Who Is College Football’s Best? Making Picks For New Year’s Six Bowls
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Welcome to The Slate, your home for college football picks at NESN.com. Here you can find our best bets to follow across (mostly) Saturdays in the fall. It’s bowl season!
Let’s talk bowl games, shall we?
We’ve spent the past four months making picks here, and all of the games we discussed have led to this point. It’s the week after Christmas, which means the heavy hitter bowl games are arriving and we want to talk about them.
Let’s get straight into it, with all odds coming from DraftKings Sportsbook.
FENWAY BOWL: SMU (-10) vs. Boston College
(Dec. 28, 11 a.m. ET on ESPN)
The Fenway Bowl is relatively new, with its second installment taking place this season, but it has quickly become a favorite of college football fans. It doesn’t hold a candle to the New Year’s Six games, but it’s certainly a fun environment.
This edition will see Boston College take on SMU, and though the Eagles are essentially hosting, this one is all about the Mustangs. They’ve got an electrifying offense that’ll put up a ton of points, so we’ll rock with the over in what should be a sloppy day at Fenway. We’ll have full coverage of the event at NESN.com.
The Pick: Over 47
COTTON BOWL: Ohio State (-3) vs. Missouri
(Dec. 29, 8 p.m. ET on ESPN)
It was hard getting a read on this game because it seemed as though Missouri would take it much more seriously than Ohio State. The Buckeyes aren’t rolling over, though.
Kyle McCord transferred from Ohio State to Syracuse, so Devin Brown will take over under center. He’s an unproven commodity, but the real key here for the Buckeyes is that their stars have practiced leading up to the game. If they go, this should be an easy win based off talent alone.
The Pick: Ohio State -3
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PEACH BOWL: Penn State (-4.5) vs. Ole Miss
(Dec. 30, 12 p.m. ET on ESPN)
This might be the most boring New Year’s Six game we’ve got on the schedule, so we’ll be quick.
Penn State can’t score the way they’d need to if they hoped to stay competitive. Ole Miss can put points up in a hurry, so we’ll take the better offense inside a dome.
The Pick: Ole Miss +4.5
ORANGE BOWL: Georgia (-18.5) vs. Florida State
(Dec. 30, 4 p.m. ET on ESPN)
Is Georgia going to try? That’s the only question we have because there’s no doubt Florida State has something to prove.
This is an easy pick, if not only for the fact that we couldn’t come up with anything else. The Bulldogs’ backups could score 30, while the Seminoles will pull out all the stops.
The Pick: Over 44.5
FIESTA BOWL: Oregon (-16) vs. Liberty
(Dec. 30, 4 p.m. ET on ESPN)
Oregon might score 100, even without Bo Nix.
The Pick: Oregon -16
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ROSE BOWL: Michigan (-1.5) vs. Alabama
(Dec. 31, 5 p.m. ET on ESPN)
Our last two picks are the College Football Playoff semifinal games, and this might just be the game of the year.
The Rose Bowl is perfect no matter who is playing, but many believe Alabama and Michigan are the two best teams in the country. The Crimson Tide have been soaring recently, while the Wolverines have dismantled just about everyone they’ve played. This will come down to experience, and Alabama certainly has the edge in that department with Nick Saban. We think they’ll go all the way and win it again, by the way.
The Pick: Alabama ML
SUGAR BOWL: Texas (-4) vs. Washington
(Dec. 31, 8:45 p.m. ET on ESPN)
If Alabama wins, we should all be rooting for Texas to meet them in the CFP National Championship at NRG Stadium in Houston. It would be poetic, and we always root for poetry around here.
Texas is also just the better team.
The Pick: Texas -4
Season Record: 38-32
