Geoff Schwartz
FOX Sports Betting Analyst
Bowl season is the hardest market to guess on in faculty soccer. For most groups, we do not know their motivations, what their rosters seem like, or what their depth charts seem like.
There are gamers who’ve entered the portal who’re off the depth chart but additionally gamers nonetheless on campus who will not be enjoying within the bowl sport. We do not know these gamers till kickoff.
And you additionally need to do not forget that some groups could have teaching adjustments, even with a bowl sport on the horizon. So in these instances, there might be an interim supervisor on the sidelines who’s unlikely to be the supervisor instantly after the sport as new workers will take over.
Players might attempt to present as much as impress the brand new teaching workers or give doable portal positions one other sport to review.
Now that I’ve given you that context, listed here are my favourite bets from the beginning of bowl season.
(All instances ET)
No. 25 Memphis towards West Virginia (9 p.m., Dec. 17, ESPN)
The Tigers match the profile of a workforce motivated to play.
Memphis is a Group of Five workforce enjoying a Power Five workforce. That Power Five workforce will not be elite, however for Memphis gamers and workers, the opponent’s title carries sufficient weight to wish to win.
The Tigers have just a few gamers within the portal and never many who could be overlooked of this sport. So they’ll have a full roster after simply beating Tulane on Thanksgiving and successful 10 video games.
This setup has been a typical postseason for Memphis, which has dominated bowl video games in its final three appearances. The Tigers earned a 25-10 win over Florida Atlantic in 2022, a 38-10 win over Utah State in 2022, after which final season, an enormous win over Iowa State by a rating of 36-26. We know what we’re getting from Ryan Silverfield’s workforce in its bowl sport.
Now let us take a look at the mountain climbers.
They went 6-6 this season and fired coach Neal Brown. The remaining sport of the season was a 52-15 loss to Texas Tech. How motivated is that this workforce for an early bowl sport towards Memphis in Frisco, Texas?
West Virginia has gamers getting into the portal, gamers too injured to apply this week and even the athletic director admitted the varsity desires to play an early bowl sport to allow them to already transfer on to subsequent season.
I like Memphis to win and canopy.
PICK: Memphis (-2.5) wins by greater than 2.5 factors
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Our Lady to win the CFP
Before you get too enthusiastic about this guess, let me clarify.
This just isn’t a guess made as a result of I feel Notre Dame is one of the best workforce within the postseason or can win the title. It’s a sport a few quantity and a scenario.
Notre Dame has Indiana within the first sport of the playoffs. The Fighting Irish have higher gamers than Indiana and over the course of 60 minutes they need to have the ability to put on down the Hooisers and win. I feel they most likely cowl the landing unfold, however that does not matter for this guess.
The Irish simply want one win.
A win would see Notre Dame face Georgia, which is with out its beginning quarterback. Georgia followers would say it is a good factor, however it’s not. No matter how a lot you attempt to justify that take, there is a purpose he is a backup and Carson Beck is beginning.
To additional my level, DraftKings has a prediction line for this sport with Notre Dame as the favourite!
Can the Dawgs rally round Gunner Stockton to win of their first playoff sport? Absolutely. But good luck discovering offense towards Notre Dame’s protection if you’re having hassle throwing the ball earlier than your quarterback will get picked off.
You get the purpose: Notre Dame can positively win that sport.
So now the Irish are within the semifinals to face considered one of three groups: Penn State, Boise State or SMU. It will most definitely be Penn State and that sport could be near a decide. At that time, you should utilize that +800 ticket to begin hedging if you’d like.
It’s a great guess to have within the pocket for the Irish with their CFP route.
SELECTION: Notre Dame (+800) to win the CFP
Geoff Schwartz is an NFL analyst for FOX Sports. He performed eight seasons within the NFL for 5 completely different groups. He began at proper deal with for the University of Oregon for 3 seasons and was a second-team All-Pac-12 choice his senior 12 months. Follow him on Twitter @Geoff Schwartz.
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