College Football Bowl Season Gets Underway
Travis Wilson and Utah will look to close out a successful season with a win in the Las Vegas Bowl.
College football reaches the postseason proper on Saturday as bowl season gets underway.
Betting Sports brings you a rundown of the five games on today’s slate. Click through the applicable links to get the latest odds and trends.
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R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl
Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans, LA (11:00 a.m. ET)
Nevada vs. Louisiana-Lafayette
College football bowl season gets underway with a showdown between Nevada (7-5, 4-4 MWC) and
Louisiana-Lafayette (8-4, 7-1 Sun Belt) in the Big Easy.
Big West rivals for a fleeting moment back in the ‘90s, this will be only the second meeting between the two schools, and the first since 1995.
The Ragin’ Cajuns are pretty familiar with the Superdome, having played in the last three New Orleans Bowl games. The side has gone 3-0 during that stretch.
The Wolf Pack returns to bowl action after missing out last season. The side has now made a postseason appearance in nine of the last 10 seasons, but is just 2-6 in bowl play during that stretch.
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Gildan New Mexico Bowl
University Stadium, Albuquerque, NM (2:20 p.m. ET)
Utah State vs. UTEP
UTEP (7-5, 5-3 C-USA) will look to snap a five-game losing streak in bowl games when it contests the New Mexico Bowl against Utah State (9-4, 6-2 MWC) on Saturday afternoon.
The Miners haven’t won a bowl game since defeating Ole Miss in the Sun Bowl in 1967. While the side from El Paso, Texas, hasn’t exactly been a bowl mainstay, that’s still a pretty emphatic run of poor form.
The Aggies are coming off a solid season in the Mountain West, a season that saw the side come within one game of the conference championship game. They’ll be making a fourth consecutive bowl appearance and looking for a third straight win.
The Aggies defeated the Miners in the only two meetings between the schools (1960, 1961).
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Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl
Sam Boyd Stadium, Las Vegas, NV (3:30 p.m. ET)
No. 22 Utah vs. Colorado State
Former WAC and Mountain West rivals meet in Sin City Saturday as Utah (8-4, 5-4 Pac-12) faces Colorado State (10-2, 6-2 MWC) in the Las Vegas Bowl.
The Utes proved to be a force in the Pac-12, at least for a part of the season, and will have plenty to build on heading forward. Kyle Whittingham’s side would love to finish out the season with a win over an old rival. The Utes have won 10 of their last 11 bowl games, including two of three trips to the Las Vegas Bowl.
The Rams were another of the Mountain West’s frontrunners this season, finishing second in the Mountain Division to eventual conference champion Boise State. The reward was a second straight bowl game. The Rams will look to bring their bowl record up to .500 with a third straight postseason win.
Utah owns a 55-21-1 advantage in the all-time head-to-head rivalry. Prior to joining the Pac-12 in 2011, the Utes had won five straight head-to-head meetings.
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Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
Albertsons Stadium, Boise, ID (5:45 p.m. ET)
Western Michigan vs. Air Force
Air Force (9-3, 5-3 MWC) and Western Michigan (8-4, 6-2 MAC) meet for the first time ever Saturday evening, heading to Boise, Idaho, to contest the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.
With wins over Army and Navy this campaign, Air Force has plenty to be happy about. A bowl win would cap the season off perfectly. The Falcons missed out on bowl action for the first time in seven years a season ago. They’ll look to snap a two-game skid in postseason play when they take the field on Saturday.
Western Michigan proved a contender in the Mid-American Conference this season, but ultimately fell to the two teams that finished ahead in the West Division, including a final day loss to eventual conference champion Northern Illinois. The Broncos will now look to finish the year on a high note with a return to bowl action.
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Raycom Media Camellia Bowl
Cramton Bowl, Montgomery, AL (9:15 p.m. ET)
South Alabama vs. Bowling Green
Just six years into its football program, South Alabama (6-6, 5-3 Sun Belt) will take its bowl bow on Saturday night in Montgomery, Ala., facing Bowling Green State (7-6, 5-3 MAC) for the very first time.
The Jaguars became bowl eligible back on November 15, prior to higher-profile games against South Carolina and Navy. Joey Jones’ side – which only became an FBS school prior to the 2012 season – missed out on bowl action a season ago after finishing 6-6. The same didn’t happen this year, and now the school will look to earn an upset in its first ever postseason game, a game that also happens to be the first ever Camellia Bowl.
Bowling Green did just enough to win the MAC’s East Division this season, despite losing its last two games of the regular season, but was unraveled by Northern Illinois in the conference championship game. The Falcons will now look to close out the year with a win and snap a four-game bowl losing streak in the process.
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