ARKANSAS vs TCU
When: 12/31/2020 8:00 PM
Where:

TV: 8:00 PM
LINE: -5.5
PREDICTION: TCU , ARKANSAS

Oddsmakers currently have the TCU listed as -5.5 point favorites versus the ARKANSAS, while the game’s total is sitting at 57.

Arkansas brings an unsightly 3-7 record and a four-game losing skid into the Texas Bowl to face TCU on New Year’s Eve in Houston.

Razorbacks coach Sam Pittman isn’t making any apologies.

“We’ll always have folks who will say we were 3-7 and things of that nature. If you look at our schedule and look — obviously we played 10 SEC games, certainly played four I think of the top nine teams in the country,” said Pittman, whose three wins were against Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Tennessee.

Teams did not need a winning record or a minimum number of victories this season to be eligible for a bowl due to the uncertainty of COVID-19.

The Horned Frogs (6-4), winners of three straight and five of their last six games, last faced the Razorbacks when they split a home-and-home series from 2016-17. TCU’s winning streak includes a 29-22 victory over then-No. 15 Oklahoma State on Dec. 5.

The Texas Bowl will mark the Frogs’ ninth game out of 11 played in Texas this season.

“Most of our kids are very excited, even the Louisiana kids because this is going to be an opportunity for their families to come watch them play,” TCU coach Gary Patterson said. “If it would have been somewhere out of state, going west or really further east, it would have been harder for them to do that.”

Former Florida quarterback Feleipe Franks is a big reason why Arkansas won its three games this season and lost three others — to Auburn, LSU and Missouri — by a combined seven points.

Franks has revived his career at Arkansas after suffering a gruesome ankle injury with the Gators in the third game of last season.

“A game here and there, we were in every game and we were competing and we did a good job with that,” said Franks, who was the 2018 Peach Bowl MVP with Florida. “I think the program is turned around and definitely headed in the right direction with Coach Pittman and all of the staff and everybody did a great job of getting the program going in the right direction.”

He has thrown for 2,107 yards at a 68.5 percent completion rate with 17 touchdowns and only four interceptions.

While other NFL prospects are opting out of bowls, Franks said he will play in the Texas Bowl.

“I feel like it’s just my duty,” he said. “Not necessarily my duty, but for me, I want to stay and I want to finish the season out. I want to finish what I started.”

TCU’s running game dictates its performances.

It leads the Big 12 at 216.0 rushing yards per game. The Horned Frogs are 6-0 when running for at least 200 yards. They have averaged 275.0 yards per game rushing in their six wins and 124.3 in the four losses.

Quarterback Max Duggan leads TCU in rushing with 526 yards and 10 touchdowns. He has completed 146 of 240 passes for 1,795 yards with 10 touchdowns and four interceptions.

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AUBURN vs NORTHWESTERN
When: 1/1/2021 1:00 PM
Where:

TV: 1:00 PM
LINE: -3.5
PREDICTION: NORTHWESTERN , AUBURN

Oddsmakers currently have the NORTHWESTERN listed as -3.5 point favorites versus the AUBURN, while the game’s total is sitting at 43.5.

Eleven years to the day after facing off in a thrilling bowl game, the Auburn Tigers and No. 14 Northwestern Wildcats meet again on New Year’s Day in the Citrus Bowl at Orlando, Fla.

The teams played in the 2010 Outback Bowl, with the Tigers pulling out a 38-35 overtime victory. Current Kansas City Chiefs quarterbacks coach Mike Kafka completed 47 of 78 passes for 532 yards with four touchdowns and five interceptions for the Wildcats.

Northwestern scored two touchdowns in the final four minutes to tie the game, but the Tigers’ Wes Byrum kicked a 21-yard field goal in OT and the Wildcats were unable to equalize. Auburn went on to win the national championship the following season.

This year, the Wildcats (6-2) enter the bowl game coming off a 22-10 loss to No. 3 Ohio State in the Big Ten championship game. Northwestern led the Buckeyes 10-6 at the half, but three second-half turnovers and a tired defense gave way to a potent Ohio State rushing attack.

“We just didn’t make the plays we needed to make down the stretch in the fourth quarter to be Big Ten champions,” Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald said. “But to have the opportunity to represent the Big Ten in Orlando, we are ecstatic.”

The Tigers (6-4) haven’t played since Dec. 12, and in that time they fired head coach Gus Malzahn and hired Boise State head coach Bryan Harsin.

