College Football Best Bets: Picks & Analysis For The Bowl Games On Thursday, December 29

The Thursday, December 29 college football bowl game slate features some huge programs, and we're giving you best bets for all three of these games. That includes a massive showdown between the Texas Longhorns and Washington Huskies in the Valero Alamo Bowl. Two of these games have very high point totals, so it'll be interesting to see whether or not we get some shootouts here. Some high-scoring games would certainly make for a pleasurable viewing experience, and we're on the Over in two of these game. So, shootouts could also add to our bankrolls a bit. These picks were very profitable for us during the regular season and we're confident we can continue providing winners the rest of the way. 

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College Football Best Bets For The Thursday, December 29 Bowl Games

Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl: Syracuse Orange vs. Minnesota Golden Gophers - 2:00PM ET

It was a tale of two seasons for Syracuse, which started the year 6-0 and then went 1-5 in its final six games. With that in mind, it makes sense that the oddsmakers — and bettors — would be down on the Orange entering this meeting with the Golden Gophers, who went 4-1 in their final five games. But this is essentially a home game for Syracuse, with this one being played at Yankee Stadium. And even with the Orange falling apart down the stretch, it's a little hard to envision P.J. Fleck's team winning by double digits here. 

Losing defensive coordinator Tony White to Nebraska before this game is a blow to Syracuse's defense, but interim Nick Monroe has had a lot of time to prepare for a Minnesota offense that isn't all that hard to stop. He has also had input from the legendary Rocky Long, who will take over as the Orange's defensive coordinator next year. As long as Syracuse's defense doesn't turn in a complete dud, this should be a relatively straightforward cover. 

Minnesota's defense is definitely tough to score on, as the Golden Gophers were tied for third in the league in scoring defense. But Syracuse should find a little bit of success on the ground, even without star running back Sean Tucker. 

Syracuse is also an impressive 9-0 against the spread when facing defenses that allow 17.0 or fewer points per game under Dino Babers. That's hard to ignore here. 

BET: Syracuse +9.5 at -110 at DraftKings Sportsbook

🏈 Syracuse vs. Minnesota Predictions
📈 Betting preview: Syracuse vs. Minnesota

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Cheez-It Bowl: Oklahoma Sooners vs. Florida State Seminoles - 5:30PM ET

Four of the final six games that Florida State played to end the year went Over the total, and the Seminoles also scored 41 or more points in four of the last five games they played. This is just an extremely explosive offense, with Jordan Travis' dual-threat ability at the quarterback position being a big reason for that. Now, Florida State faces an Oklahoma team that gave up at least 40 points in five games this season. With that in mind, we see this being an extremely high-scoring game, no matter who ends up winning. After all, Oklahoma averaged 32.9 points per game on its own this season. 

Considering we're expecting something of a lack of defense in this game, it's just really hard not to play the Over in this one. This number is definitely a little high, but it's nothing that should scare you off.

Over the last three seasons, the Over is also 6-0 when Florida State is coming off a bye. And this is a bye week on steroids, as the Seminoles have had weeks to prepare for this opponent. With that in mind, we expect Florida State to come correct offensively. And the same should be expected out of Oklahoma, which also has one of the best offensive minds in the country at offensive coordinator in Jeff Lebby. 

BET: Over 65.5 at -110 at DraftKings Sportsbook

🏈 Oklahoma vs. Florida State Predictions
📈 Betting preview: Oklahoma vs. Florida State

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Valero Alamo Bowl: Texas Longhorns vs. Washington Huskies - 9:00PM ET

This game is a lot like the second one to us. The total might seem high to some bettors, but anybody that watched these teams during the regular season knows they're capable of lighting up the scoreboard. Washington actually comes into this game after back-to-back games in which the team scored 51+ points. Meanwhile, Texas has scored at least 34 points in four of its last five. 

The Huskies have an excellent quarterback in Michael Penix Jr., and they run a fast-paced spread offense. That's going to be hard for the Longhorns to stop, but it's also something that quarterback Quinn Ewers and a Steve Sarkisian-coached team are capable of keeping up with. This genuinely feels like a game in which we could see both teams right around the 40-point mark, which is why it's an easy decision for us to back the Over. 

BET: Over 66.5 at -110 at DraftKings Sportsbook

🏈 Texas vs. Washington Predictions
📈 Betting preview: Texas vs. Washington