Bowl Game Picks 2022
I had two bets last weekend- Akron +11.5, which hit easily, and Utah to win the Pac-12 +240 which hit as well. The Utah win put me back into the black for the year. I am very happy to have made it back into positive territory- after my disastrous week 1, I thought I was going to be spending the whole season in the red.
Preseason: -5.71 units
Week 0: -1.5 units
Week 1: -12.86 units
Week 2: +5.87 units
Week 3: +1.66 units
Week 4: +5.44 units
Week 5: +4.14 units
Week 6: -0.96 units
Week 7: -4.47 units
Week 8: -2.27 units
Week 9: -0.55 units
Week 10: +9.36 units
Week 11: -0.72 units
Week 12: -3.18 units
Week 13: +8.00 units
Week 14: +0.91 units
2022 Total: +3.16 units
Houston vs. Louisiana (Independence Bowl, December 23rd, 2 PM Central)
Houston has been a weird team this year. They got a lot of hype in the preseason as a dark horse playoff contender and they showed it at times, like in a 42-3 win over East Carolina. However, they also put up some shocking defensive performances, allowing 77 to SMU and letting Temple and Tulsa into the 30s. The fact remains that they have massively more talent than Louisiana though, and I think they will win easily in a high scoring affair.
Houston -6.5 -115 (3 units)
Wyoming vs. Ohio (Arizona Bowl, December 30th, 3:30 PM Central)
Ohio made it to the MAC title game once again, and lost once again. The Bobcats still have not won a conference title since the 1960s, although just getting to the championship game was an achievement for the Bobcats given how bad they were in Tim Albin’s first year. Wyoming is a pretty fraudulent 7-5, the Cowboys only made it to a bowl by scraping past some bad Colorado State and Hawai’i teams. I think the Mountain West as a whole is pretty bad this year and think Ohio should be a decent favorite here.
Ohio -1 -110 (3 units)
Minnesota vs. Syracuse (Pinstripe Bowl, December 29th, 1 PM Central)
Minnesota rocketed into the top 10 of my ratings back in October before a losing skid to Purdue and Illinois. I do still have the Gophers in my top 25 though- far above a Syracuse team that looked absolutely awful from Halloween onwards. I think that the Syracuse we’ve seen in the last few weeks is a lot more representative of the Orange than the squad that dashed off to a 6-0 start, Minnesota should roll here.
Minnesota -7.5 -110 (2 units)
Florida State vs. Oklahoma (Cheez-It Bowl, December 29th, 4:30 PM Central)
These are two proud programs who are feeling very differently about their seasons. Florida State has a ton of room for optimism and should be the favorites to win the ACC next year. Oklahoma had their worst year since the 90s and might be entering the SEC in 2024 on the shakiest footing the program has been on this millennium. I’ve been a buyer of Florida State all season and will continue to do so here with a small play on the Seminoles.
Florida State -7 -105 (1 unit)