Defensive coordinator Kevin Steele has stepped into the interim head-coaching role for the bowl game.

“These guys have been resilient,” Steele said. “They’ve shown a lot of character, leadership and just the ability to adapt. We’ve actually had an additional bump in the road that we had a change at the top for us, which is something that’s hard on a football program. And so we’re going through that.”

Both teams have their conference’s freshman of the year.

Auburn running back Tank Bigsby was selected the Southeastern Conference’s top freshman after rushing for 834 yards on 138 carries in 10 games. He added 300 kick-return yards and 84 receiving yards for 1,218 all-purpose yards.

Northwestern safety Brandon Joseph won the Freshman of the Year award for the Big Ten, the first strictly defensive player to win the award since Deion Barnes in 2012. Joseph leads the nation with six interceptions.

The game will also be the last in the career of Northwestern’s defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz, who would reach 400 career wins if the Wildcats win the Citrus Bowl.

Hankwitz started his coaching career at his alma mater of Michigan and served as the defensive coordinator for Arizona, Western Michigan, Colorado, Kansas State, Texas A&M and Wisconsin before being hired by Fitzgerald before the 2008 season.

Hankwitz is a finalist for the Broyles Award, which goes to the best assistant coach in the country, and Fitzgerald believes Northwestern’s success on defense starts and ends with Hankwitz.

“You look at my head coaching career here and our success, I mean Mike Hankwitz is in the DNA, the fabric, the architect, take whatever you want to say,” Fitzgerald said. “I’m just so grateful for him.”

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NOTRE DAME vs ALABAMA
When: 1/1/2021 4:00 PM
Where:

TV: 4:00 PM
LINE: -19.5
PREDICTION: ALABAMA , NOTRE DAME

Oddsmakers currently have the ALABAMA listed as -19.5 point favorites versus the NOTRE DAME, while the game’s total is sitting at 65.5.

It’s a huge mismatch on paper and No. 4 Notre Dame can only hope it doesn’t lead to another bad memory when it takes on No. 1 Alabama in the College Football Playoff semifinal on Jan. 1 at Arlington, Texas.

The powerful Crimson Tide, who have topped 50 points in each of the past three games, are overwhelming 19 1/2-point favorites in the contest, also known as the Rose Bowl after the game was moved from Pasadena to the Dallas area due to California’s COVID-19 protocols.

When the teams last met eight seasons ago in the BCS title game, Alabama trampled the Fighting Irish by scoring the first 35 points of a 42-14 romp. The Crimson Tide pummeled Notre Dame in the trenches, leading to a 265-32 edge in rushing yardage.

“We’re much better prepared than we were in 2012 in terms of the physicality on both lines,” Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said on a video call. “I think we have the ability to move the football, certainly.”

Notre Dame (10-1) doesn’t want to get into a shootout with the Crimson Tide, but it did top 40 points six times this season.

Its defense, which ranks 14th in scoring defense (18.6 points per game), was superb early in the season by limiting five of the first six opponents to 13 or fewer points. But it sprung many leaks down the stretch by allowing more than 30 in three of the last five games, including a 34-10 whipping at the hands of Clemson in last Saturday’s ACC title game.

“We’ve been humbled about the way we play,” said Kelly, “and this team has always come back with a resilience and an edge about them, and they will against Alabama.”

The Crimson Tide (11-0) topped 50 six times and averaged 49.7 points — second-best nationally — while being led by a trio of big-time performers.

DeVonta Smith has the opportunity to be the first receiver to win the Heisman Trophy since Michigan’s Desmond Howard in 1991. He has 98 receptions for 1,511 yards and 17 touchdowns. During last Saturday’s 52-46 win over Florida in the SEC title game, Smith (3,620 yards) passed Amari Cooper (3,463 from 2012-14) as Alabama’s all-time leader in receiving yardage.

Quarterback Mac Jones also is in the Heisman mix and has thrown for 3,739 yards and 32 touchdowns against four interceptions. Najee Harris has rushed for 1,262 yards and 24 touchdowns and also has three receiving scores.

“We’ve certainly been very productive on offense,” Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban said on a video call. “This has been an unusual year for a lot of teams but I think our players have stayed focus on the right things amid a lot of abnormal things.”

The offensive fireworks aren’t just limited to the current season. Alabama has scored 35 or more points in a major-college record 24 consecutive games since losing to Clemson 44-16 in the CFP title game to end the 2018 season.

