Bowls Are Here

With a soon-to-be-expanding playoff field now in place (starting in 2024), along with the recent rise in draft-related player opt outs, bowl season may not be as thrilling as it once was, but c'mon — who doesn't love extra college football? 😎

• The season is already in full swing, as we've been treated to 22 of the 42 total bowl games over the past two weeks. In case you've been wrapped up in holiday plans, here's a full look at the results so far

• While I've enjoyed watching the New Mexico Bowl and the Gasparilla Bowl as much as the next guy, I'll confess I'm itching for some matchups that are a bit more high-profile. Fortunately, this week promises to deliver on that front 🤞

Capped off by this weekend's two CFP semifinal matchups, we've got an absolutely loaded schedule of bowl action until then, with some of the nation's top teams playing all day, every day. Four games went down yesterday, and we've got another four-game slate today; take a look at the schedule 👇

• Military Bowl: UCF vs. Duke (2PM EST)

• Liberty Bowl: Kansas vs. Arkansas (5:30PM EST)

• Holiday Bowl: No. 15 Oregon vs. North Carolina (8PM EST)

• Texas Bowl: Texas Tech vs. Ole Miss (9PM EST)

Oddsmakers are expecting today's action to be quite competitive, as only the Holiday Bowl has a spread greater than 4 points. But interestingly enough, that's the game I'm looking forward to the most, largely due to one of the best head-to-head QB matchups we've seen all year ⬇️

Holiday Bowl Spotlight

The city of San Diego plays host to a battle between the PAC-12 and the ACC tonight, as the Oregon Ducks are set to take on the North Carolina Tar Heels in the Holiday Bowl. Here's how the lines are shaping up 👇

Holiday Bowl Betting Preview (subject to change)

• Spread: Oregon -13

• Moneyline: Oregon -500 (bet $550, win $100), UNC +375 (bet $100, win $375)

• O/U: 75

• When: 8PM EST on FOX

The 13-point spread is one of the largest among all of this year's bowl games, so at first glance this matchup may not profile as an intriguing one. But the big storyline here is the two quarterbacks, and if you want to see a pair of guys with a great chance of suiting up on Sunday within the next couple years, you've come to the right place 🍿

• The heavily-favored Ducks are led by the mercurial but uber-talented Bo Nix, the Auburn transfer who has put together the best season of his career, despite battling a foot injury...3,389 passing yards, 27 TDs and just six INTs

• The former five-star recruit might have garnered early round interest had he declared for the 2023 draft, but instead he'll return to Eugene for one more season, likely with some hardware on his mind 🏆

Nix will undoubtedly be a mainstay on any early Heisman watch lists for next season, and the same holds true for the QB he'll be facing off against tonight. Redshirt freshman Drake Maye's ascension this season into a potential top-five NFL draft pick has been nothing short of remarkable ⭐️

• In his first year as UNC's starter, Maye threw for 4,115 yards (4th in the nation) and 35 TDs (6th) while adding 653 more yards and seven more scores on the ground. He just missed out on a trip to New York as a Heisman finalist, but since he's ineligible for the next draft, there's a good chance we see him there in a year

• Not much was expected of Maye and the Tar Heels ahead of this season, but he led UNC to a 9-1 start that had them ranked No. 13 in the country and on the verge of playoff contention

Unfortunately, three straight losses since has put a bit of a damper on that hot start, and Maye has looked more human over that stretch. Can the young star end his season on a high note against arguably the toughest opponent he's faced yet?

• Regardless of the outcome, with these two quarterbacks slinging the rock around tonight, I'm expecting a fair share of highlight plays 😎

For My Parlay Gurus

The Tar Heels may be coming off an abysmal showing against Clemson in the ACC Championship, but while I expect Oregon to hand them a fourth straight loss tonight, I'm still buying into the Drake Maye magic a bit. I'm taking UNC to cover, and I'm also going with their Tobacco Road rival to take care of business in the Military Bowl earlier in the day. Check it out 👇

• UNC +13 vs. Oregon: -110

• Duke -3.5 vs. UCF: -110

$100 on this bet would win you $264 — if we hit, make sure you email [email protected] for a chance to win up to $100*. Many will enter, only some will win 😉

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