Predictions for College Football Playoff and New Years Six bowl games

Breaking down the odds and offering predictions for the New Years Six bowl games kicking off Friday night followed by the College Football Playoff Saturday.

In terms of college football bowl games, we have been pretty lucky so far. Most of the games have been competitive and we have had multiple this week with the winning score in the last minute.

On Friday, the New Years Six bowl games get started with an intriguing Orange Bowl matchup between Tennessee and Clemson, followed by the Sugar Bowl Saturday afternoon between Kansas State and Alabama in the table-setter for the College Football Playoff.

The New Years Six bowl games won’t be played on New Years Day this year with the NFL playing games on that Sunday, so that will happen on Monday.

At any rate, the next few days of college football bowl games are going to be great, and here are predictions for each one against the spread.

We’ll get started with the Orange Bowl.

Orange Bowl: No. 7 Clemson (-4.5) vs No. 6 Tennessee (Dec. 30, 8 PM EST, ESPN)

This would be a more interesting matchup if Hendon Hooker were able to play but it’s still an interesting battle of the SEC and ACC.

Tennessee hasn’t made it to a major bowl game since the Fiesta Bowl in 1999 and this would be a huge win for Josh Heupel as the Vols are looking for their 11th win.

Clemson finished 11-2 and won the ACC championship. It was sort of an underrated storyline because the ACC wasn’t viewed favorably this year. But a conference championship is a conference championship.

What’s even more promising is the way that Cade Klubnik went 20-of-24 for 279 yards and a touchdown, winning the starting job. This will be his chance to truly establish himself on a national stage and the former five-star QB will take advantage.

Tennessee’s defense has struggled all year against the pass. Clemson is missing some players due to opt-outs up front but I trust the Clemson defense more than Joe Milton.

Clemson 34, Tennessee 24