The Crimson Tide are 22-2 during the stretch but Saban isn’t much interested in hearing about how the semifinal matchup with Notre Dame is going to be some type of easy stroll in the park.

“I know they have a really good team,” Saban said on ESPN. “I know have a really good quarterback. They have a tough defense. They have some skilled guys who can make plays.

“You don’t win 10 games in a season without having really good players.”

Quarterback Ian Book has a 30-4 record as a starter for the Irish. He has passed for 2,601 yards and 15 touchdowns with only two interceptions in 314 attempts.

Book ranks second in school history with 8,719 yards and 72 touchdowns. Brady Quinn (2003-06) is the leader in both categories (11,762 yards, 95 TD passes).

Kyren Williams has excelled on the ground with 1,061 yards and 12 touchdowns for an offense averaging 35.2 points, which rates 22nd nationally.

Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah had a team-best 11 tackles for loss and he was named winner of the Butkus Award on Monday as the nation’s top linebacker.

Malachi Moore has three interceptions for the Crimson Tide, who are 20th nationally in scoring defense (19.5).

The winner of this game will face either No. 2 Clemson or No. 3 Ohio State in the national championship game.

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KENTUCKY vs NC STATE
When: 1/2/2021 12:00 PM
Where:

TV: 12:00 PM
LINE: 2.5
PREDICTION: NC STATE , KENTUCKY

Oddsmakers currently have the NC STATE listed as 2.5 point favorites versus the KENTUCKY, while the game’s total is sitting at 51.5.

By the end of the regular season, there were positive feelings for both No. 23 North Carolina State and Kentucky.

One of the teams will extend that good mood when they meet in the Gator Bowl on Jan. 2 in Jacksonville, Fla.

“It’s been a very trying year for all of us and our team is ready to move forward with a fifth straight bowl game,” said Mark Stoops, the first Kentucky coach to lead the Wildcats to five consecutive bowl appearances.

“We’ve invested a lot to this point,” said NC State coach Dave Doeren, whose team’s late-season push resulted in a national ranking. “It’s the last time this group will get to play together, and we wanted to have one more ride.”

Despite NC State (8-3) holding twice as many victories as Kentucky (4-6), the Wildcats were listed as early favorites in this bowl matchup. Four of Kentucky’s losses came to nationally ranked teams.

Both teams ended their regular seasons by winning on Dec. 5 — NC State topping Georgia Tech while Kentucky throttled South Carolina.

“We’re at 100 percent so the guys are all back and out there practicing and working hard and having some fun,” Stoops said of early bowl preparations.

“The energy is high,” Kentucky defensive end Josh Paschal said. “We’re just ready to get to the bowl game and get ready to play.”

NC State went 2-3 against nationally ranked opponents, though the Wolfpack didn’t face Atlantic Coast Conference championship game combatants Clemson or Notre Dame.

The Wolfpack closed the regular season with four consecutive victories — the team’s best such stretch to end a regular season since 2008.

NC State’s most recent bowl outing came two years ago in the Gator Bowl, where it was blown out by Texas A&M. The Wolfpack are 1-3 all-time in the Gator Bowl.

“We’re a different team this year,” said NC State safety Tyler Baker-Williams, who pointed out that he didn’t like the team sitting out the 2019 postseason. “We have a bigger chip on our shoulder. We’re just ready to show out.”

Kentucky lost four years ago to Georgia Tech in its lone Gator Bowl appearance.

“We hope to play better this go around,” Stoops said.

The Wildcats won against Virginia Tech in last year’s Belk Bowl (now named Duke’s Mayo Bowl) in Charlotte, N.C.

Albeit playing 10 conference games (rather than the normal eight), NC State set a school record by winning seven ACC games this year. In 2019, it was 1-7 in league play.

“I think the record speaks for itself on what we accomplished this year and the way we accomplished it,” Doeren said.

Linebacker Payton Wilson of NC State leads the ACC with 10.8 tackles per game. Wilson joined defensive lineman Alim McNeill as All-ACC first-team selections.

Kentucky’s lone All-SEC first-team selection was senior center Drake Jackson.

The Kentucky-NC State series is tied 1-1. NC State won in 1909 at home and Kentucky won in 1970 at home.

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OREGON vs IOWA ST
When: 1/2/2021 4:00 PM
Where:

TV: 4:00 PM
LINE: -4.5
PREDICTION: IOWA ST , OREGON

Oddsmakers currently have the IOWA ST listed as -4.5 point favorites versus the OREGON, while the game’s total is sitting at 57.

