After a week off of college football picks, it’s time to go bowling! Yes, that is yours truly in the picture. And before you criticize my two-finger technique, I did bowl a 277 that way.
I know many “experts” buy into theories of motivation, letdowns, etc. when handicapping bowl games. While I’m not going to denounce this type of handicapping completely, you can color me skeptical (full disclosure: I have *not* done any empirical analysis of motivation or other situational factors relating to bowl games).
As always, our picks are based solely on Massey-Peabody ratings, and do not include injuries, weather, or matchup factors (or perceived motivation). Lines are widely available as of midnight EST on Monday night.
Big Plays (23-13 YTD)
- UCF +16.5 vs. Baylor [MP= +7.2]
- Colorado State +4 vs. Washington State [MP= -1.8]
- Bowling Green -5 vs. Pittsburgh [MP= -12.4]
Other Plays (27-35-1 YTD)
- Fresno State +6 vs. USC [MP= +0.5]
- Cincinnati +3 vs. North Carolina [MP= -2.5]
- Ohio State -2.5 vs. Clemson [MP= -7.4]
MP Leans (23-23 YTD)
- Middle Tennessee +6 vs. Navy [MP= +1.9]
- Marshall -2.5 vs. Maryland [MP= -6.6]
- Alabama -15 vs. Oklahoma [MP= -19.7]
Massey-Peabody Lines on remaining bowl games:
- San Diego State -0.5 vs. Buffalo
- Louisiana-Lafayette -3.6 vs. Tulane
- East Carolina -17.2 vs. Ohio
- Boise State -1.4 vs. Oregon State
- Utah State -1.4 vs. Northern Illinois
- Minnesota -4.7 vs. Syracuse
- Washington -1.1 vs. BYU
- Notre Dame -14.2 vs. Rutgers
- Louisville -5.1 vs. Miami (FL)
- Kansas State -0.9 vs. Michigan
- Ole Miss -2.3 vs. Georgia Tech
- Oregon -10.2 vs. Texas
- Arizona State -11.5 vs. Texas Tech
- Arizona -7.3 vs. Boston College
- UCLA -5.3 vs. Virginia Tech
- Mississippi State -9.4 vs. Rice
- Texas A&M -14.7 vs. Duke
- Georgia -12.8 vs. Nebraska
- North Texas -4.2 vs. UNLV
- Wisconsin -0.9 vs. South Carolina
- LSU -10.5 vs. Iowa
- Stanford -4.0 vs. Michigan State
- Oklahoma State -3.9 vs. Missouri
- Vanderbilt -2.3 vs. Houston
- Ball State -6.5 vs. Arkansas State
- Florida State -13.6 vs. Auburn
