College Football Bowl Season Preview: 2 Best Bets to Consider

Bowl Season has arrived and with 1 game under our belt, the stretch run of games begins tonight! We finished off our College Football regular season up +25 units with 14% ROI and we are looking to add to that in the “postseason”.

I have targeted 2 games for the article that I feel very good about. Bowl season can be tricky, especially with the transfer portal allowed before bowls start. Wager wisely, and make sure to do your due diligence on opt-ins and opt-outs of these games!

James Madison Offense & Defense Dominates

James Madison lost their bowl game last season, and now they get a very good matchup ahead of them. Western Kentucky’s defense has not been particularly good this season in numerous areas. Ranked 111th in Third Down Conversion allowed, T75th in First Downs allowed, 130th in Rushing Yards allowed, T93rd in Yards Per Play allowed, and T98th QB Hits.

Needless to say this Western Kentucky defense, mind you is also missing some defensive pieces, is going to have a hard time stopping James Madison. Madison ranks 24th in the country in scoring 34 points per game, while also having a stout defense. They rank 27th in Scoring allowed, 18th in Third Down Conversion allowed, Top 37 in both Passing and Rushing Yards allowed, T15th in Yards Per Play, 7th in Turnovers created, and 4th in QB Hits.

Every single stat Western Kentucky is bad at on defense, James Madison dominates on defense. They have the better offense, the more talented athletes, and they should be able to win by margin if not more!

Defense Defense Defense

Look, I have been riding this South Carolina train, and I am going to stick with it one more time here. In their 5 road games, they stayed under 48 in 4 of 5, hitting 52 against Alabama. They lost that game 27-25, but when South Carolina wins this season, they hold opponents to 13.8 points per game.

Also in those 9 wins, they held 6 opponents under 14, and 4 under 9. Now they face an Illinois team that is ranked T77th in First Downs per game and average 29 Points per game. Illinois has lost their best wide receiver to the draft, which leaves them one man down on offense.

South Carolina is looking to stamp their foot on a fantastic season lead by Shane Beamer. When Illinois faced tougher defenses this season, Minnesota, Oregon, Michigan, Penn State, they scored a combined 40 points, for an average of 10 per game and 3 of those were under 9.

With no news of any defensive players leaving this South Carolina squad, I think they shut things down in this game. On the other side, Illinois defense ranks 39th in the country allowing just 22 per game so I don’t expect South Carolina to put up 30+ in this game. I do think South Carolina wins something like 24-14 or 21-17, I do think the game will be within 10 points.

My Best Bets (2):

James Madison -7 (-110)
South Carolina/Illinois Under 48 (-110)