College Football Bowl Games: Saturday, Dec. 18
Boca Raton Bowl
This year’s Boca Raton Bowl could very well simply be called the Hatfields and McCoys. The Mountaineers and Hilltoppers reside on opposite sides of the mountain range, and typically have some good games when they clash.
The Mighty Mountaineers are 4-1 all-time against WKU and come in with a chip on their shoulder after being shut down by the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns in the Sun Belt Championship. They’ll be looking to get their high-scoring offense back on track against a Hilltopper defense that finished 90th in the nation this season.
Pick: App State by a touchdown.
New Mexico Bowl
This year’s New Mexico Bowl features Mountain West vs Conference-USA with two teams who have never met before.
If familiarity breeds contempt, then perhaps this game could be just plain fun. These teams are pretty evenly matched, and it could end up being a high-scoring affair. The edge on offense probably has to go to Fresno State, as well as strength of schedule.
Pick: Bulldogs win, but won’t cover 11.5 points.
Independence Bowl
One of the older bowl games around, the 2021 Independence Bowl features No. 12 BYU vs. UAB in a matchup of two teams with something to prove with their first-ever meeting.
In the first half of the season, BYU was looked at as a possible dark horse to be the first independent team to make the College Football Playoff. However, two straight losses to Boise State and eventual Big 12 champion Baylor derailed those hopes. The Cougars did finish the season strong, winning five straight to close out the season.
UAB was a bit streaky and had a couple of unexplainable losses. They never really seemed to get into a rhythm this season. While the Blazers are a quality team, they aren’t quite as battle-tested as BYU.
Pick: BYU easily covers 7 here
LendingTree Bowl
The 2021 LendingTree Bowl brings upstart independent Liberty against Eastern Michigan out of the MAC.
Eastern Michigan faced a tough schedule and was able to score a lot of points in their wins. Facing tougher defenses is where the Eagles found their struggles.
Liberty was an inconsistent team all season and finished with three straight losses. It’s certain that a dose of MACtion is not what the Flames needed for a get-right game, although they did rank 30th in the nation in scoring defense.
Pick: Tough call, but 9.5 points is awfully big for this game. Take EMU to beat that spread.
LA Bowl
In three all-time meetings, Oregon State has never lost to Utah State. That said, they haven’t played each other since 1998.
It’s been a special season for the Beavers, who find themselves in a bowl game for the first time since 2013. The one thing Oregon State can do really well is run the ball, coming in 12th in the nation at 217 yards per game, so look for them to try to keep this game on the ground and own the clock.
Utah State is an exciting program that just keeps getting better, and they build their reputation on being able to throw the ball and produce some explosive plays. The Aggies don’t have the beef up front to stop OSU on the ground, so they’ll rely on some quick strikes to stay in this one.
Pick: This game will be close. Beavers win but won’t cover 7.5
New Orleans Bowl
This is always one of the more entertaining bowl games of the season, and if they can’t be in a New Year’s Six bowl, Louisiana loves playing to the home crowd in this one.
If it wasn’t going to be Cincinnati representing the Group of Five in the College Football Playoff, it might have been No. 16 Louisiana, whose only loss was an opening week aberration to Texas. The Ragin’ Cajuns are a very, very good football team, and should easily handle overmatched Marshall.
Look for a lot of points to be scored by Louisiana in this first-ever meeting between the two, and for the Cajuns No. 9 defense to shut Marshall down.
Pick: Louisiana easily covers 5