After a long and eventful college football regular season, the most wonderful time of the year is finally here. Bowl season might not be as essential across the college football landscape as it once was, but it still presents bettors with a plethora of games to handicap and wager on. The action continues on Wednesday with the Cure Bowl between Old Dominion and South Florida, and we also have the 68 Ventures Bowl between Louisiana and Delaware to keep us entertained.
With the first full weekday slate of bowl games upon us, it’s time to get into this Wednesday card with my best bets column. We have gotten back on track in the column with a 3-1 mark over the last 2 weeks, so let’s keep that momentum going into bowl season! Let’s take a look at my pair of CFB best bets for Wednesday, and you can also find out all of our expert CFB picks for the Bowl Season action.
CFB best bet: Old Dominion Monarchs ML over South Florida Bulls (+120)
Odds available at DraftKings Sportsbook at time of publishing. Playable to +110.
There has been a ton of shake-up on the South Florida side of things following the news that former head coach Alex Golesh was named the next head coach at Auburn. In addition to Golesh’s exit and the departure of nearly all of their offensive staff, the Bulls will also be without dual-threat quarterback Byrum Brown in this game. Brown is extremely valuable to everything that South Florida wants to do on offense, as he’s able to make plenty of plays with both his arms and his legs. particularly on late downs when the Bulls need him to bail them out and make a play.
In addition to Brown’s absence, there have also been a number of other opt-outs for South Florida, including 7 additional players on offense and 3 on defense. The Bulls offensive scheme is also going to be significantly impacted given the loss of Golesh and an offensive staff that was among the best in the Group of 5 this season. It also can’t be forgotten that South Florida ultimately came up short on its goal of qualifying for the College Football Playoff, and it’s hard to let go of the fact that this team was in clear position for the Group of 5 playoff spot less than 2 months ago. With that in mind, it would be fair to question the motivation of this Bulls team heading into what is essentially a meaningless game.
While I’m not exactly sure if South Florida wants to be playing in this game, the same can’t be said for Old Dominion on the other side. Yes, the Monarchs are going to be without starting quarterback Colton Joseph, but he’ll be replaced by freshman Quinn Henicle, who does have a start under his belt at the collegiate level. Old Dominion has yet to win a bowl game in head coach Ricky Rahne’s six-year tenure, and this game represents a good chance for the Monarchs to step into the limelight and win a game against a team that is coming off its best season in years.
Generally speaking, it’s smarter to try and pick a winner in bowl games that feature a ton of opt-outs and uncertainty. There is naturally a lot of variance that is being introduced to these games, and it’s hard for the market to accurately price that in one way or another. Therefore, when look to back a short underdog in a bowl game, it’s best to eschew the points and focus on the money line at a better price instead. In fact, over the last 2 years, the underdog in a bowl game has not just covered the number, but won outright as well. Let’s look for that trend to continue and take Old Dominion to knock off a shorthanded South Florida team on Wednesday.
Get our expert’s full Old Dominion vs South Florida prediction
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