Sign In $
College Football

Saturday’s Late Bowl Tips

VegasInsider Staff
VegasInsider Staff Sports Betting Expert
11 minute read
Editor's Note: Don't miss out on college football winners this season from Joe Williams on VegasInsider.com. Click to win!

Camellia Bowl (ESPN, 5:30 p.m. ET)

Florida International vs. Arkansas State

Camellia Bowl Betting History

-- The Florida International Golden Panthers (6-6 straight up, 4-8 against the spread) of Conference USA will take on the Arkansas State Red Wolves (7-5 straight up, 5-7 against the spread) from the Sun Belt Conference in the Camellia Bowl in Montgomery, Ala. in the Cramton Bowl.

-- The Golden Panthers are bowling for a school-record third straight season under the leadership of head coach Butch Davis. They are 2-2 overall in their four previous bowl games, having won the 2010 Little Caesars Pizza Bowl over Toledo in 2010, while losing the Beef O' Brady's Bowl to Marshall in 2011, both under Mario Cristobal, now at Oregon. They lost the Gasparilla Bowl to Temple in 2017 under Davis, before rebounding with a 35-32 last season in the Bahamas Bowl, again over Toledo.

-- FIU barely qualified for the postseason, but a big late victory turned their season. They started out 1-3 SU/0-4 ATS, with only a win over FCS New Hampshire in the first four games. They throttled Massachusetts 44-0 on Oct. 5, a common theme for most teams this season, to get their first win against an FBS team. They followed that up with their first conference win of the season Oct. 12 against Charlotte, a bowl team, while running their record to 4-3 SU on Oct. 19 with another C-USA win over Texas-El Paso. However, a 50-17 humbling at Middle Tennessee, and a 37-7 whitewashing on the road against rival Florida Atlantic had them in another 0-4 ATS tailspin, and a 5-5 SU hole heading into Nov. 23 against Miami-Florida. However, they stunned the Hurricanes 30-24 at Marlins Park for one of the biggest, if not the biggest, wins in school history to attain bowl eligibility before a 30-27 overtime loss at Marshall in the season finale. FIU ended the season 6-1 SU at home, but 0-5 SU on the road, something to remember here.

-- The Red Wolves wer beaten by SMU in their opener, 37-30, and they lost to another bowl team Georgia, 55-0, on Sept. 14 at Sanford Stadium in Athens. They rattled off two wins in a row against FCS Southern Illinois and at Troy, but fell to a pair of bowl teams, Georgia State and Louisiana, to go back under .500. However, a four-game win streak against Texas State, Louisiana-Monroe, Coastal Carolina and Georgia Southern meant they were bowl again, although they enter this game on a losing streak after a 34-30 failure in Mobile against a bad South Alabama side.

-- Ark State has posted a 3-6 SU record in FBS bowl games, falling in the past two appearances. They lost to Nevada in the Arizona Bowl last season by a 16-13 score in overtime, and against Middle Tennessee by a 35-30 count in their only previous appearance in the Camellia Bowl. They're also 0-2 SU in two previous showings in a bowl game against C-USA teams, falling 31-19 to Southern Miss in the 2005 New Orleans Bowl, too.

 -- Offensively, the Red Wolves were strong, especially in the pass game. They ranked 44th in the nation with 432.2 total yards per game, and 14th with 305.3 passing yards per contest. Rushing, they're a dismal 110th with 126.8 yards per contest, but it all equated to 33.7 points per game to rank 31st. Defensively, ugh, the Red Wolves were 127th in the country with 481.9 total yards per game, and 104th against the pass (257.3), 123rd against the run (224.6) and they allowed 34.8 points per game to rank 117th.

-- FIU's strength is against the pass, ranking sixth in the country with just 178.5 pass yards allowed per game. That's because their rush defense was atrocious, allowing 205.1 yards per game on the ground to rank 111th. Overall they allowed 26.7 points per game to check in 61st. Offensively, FIU was balanced, although not in a good way. They ranked 97th with 371.3 total yards per game, 91st in pass yards (203.5), 61st in rushing (167.8) and 84th in points score (26.5).

