to play in the Barstool Arizona bowl against the Cowboys of Wyoming. Ohio had impressive wins in conference over Bowling Green, Akron, and Miami of Ohio en route to a 9-4 record.
They play typical MAC-tion football in that you never know what will happen next. Fake punts, going for it on fourth and long and all sorts of zany plays are the norm in the MAC and Ohio will be seriously opening the playbook to allow Barstool commentators, Dave "El Prez" Portnoy and Dan "Big Cat" Katz multiple opportunities to sing their praises of how the MAC is the most exciting league in the country.
The 7-5 Wyoming Cowboys boast wins over Tulsa, Northern Colorado, and Air Force, however they were destroyed by San Jose State U and Fresno State-neither teams wow you with their histories. The Cowboys do travel well as they went to Hawaii and defeated the Warriors, but they won't be able to handle the options on offense that Ohio will bring and the Cowboys will almost take care of the Over themselves.
Ohio- 42
Wyoming- 16
Over
Fiesta Bowl, Saturday, December 31, 3:00 PM CT
Glendale, AZ
Michigan (-8) vs. TCU
O/U 58.5
This game will be a nail biter. Michigan has been a slow starter all season and TCU will try their best against the Wolverine defense but will be stymied throughout the game.
The line on this game though is something of a trap, 8 points doesn't seem like a huge amount when you look at what Harbaugh and his crew have accomplished this year and Vegas is betting on the squares to jump on the Wolverine bandwagon, the O/U amount should tell you that they don't expect Michigan to do a lot of scoring anyway.
TCU is the best team in a conference that was way down this year. This is their first time to the big time and it will show. They are talented enough though to keep it relatively close as Michigan will be without Heisman candidate, Blake Corum, who recently had meniscus surgery.
Michigan will win this game, but not cover the spread and the total will be under 58.5.
Michigan- 27
TCU-20
Under
Peach Bowl, Saturday, December 31, 7:00 PM
Atlanta, GA
Ohio State (+6.5) vs. Georgia
O/U 62
Ohio State shouldn't be here, plain and simple. They weren't in their conference championship, obviously didn't win their conference and frankly just playing subpar football when it comes to usual Buckeye performances. Georgia is the defending national champion and has dismantled every opponent, save a hiccup or two against lesser opponents.
There really isn't even much to talk about in this game, it's going to be a blowout. Georgia will cover and they will be over the 62.
Georgia- 59
Ohio St- 6
Over 62
Thank you for reading my first post, which is for entertainment purposes only of course. I hope you have a wonderful holiday season with your friends and families and enjoy the time spent together gathered 'round the big screen watching some college football.
Stay tuned for updates and commentary from the TOC where your Jackets will be looking for another championship to add to their already impressive trophy case.
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