In less than a week, Oregon went from understudy to center stage.

The Ducks got into the Pacific-12 Conference title game only because Washington had to drop out because of coronavirus concerns. Oregon made the most of the opportunity by defeating host USC 31-24 for the championship.

That gave the No. 25 Ducks (4-2) the Pac-12’s automatic berth to a New Year’s Six game. They’ll meet No. 10 Iowa State (8-3) in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 2 in Glendale, Ariz.

“We fought this year,” said Oregon defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux, who was named the MVP of the Pac-12 title game with five tackles and a sack. “So many trials and tribulations. So many things kept popping up. So many excuses we could have made, and we didn’t flinch. We stuck to the script and got it done.”

Oregon won its first three games before back-to-back losses to Oregon State and California. A matchup with Washington to determine the winner of the Pac-12 North was canceled, leaving the Ducks a half-game behind the Huskies and seemingly destined for a lower-tier bowl game.

That is, until a virus spike in Washington’s athletic department. The Huskies’ loss was the Ducks’ gain.

“We were itching to get back to our kind of football, and we did it (against USC),” Oregon coach Mario Cristobal said. “(We) really just came out with an attitude, came out with a purpose and a mission.”

The Cyclones took a different path to their first January bowl game.

After losing their season opener to Louisiana, the Cyclones won seven of their next eight games before a 27-21 loss to Oklahoma in the Big 12 championship.

“From our standpoint, this has been a really special season for our program as we continue to grow over the last couple of years,” Iowa State coach Matt Campbell said. “We’ve got a great senior class made up of 60 seniors that have really stayed the course in this program and really led us every step of the way.”

Iowa State has the nation’s leading rusher in Breece Hall, who totaled 1,436 yards and 19 touchdowns. Quarterback Brock Purdy threw for 2,594 yards and 18 touchdowns with nine interceptions.

“They’re an excellent, talented, well-coached football team that schematically runs more than a couple of things that are very different than what we’ve seen,” Cristobal said.

Ducks quarterback Tyler Shough threw for 1,480 yards and 13 touchdowns with five interceptions in six games. CJ Verdell, who was Oregon’s rushing leader in the regular season, missed the Pac-12 finale with a knee injury but could be back for the bowl game.

“When you say Oregon football, you have an immediate respect for who they are and what they’re about,” Campbell said.

It will be a homecoming for the quarterbacks, who both starred at Arizona high schools. Purdy played at Perry High in Gilbert and Shough at Hamilton High in neighboring Chandler. They met twice in high school, with Perry, led by Purdy, prevailing 65-63 and 63-60.

“Certainly a competitive situation at the high school level and now they get to do it at the collegiate level,” Cristobal said.

The Ducks will be making their third appearance in the Fiesta Bowl after beating Colorado in 2002 and Kansas State in 2013.

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W VIRGINIA vs ARMY
When: 12/31/2020 4:00 PM
Where:

TV: 4:00 PM
LINE: 7
PREDICTION: ARMY , W VIRGINIA

Oddsmakers currently have the ARMY listed as 7 point favorites versus the W VIRGINIA, while the game’s total is sitting at 42.

When West Virginia coach Neil Brown gathered his coaches and players for practice on Dec. 21, they were preparing for a Liberty Bowl matchup with Tennessee on New Year’s Eve in Memphis.

Then 2020 intervened.

“We started the day preparing for one opponent and will end it preparing for another, but that’s how crazy 2020 has been,” Brown said.

Tennessee pulled out of the bowl game after coach Jeremy Pruitt and multiple players tested positive for COVID-19. Luckily enough for the Liberty Bowl, it had a better team ready to step in.

Army went from being an outrageous snub to being an attractive catch at 9-2. The Commander-in-Chief trophy winners after a 10-7 defeat of Air Force on Dec. 19, the Black Knights were originally ticketed for the Independence Bowl after winning their sixth game on Oct. 24.

But when the Shreveport-based bowl had to cancel because so many prospective opponents opted out, it left Army in a lurch not of its own making.

Coach Jeff Monken made it clear that he thought his team was getting the short end of the stick, and aside from a handful of ESPN talking heads who had no trouble lugging the Power 5 conferences’ water while leaving Group of 5 schools parched, Monken was preaching to the choir.

As the old saying goes, better late than never. The Knights have their bowl bid, and West Virginia (5-4) has a new, more formidable opponent.

