College Football Best Bets: Picks & Analysis For The Bowl Games On Friday, December 30

The college football bowl game slate for Friday, December 30 is probably the best one yet, and we're giving you our best bets for all five of these games. The day will begin with a meeting between the Maryland Terrapins and NC State Wolfpack in the Duke's Mayo Bowl and it ends with an unbelievable showdown between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Clemson Tigers in the Capital One Orange Bowl. It just doesn't get much better than this for fans and bettors, so make sure you check out our favorite picks. A lot went into making these selections, including our predictive analytics and artificial intelligence. 

If you haven't already, you should consider signing up for DraftKings ➡️ here ⬅️ as you can turn a $5 pre-game moneyline bet on any game into a free $150 if your team wins. 

RELATED: College Football Bet Hub 

College Football Best Bets For The Friday, December 30 Bowl Games

Duke's Mayo Bowl: Maryland Terrapins vs. NC State Wolfpack - 12:00PM ET

It's a bit unclear why the Wolfpack aren't favored to win this game by a bit more. Whereas the Terps didn't beat any of their tougher opponents this year, the Wolfpack are fresh off a win over the North Carolina Tar Heels. And NC State won that game without star quarterback Devin Leary, who is out for the season and also transferred to Kentucky. Instead, it was Ben Finley under center for NC State. He is the younger brother of former Wolfpack star Ryan Finley. And the freshman threw for 271 yards with two touchdowns and no picks against the Tar Heels. 

With Finley now feeling pretty confident heading into the bowl game, we like NC State to go out and win this one. The Wolfpack were 15th in the nation in scoring defense this season, giving up just 19.4 points per game. With that in mind, we like their chances of slowing down Taulia Tagovailoa and the Terps. However, we aren't so sure about Maryland's defense holding up in this matchup — even against a mediocre offense. 

It's just hard to trust the Terps to win this game, as their most impressive win all year was probably a home victory over SMU. NC State is a little more battle-tested. 

BET: NC State +1.5 at -110 at DraftKings Sportsbook

🏈 Maryland vs. NC State Predictions
📈 Betting preview: Maryland vs. NC State

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Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl: Pittsburgh Panthers vs. UCLA Bruins - 2:00PM ET

It's not fun backing the Under in UCLA games, as Chip Kelly's teams are known for having explosive offenses. And the Bruins did get themselves involved in a lot of shootouts this season. However, it's very important to pay attention to who they're playing against, as the Panthers have no interest in letting this game play out like that. 

Pittsburgh is going to do everything in its power to make this an ugly game, and the team will do that by leaning on the ground game and employing a bend-don't-break approach on the other side of the ball. If this one ends up going Over the total, it likely means that the Panthers got blown out. And Pittsburgh head coach Pat Narduzzi is smart enough to realize that. 

The Under is actually 5-1 in games Pittsburgh has played on a neutral field under Narduzzi. It's also 7-5 in the 12 non-conference games that UCLA has played under Kelly. 

BET: Under 53.5 at -110 at DraftKings Sportsbook

🏈 Pittsburgh vs. UCLA Predictions
📈 Betting preview: Pittsburgh vs. UCLA

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TaxSlayer Gator Bowl: Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. South Carolina Gamecocks - 3:30PM ET

In one of the most underrated matchups of bowl season, we're rolling with the Gamecocks in their meeting with the Fighting Irish. Both of these teams were excellent to end the season, with Notre Dame going 5-1 straight-up in its final six games and South Carolina going 7-2 SU in its last nine. These weren't stretches in which the teams faced poor competition either. Notre Dame earned a win over Clemson on November 5, while South Carolina defeated Tennessee and Clemson in its final two games of the year. 

The reason we lean towards the Gamecocks in this one is because the Fighting Irish will not have quarterback Drew Pyne or star tight end Michael Mayer here. Pyne decided to transfer to Arizona State a few weeks ago, while Mayer is beginning his preparation for the 2023 NFL Draft. Without those two, it's just hard to even imagine how Notre Dame will score. Those two were the most important players for the offense, by far. 

South Carolina also lost some key transfers, but Spencer Rattler remains under center. He was scorching hot to end the season, throwing for 11 touchdowns and only two picks in his final four games. He also rushed for a touchdown in one of them. Rattler has been a polarizing player throughout his career, but he appears to have figured things out. That makes it hard not to like the Gamecocks against an undermanned Fighting Irish team. 

BET: South Carolina +2.5 at -110 at DraftKings Sportsbook

🏈 Notre Dame vs. South Carolina Predictions
📈 Betting preview: Notre Dame vs. South Carolina

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Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl: Ohio Bobcats vs. Wyoming Cowboys - 4:30PM ET

Under head coach Craig Bohl, Wyoming is 3-1 SU and 4-0 against the spread in bowl games. The Cowboys are also 5-2 both SU and ATS when facing MAC competition in that span. With that in mind, it's just easy to make the decision to back Wyoming in this spot. It also doesn't hurt that Ohio is 0-2 ATS in non-conference games under head coach Tim Albin. 

Wyoming had its struggles offensively this season, but the team should be able to find some success on the ground in this one. Ohio gave up 240 rushing yards against Toledo in its last game, and that was the fourth time this season that the Bobcats allowed at least 200 yards on the ground. Meanwhile, Wyoming should be able to slow down the Ohio offense here. The Cowboys gave up 20 or fewer points in five straight games before giving up 30 against a very good Fresno State team in its final game. 

BET: Wyoming +1.5 at -110 at DraftKings Sportsbook

🏈 Ohio vs. Wyoming Predictions
📈 Betting preview: Ohio vs. Wyoming

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Capital One Orange Bowl: Tennessee Volunteers vs. Clemson Tigers - 8:00PM ET

Clemson's season might have been extremely different if the team had opted to start quarterback Cade Klubnik over D.J. Uiagalelei. The latter just never truly found his footing, and he is now going to try and revive his career at Oregon State. Meanwhile, Klubnik delivered in a big way whenever he was called into action, and he looks like the next true Clemson star. And we're expecting the talented young player to go out and shred Tennessee's defense in this one. 

Considering we expect big things out of Klubnik, it shouldn't be hard to figure out why we like the Tigers here. The Volunteers won't have star quarterback Hendon Hooker out there in this one, as he tore his ACL against South Carolina earlier in the year. And without Hooker, the Vols will have a hard time keeping pace with the Tigers on offensively. With Clemson also having the stronger defense of the two teams, how can you not back Dabo Swinney's squad? 

BET: Clemson -5 at DraftKings Sportsbook

🏈 Tennessee vs. Clemson Predictions
📈 Betting preview: Tennessee vs. Clemson

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College Football Playoff Previews: 

TCU vs. Michigan

Ohio State vs. Georgia