-- The Golden Panthers are 7-2 ATS in the past nine against winning teams, but they're just 1-5-1 ATS in the past seven neutral-site games. They're 11-5 ATS in the past 16 as an underdog, too.

-- The Red Wolves are 1-5 ATS in the past six non-conference games, while going 1-4 ATS in the past five neutral-site affairs. They're also 1-4 ATS in the past five bowl games, while also going 1-5 ATS in the past six vs. C-USA teams.

-- FIU has hit the over in five of the past six against winning teams, while going 5-2 in their past seven as an underdog.

-- For Ark State, the over is 5-2 in their past seven as a favorite, but the under is 4-1 in the past five games in December, and 36-17-1 in the previous 54 non-conference tilts.

-- These teams have a history, as they were each previously SBC members together. The favorite is 4-0 ATS in the past four meetings, with the under cashing in five in a row.

Las Vegas Bowl (ABC, 7:30 p.m.)

Boise State vs. Washington

Las Vegas Bowl Betting History

-- The Mitsubishi Motors Las Vegas Bowl will pits the Boise State Broncos (12-1 straight up, 7-5-1 against the spread) from the Mountain West Conference and the Washington Huskies (7-5 straight up, 7-5 against the spread) of the Pac-12 Conference at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas (technically Whitney, Nev.).

-- The game marks the final one for head coach Chris Petersen at Washington, and it comes against the program where he made a name for himself in Boise. He went 92-12 across eight seasons with the Broncos from 2006-13 before taking the gig with the Huskies in 2014.

-- Boise State has an interesting bowl history, and they'll likely be glad to be back in the fair weather of Las Vegas. They were trailing 7-0 with 5:08 to go in the first quarter last season in the First Responder Bowl before the remainder of the game was cancelled due to inclement/severe weather, with the bowl designated a no contest.

-- The Broncos will be making their fifth appearance in the Las Vegas bowl, previously named the Maaco Bowl. These teams met in bowl game on Dec. 22, 2012, with the Broncos coming away with a 28-26 win under Petersen. In their four previous appearances the Broncos are 4-0 with wins over Utah (2010), Arizona State (2011), Washington (2012) and Oregon (2017). Overall they're 12-6 SU in their previous 18 FBS bowl appearances dating back to Dec. 30, 1999.

-- The Huskies have dropped three bowl games in a row under Petersen, and they're 1-4 SU across their five appearances under his leadership. They're also just 5-13 SU in their past 18 bowl games after a 10-3 SU run from 1978-92 under Don James.

-- Boise State ranks 38th with 441.5 total yards per game, and they're 35th in passing yards (267.4) while ranking 52nd in rushing yards (174.2). The Broncos are also 14th in the nation with 36.8 points per game. Defensively they rank 35th with 347.5 total yards per game allowed, while clamping down against the rush with 113.1 yards per contest allowed. They also gave up just 20.6 PPG to check in 24th.

-- Freshman QB Hank Bachmeier (shoulder) is a question mark due to a shoulder injury, but QB Chase Cord and QB Jaylon Henderson have proven to be more than capable, if/when needed. Henderson started four games, passing for 1,032 yards and 11 touchdowns with just two interceptions, while Cord cut the mustard, too. He appearance in eight games, throwing for 670 yards, nine touchdowns and just three intereceptions while also running for 100 yards and two scores. RB George Holani, also a freshman, rolled up a team-best 979 rushing yards with seven touchdowns

-- Washington was a mediocre 73rd in total yards per game (397.3), while ranking 55th in passing yards (245.1), 76th in rushing yards (152.2) and 47th in points scored (31.5) per game Defensively they allowed 358.3 total yards per outing to rank 39th, while checking in 64th against the pass (225.1) and 33rd against the run (133.3). They also allowed 20.4 points per game to finish 23rd in the land.