“I have great respect for the Army football tradition and the sacrifice the cadets make daily for our country,” Brown said. “Coach Monken and his staff have done a great job at West Point.”

The Knights own 43 wins in the last five years under Monken, a disciple of former Navy and Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson.

Much like Johnson, Monken believes in triple-option football, a staple at the military academies for most of the last 30 years.

Army finished fourth in the nation this year in rushing, averaging 281.3 yards per game despite having only one player rush for more than 500 yards. But it had four players between 401 and 502 yards, a testament to the balance it possesses.

Most importantly, the Knights played excellent defense, permitting just 14 points per game. Nearly a fourth of their allowance came in a 38-12 loss last month at Tulane. Their other loss was to Cincinnati, 24-10, in September. Cincinnati is now 9-0 and ranked No. 8 in the CFP poll.

“This is going to be a tremendous challenge for us to have any opportunity to win the game,” Monken said. “It’s exciting for our players. They came here to play big-time football against top-level opponents, and I’m glad they have the opportunity to play one in West Virginia.”

The Mountaineers could have easily been 7-2 were it not for one-possession losses at Texas Tech (34-27) and Texas (17-13) in a three-week span. Their final regular-season game with Oklahoma was canceled because of COVID-19 concerns.

West Virginia’s offense is led by Jarret Doege (2,428 yards, 13 TD passes) and Leddie Brown (945 rushing yards, nine TDs).

This will mark the first time the programs have met in 59 years. Army leads the series 2-1.

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MARSHALL vs BUFFALO
When: 12/25/2020 2:30 PM
Where:

TV: 2:30 PM
LINE: -4.5
PREDICTION: BUFFALO , MARSHALL

Oddsmakers currently have the BUFFALO listed as -4.5 point favorites versus the MARSHALL, while the game’s total is sitting at 54.5.

Marshall and Buffalo have experienced similar football seasons.

Both started with long winning streaks that thrust them into the Top 25 and led to dreams of playing in more lucrative bowl games.

However, the Thundering Herd and Bulls picked the wrong time to stumble, leading to their convergence at Montgomery, Ala., on Christmas Day in the Camellia Bowl.

Marshall (7-2) was ranked as high as 15th after jumping out to a 7-0 start behind a staunch defense and the poised play of freshman quarterback Grant Wells. But the defense slipped just a bit and Wells struggled with turnovers and inconsistency.

After tossing five interceptions in a shutout loss in the regular-season finale against Rice, Wells completed just 8 of 24 pass attempts in the Dec. 18 Conference USA title game. UAB held Marshall scoreless in the first half and earned a 22-13 victory.

“Offensively, we have to play with more confidence,” Thundering Herd coach Doc Holliday said. “We are not making the plays we were making before.”

Nor is the Marshall defense stopping others from making plays, as it had most of the year. UAB owned the ball for more than 41 minutes and finished with 468 total yards, collecting 21 first downs and rushing for 216 yards against the nation’s second-ranked run defense (88.9 yards per game).

Spencer Brown’s 149 yards ended the Herd’s streak of nine consecutive games without allowing 100 yards on the ground.

“We all know what we have to do, and we all know what happened,” Marshall linebacker Eli Neal said. “We all won as a team when we were winning and on our high horse and we lost as a team. That doesn’t make us any less of a team. The pieces just didn’t fall together.”

The Thundering Herd likely will build their bowl offense around running back Brenden Knox, who rushed for 887 yards in nine games and needs 148 to reach 3,000 for his career.

Buffalo went into the Mid-American Conference title game as a heavy favorite over Ball State after going 5-0 behind the sterling running of Jaret Patterson. But the Bulls coughed up 35 first-half points and couldn’t play catch-up in the second half of a 38-28 defeat to the Cardinals in Detroit.

Patterson, whose 301- and 409-yard games in consecutive weeks against Bowling Green and Kent State that put him on the periphery of the Heisman Trophy race, was held to 47 yards on 18 carries by Ball State. He also injured his right knee and was limited during the second half.

According to Bulls coach Lance Leipold, Patterson plans to play on Friday.

“We’ll see where it’s at, we’ll have to look at it,” Leipold said. “We’ll have to get to work on it and see where we’re at from an availability standpoint.”

Kyle Vantrease has been an efficient passer for the Bulls, hitting 63 percent of his passes for 1,186 yards with seven touchdowns and only two interceptions.

This will be the first time the teams have met since 2004, when Marshall was in the MAC. The Herd won that contest 48-14.

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