College Football Bowl Games 2020: Betting Predictions

College football’s bowl season runs from December to early January, so in 2020 many of the sport’s most important games will be contested in front of huge crowds in major-league cities in some of the country’s top venues. All major sportsbooks in the United States will be offering wagering on the 2020 Rose Bowl, including PointsBet NJ and SugarHouse Casinos.

Consequently, late in 2020 the subsequent bowl season will take place, featuring a series of games matching teams from various conferences around the country.

Many of those conferences have pre-qualifying conditions with certain bowl games to ensure that schools from those leagues are represented in those postseason games. The schools and conferences receive revenues from rights fees associated with the bowl games.

106th Rose Bowl

On January 1, 2020, two of college footballs iconic New Year’s Day bowl games will take place, as well as, two other bowl games to start the year. The 106th Rose Bowl, this year matching traditional teams from the Big Ten and Pac-12 conferences will meet at 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT in Pasadena, Ca.

As part of the College Football Playoff rotation, teams from other major conferences have recently played in the Rose Bowl game as part of the postseason format. That will not be the case in this game.

Preseason favorites from the Pac-12 to compete in this game are the Oregon Ducks or Washington Huskies, both of which are +175 to win the Pac-12 regular-season championship at DraftKings Sportsbook. The Pac-12 conference championship game could determine which team qualifies to play in the Rose Bowl or College Football Playoff.

Preseason favorites from the Big Ten to compete in the Rose Bowl are conference favorite Ohio State and top-rival Michigan. Should the champion qualify for the CFP, then the second-place team would play in the Rose Bowl, just like in the Pac-12.

Sugar Bowl Classic

Later, the Sugar Bowl Classic football game will be held in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans Louisiana. Similar to the teams that qualify for the Rose Bowl, teams from the Big 12 and Southeastern Conference comprise the contestants in one of the major bowl games of the season.

Also in the rotation for the College Football Playoff, this year’s Sugar Bowl will match either the conference champion or another qualifying representative following the selection of bowl teams following the regular season and conference championship games.

Surefire contenders to compete in the 2020 Sugar Bowl from the Big 12 were conference stalwarts Oklahoma and Texas. The Sooners were -150 to win the regular season title at DraftKings Sportsbook back in mid-June. Meanwhile, the Longhorns were +300 to win the regular season title at DraftKings Sportsbook.

With Alabama usually destined for the College Football Playoff, it would seem likely that the Georgia Bulldogs would be the favorite to end up representing the SEC at the Sugar Bowl on January 1, 2020.

Alabama was -150 to win the SEC regular-season crown at DraftKings Sportsbook, a title which would certainly qualify them for the CFP. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs were +250 to upend the Crimson Tide for the regular season championship at DraftKings Sportsbook.

Betting on the Sugar Bowl will be available at all major United States-facing sportsbooks and apps. Included will be hundreds of team, player and scoring propositions to satisfy any curious wager.

College Football Playoff National Championship Game

On January 13, 2020, the College Football Playoff National Championship will be held at this same venue, the fabled Mercedes-Benz Superdome. All three games in the College Football Playoff are televised by ESPN.

Back in June of 2019, Alabama and the Clemson Tigers were co-favorites to win the national championship title game at +200.

Other top contenders include Georgia (8-to-1 at BetAmerica to win the CFP National Championship game), Ohio State (12-1), Michigan (14-1), and Oklahoma (14-1). All these odds provided by BetAmerica).

The College Football Playoff National Championship, as well as, all bowl games, will have a wide-variety betting menu, which will include in-game wagering at nearly all U.S.-facing sportsbooks and betting apps, including William Hill NJ and Borgata Sportsbook.

Additional games on New Year’s Day

Also on January 1, 2020, a pair of early bowl games kick off the day matching traditional rivals in both the Citrus Bowl, in Orlando, Fla., and the Outback Bowl, in Tampa, Fla.

Both of these games match teams from the Big Ten and Southeastern Conference. The Citrus Bowl will be televised by ESPN, while the Outback Bowl will be on the ABC television network. Both contests start at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT.

All U.S. betting apps with no deposit bonus offers will offer a full betting menu on these two bowl games, including BetStarsNJ and 888Sport NJ.

College football bowl games after New Year’s Day

Although most of the big-time bowl games will have been contested before the CFP title game, several bowl games will take place following New Year’s Day.

On January 2, 2020, the Gator Bowl will be held in Jacksonville, Fla., matching a team from the Southeastern Conference against either Notre Dame or an opponent from the Atlantic Coast Conference or Big Ten. The game will be televised by ESPN at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.

Wagering on the Gator Bowl will be available at all U.S.-facing sportsbooks and wagering apps, including SugarHouse PA and DraftKings Sportsbook. In-game wagering will also be available at virtually all sportsbooks.

Earlier in the day, the Birmingham Bowl will take place at historic Legion Field in Birmingham, Ala., at 3 p.m. ET/Noon PT on ESPN, matching an opponent from the SEC against a team from the American Athletic Conference.

The Birmingham Bowl

The Birmingham Bowl will be featured at all major U.S.-facing sportsbooks and betting apps, including betMGM Sportsbook, Fox Bet, BET365 NJ and FanDuel betting app. In-game wagering will also be available for the game.

On January 3, 2020, the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl will be held at Albertsons Stadium in Boise, Idaho, matching teams from the Mountain West Conference and Mid-American Conference. The game will be televised by ESPN at 3:30 p.m. ET/ 12:30 p.m. PT.

The Idaho Potato Bowl, which is played on a blue artificial turf field at Albertsons Stadium, will have a full-array of wagering menu options at U.S.-facing Sportsbooks such as DraftKings Sportsbook and BetAmerica.

On January 4, 2020, the Armed Forces Bowl will be held at Amon G Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas, matching teams from the Big Ten and Mountain West Conference. The game will be played at 2:30 ET/11:30 a.m. PT and will be televised by ESPN.

The next-to-last game of the 2019-20 bowl season is the Mobile Alabama Bowl from Ladd-Peebles Stadium, in Mobile, Ala., which matches teams from the MAC and Sun Belt conferences.

The game will be televised by ESPN and will start at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT.

Both the Armed Forces Bowl and Mobile Alabama Bowl will be featured for wagering and have a vast menu of betting options, including live in-game wagering, at U.S.-facing online sportsbooks such as Borgata Sportsbook and BetAmerica.