-- Boise State is 7-0 ATS in their past seven games as an underdog, while going 5-1 ATS in the past six as a bowl underdog. They're also 7-3 ATS in the past 10 bowl games overall, and 9-4 ATS in their past 13 neutral-site battles.

-- Washington is 6-2 ATS in the past eight as a favorite, and 4-1 ATS in the past five non-conference tilts. However, they're just 1-4 ATS in the past five bowl games and 1-4 ATS in the past five neutral-site affairs.

New Orleans Bowl (ESPN, 9:00 p.m.)

Appalachian State vs. Alabama-Birmingham

New Orleans Bowl Betting History

-- The R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl features the Sun Bowl champion Appalachian State Mountaineers (12-1 straight up, 9-4 against the spread) against the Alabama-Birmingham Blazers (9-4 straight up, 7-6 against the spread) at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, La.

-- The Mountaineers had a tremendous season, including wins on the road against Power 5 teams North Carolina and South Carolina. They head to New Orleans looking for a 13-win season, and they'll also be looking to stay unbeaten in bowl games. They are 4-0 SU in two Camellia Bowl appearances, a Dollar General Bowl appearance and a 45-13 dismantling of Middle Tennessee in last season's New Orleans Bowl.

-- The only blemish on App State's record was a 24-21 loss on Halloween night agaisnt Georgia Southern. Since then they won five in a row, covering four of those outings. That run includes the win over South Carolina, as well as a 56-27 at Georgia State (a bowl team), and a 45-38 win over Louisiana (also a bowl team) in the Sun Belt title game. Overall the Mountaineers beat bowl teams Charlotte, North Carolina, Louisiana (twice) and Georgia State.

-- For the Blazers, they're a heavy underdog after getting demolished by Florida Atlantic (a bowl team) in the Conference USA title game in Boca Raton, Fla., essentially a road game. They have QB Tyler Johnston III (knee) on the injury report due to a knee injury. He led the team with 1,949 passing yards in 2019.

-- UAB fell 49-6 to FAU in the title game, splashing cold water on a 3-0 SU/2-1 ATS run to close out the regular season, including a 20-14 win over bowl team Lousiana Tech. They had a rare over in the C-USA title game, too, as they closed out the regular season on a 4-1 'under' run.

-- The Blazers struggled offensively, ranking 105th in total yards per game (352.9), 101st in passing yards (193.4) and 68th in rushing yards (159.5) while posting 23.6 PPG to rank 100th in the country. Defensively the Blazers had it on lockdown most of the season, allowing just 295.2 yards per game to rank eighth, while checking in 14th against the pass (186.8) and 13th against the rush (108.3). They also allowed just 20.8 points per game to rank 26th in the nation.

-- For App State, they ranked 42nd in total yards (435.5) while ranking 87th in passing yards (206.3) and 17th in rushing yards (229.2). Overall, they scored 39.4 points per game to finish ninth in the nation. Defensively, the Mountaineers were solid across the board, ranking 26th in total yards (335.9), 30th in passing yards (199.7), 37th in rushing yards (136.2) and 22nd in points (20.2) allowed per game.

-- The Mountaineers are led by SBC offensive player of the year RB Darrytnon Evans, who posted 1,323 yards on the ground while posting a total of 17 touchdowns.

-- App State is 8-1 ATS in the past nine non-conference battles, 5-1 ATS in the past six against teams with a winning record and 22-8 ATS in the past 30 overall. They're also 17-8 ATS in the past 25 as a favorite.

-- UAB is 2-5 ATS in the past seven against teams with a winning record while going 1-4 ATS in the past five as an underdog.

-- App State has hit the over in seven of the past eight against winning teams while going 6-2 in the past eight non-conference battles.

-- The under is 9-4 in UAB's past 13 against winning teams, and 10-3 in their past 13 as an underdog. The over is 4-1 in the past five appearances in December, while the over is 8-3 in their past 11 against SBC foes.

College Football News

VegasInsider Staff

VegasInsider Staff

More from VegasInsider Staff
•